Henry ran a cracking race so did Ravens Pass obviously. Yank commentator was going wild when Curlin made his move. âCan you believe thisâ or something like that from the top of his voice. Turned out he barely even got to hit the front. Cracking race though.
ya gave him a good spin alright, pity he didnt do the same with straw bear, had a few quid on him and wasnt best please dto see him looking a beaten horse until after the last when it was too late.
Great day of racing Saturday⌠some nice action in UK, and the preformance of Wicheta Lineman the notable. Had a nice few bob on American Trilogy which for me was always going to be a steering job. It mose went west though on Christy Roches horsse (by Montjeu !!) in the bumper, got on early but the ground got so bad in Naas they shouldnt have even run the raceâŚ
They the action switched to Santa Anita⌠great nights racing, and some notable European preformances. Backed Muhanhak in the opener at the US tote price, and it paid over 12âs, so that got the ball rolling nicely. Backed Midnight Lute in the sprint at bookies 3/1 and at this stage is was rocking, but the combination of being in the pup since 1 and the wedge of cash waiting for collection the following morning led me to lump on both Henry and Eagle Mountain to win⌠It didnt quiet bring me back to square one, but put a dent in what could have been a great evenings punting.
The Classic was one of the best races in a long time, and as mentioned above, I got a great kick out the Yank roaring out the âHear comes CurlinâŚâ line.
I thought SS** would have given us a report on the trackside experience in Santa Anita by now.
Looking forward to seeing Kauto Star in action tomorrow, but i wouldânt be having cMoney on him at 1/2. The ground will be shite and the listener is always good at this stage and might be a nice price.
Was going to have a few bob on Aranleigh today, but noticed Tony Martin was going for a touch and thankfully backed offâŚ
To be honest HB, Iâm still a bit flaaed after the whole thing. Santa Anita is a fine spot, itâs only $25 to get in and to be honest youâve access to where ever you need to go for that. We watched it all from the front of the stand, and went back to the bar or the parade ring (not much to see there, the jockeys mount up and leave immediately as the horses enter the ring. The facility itself seems quite old but is fine, thereâs no problem having a bet or getting food I found anyway. Youâd miss the on-course bookie presence youâd have at a UK or Irish track alright but it was a nice couple of days. Backing four seconds on the saturday was a bit of a choker though⌠Itâs nigh on impossible to get a cab out of Santa Anita, we had to go into a hotel and book one from there. I brought the car the second day and stayed dry.
I thought L.A. itself was an unmitigated shanty town. Would never recommend anyone going there, a soulless sprawl of suburban Taco Bells and Seven Elevens. We were recommended Old Pasadena, which was ok I suppose, but at the same time it was like going out in Naas and the whole place shut at 1.30 on the dot. Some nice restaurants alright.
[quote=âSHANNONSIDER**â]
I thought L.A. itself was an unmitigated shanty town. [/quote]
Wholeheartely agree⌠Kip.
Anyway, the subject in hand.
Kauto Star won doing handstands on Saturday. Nicholls is really looking to sweep up all the good prizemoney over here. First the Munster national in Limerick, then the Star and Noland on Saturday.
saw an interesting quote from Harry Findlay in the tribune yesterday
A lot of so-called good judges said that Kauto Star didnât run his race in the Gold Cup, but anyone who thinks that needs to have their brains scanned. Listen, and you can quote me on this; anyone who doesnât think that Neptune Collonges [who finished third] wouldnât have won the Kauto Starâs Gold Cup the year before by 10 lengths is blind. Quite blind. Denmanâs Gold Cup form is as solid as solid can be. Kautoâs Gold Cup form is as solid as a papier-mache fart."
Is that article on the website Dan. I glanced at it yesterday while sifting through and forgot to go back to it.
[quote=âdancarterâ]saw an interesting quote from Harry Findlay in the tribune yesterday
A lot of so-called good judges said that Kauto Star didnât run his race in the Gold Cup, but anyone who thinks that needs to have their brains scanned. Listen, and you can quote me on this; anyone who doesnât think that Neptune Collonges [who finished third] wouldnât have won the Kauto Starâs Gold Cup the year before by 10 lengths is blind. Quite blind. Denmanâs Gold Cup form is as solid as solid can be. Kautoâs Gold Cup form is as solid as a papier-mache fart." [/quote]
Calls it as it is, does Harry.
He has another horse, Big Fella Thanks (named after his great coursing dog) that despite been beaten last time out looks the making of something very good as well.
One On One with Harry Findlay, Horse Owner and Professional Gambler
Denmanâs owner has travelled a rocky road to financial stability. He talks to Colm Greaves about the journey, his hopes for the new National Hunt season and his love of hurling
The ramblinâ gambler: Harry Findlay celebrates Denmanâs Gold Cup win with jockey Sam Thomas and co-owner Paul Barbour
Findlay struck up a friendship with former Cork dual star Jimmy Barry Murphy through their mutual love of greyhounds
Findlay lost over 2m when New Zealand failed to win the Rugby World Cup in 2007
1 2 3 Sometimes people seem to fit snugly into their name. Murphy, for instance, sounds just right when preceded by âJimmy Barryâ and âTeresaâ sounds even more charitable when combined with âMother.â Which is why Mr H Findlay, late of High Wycombe, but now nestled comfortably in the Wiltshire hills just outside Bath, just had to be called âHarry.â
Harry is a name that is chirpy and opinionated, but it still sounds like it knows stuff, and Harry Findlay, professional gambler, dog lover, horse owner and amateur philosopher, knows a lot of stuff too. And last Thursday afternoon as he sat in his office, his face momentarily longer than the one his star steeplechaser Denman carries around with him, he knew well that he had just ignored his best asset his judgement. Heâd backed a horse he wasnât quite sure about. It duly lost and he looked and sounded very displeased with himself. âAre you pissed off about that, Harry?â
âNo, not really. But gamblers have to be hard on themselves. Some days I can win a hundred grand and never forgive myself. Other days I can play well but lose two hundred and ask how did I manage that? You have to be so hard on yourself because you are on your own. If you are an artist you know how you are doing by the amount of money people pay for a painting. When you are a gambler you only get judged by yourself.â
Actually, to call Findlayâs place of work an office would be unfair to the Trade Descriptions Act. It is in fact an annex of an impressively-large family home, its walls are warping with sports memorabilia and it is equipped with the most impressive bank of display screens and electronic gadgetry seen since the Star Ship Enterprise was boldly going to wherever it was trying to get to. This is the ultimate boysâ den.
Replacing Lieutenant Uhura and Mister Sulu on the bridge next to Captain Kirk are a cheeky Jack Russell and a slow-moving old greyhound that the normally-unsentimental Findlay introduces affectionately. âThis is Big Fella Thanks, he won the Irish Coursing Derby in 1999.â He still regards his dogâs victory as his best ever day in sport and itâs easy to see why. Findlay bought the dog and sent him to Denis OâDriscoll to train in Skibbereen in memory of two mutual friends from that town whom had lost their lives in a tragic car accident on the way home from the same meeting a year earlier.
He pets his old friend and remembers his greatness. âBig Fella won 31 consecutive courses. When he eventually got beaten he was 20 lengths clear but he didnât line the hare up properly and the judge had to give it to the other dog. Iâll never forget it. It was the worst rain ever, but I needed 10 minutes by myself, I knew it was his last course ever. So I walked off up this quiet lane somewhere in deepest Munster when, lo and behold, the judge comes out on his horse from behind a bush. He takes his hat off, even though it was pouring rain. âHarryâ, he says with this pained look on his face, âI nearly gave it to him. But I just couldnât.â The way he said it made me suddenly realise, Jesus Christ, this dog really was a legend.â
So does the old dog come a close second to Denman in his animal love list? The question is greeted with a look of incomprehension. âWhen Denman got the heart scare the Big Fella was nearly wiped out by a virus at the same time. It was no contest. I donât know Denman like I know him and besides, anybody that knows me knows that I really am a dog man.â
The heart scare he is referring to surfaced with Denman last month and almost sucked the breath from a new National Hunt season only now beginning to find itâs feet. He describes how he heard the troubling news. âWe were up watching him schooling at Paul Nichollsâ the day before it happened. He was working with a horse called Here Comes the Truth, but the other horse looked so much quicker it was worrying. We all knew something was up. Then the next day Paul Barbour [joint owner] rings and he just says one word. âDenman.ââ
Findlay spreadeagles himself theatrically in his chair to illustrate the devastating effect of the bad news, but happily things turned out a lot less ominous than it first seemed and the horseâs problem was successfully treated. His owner explains how. âThey had to use a poison, quanidine I think, to reset the heart. It was like resetting a watch. They put some poison into him every half hour and they gave him three doses. It really knocked the stuffing out of him, but it worked. In fact the Sunday Tribune could be the first paper to know this, but only yesterday he worked back up the hill for the first time and Nicholls was really happy with him, really liked his personality. The old Denman is back and itâs all systems go.â He breaks off suddenly from his happy considerations. âOh, hang on a sec, I need to watch this one.â He focuses in on one of his many wall-mounted monitors and a race that has just started at Lingfield. âThe only one not running for me in the jackpot is the one in green and red on the rails.â
hile Harry is off doing that it is probably worth pointing out a couple of things to help establish some context. Firstly, Findlay is a seriously big gambler. He lost over two-and-a-half million pounds when New Zealand failed to win the last Rugby World Cup and it never stopped him from putting food on the table for his wife, Kay, and their two daughters.
Secondly, his success is based on an ability to absorb and codify an endless stream of variables with sufficient cohesion to return a skinny long-term profit margin on huge turnover. The information comes at him from everywhere. The bank of screens on the wall, internet terminals, betting exchanges, multiple phones, bookmakers and even the odd human being. The full-on thinking power needed to process all this is considerable and he constantly dips into a rich vocabulary of expletives, as if scolding his mouth for not keeping up with his brain. Or in other words, he talks with the speed of a machine gun and swears like a trooper, and here come a few more because things havenât gone well at Lingfield. âShit. I donât f**king believe that.â The one in green and red on the rails has just mugged his jackpot on the line.
The clash of the Ash
You donât need to spend too much time with Harry Findlay to realise that he has more layers than an expensive lasagne. A happy childhood in High Wycombe, his parents were both nurses. The difficult teenage years at the dog tracks of London, which left him with a cockney accent and a spell in the care of Her Majestyâs prison service for using credit cards that strictly speaking, didnât really belong to him. But heâd realised early on that the nine-to-five routine wasnât for him.
âI tried working in a bed factory when I was 16 but ran out after a week and gave my Mum a right bollocking for making me go there in the first place. Yet, when I left school, anyone who got a job as an apprentice stockbroker and spent 20 hours a week on the train going to work was treated like Lord Muck. I thought it was mad. I never understood this respect people had for bankers and pensions. The thought of anybody putting money away at 16 for when they are 65, I find perverse. But, I had tough times myself as a kid, real tough times and I wasnât stupid. If it can happen to me it can happen to anyone. I was a bright kid at 16 but was in trouble at 20, purely because of gambling.â Findlay grounds his reminiscences with constant references to ancient Greek philosophers and writers such as Dostoevsky. They all support his theories on the power of luck, as he explains.
âWhen you look at where I am now, it scares me to think back. I believe I am fundamentally very lucky to be living at this time, in this place. I donât believe I have any of the virtues to be a great intellect, so I am boxing above my weight in terms of luck, in terms of quality of life, in terms of where I am. The only regret I have is that the days go too quickly. I know that I am one lucky bastard.â
But as that tired old adage might put it, the more that lucky bastards practice, the luckier these bastards become, and he has practised hard. His rocky road to happiness is signposted by unwavering belief in the power of sport, his conviction in the righteousness of his betting strategies and, more practically, the invention of betting exchanges. He was hooked by sports ability to inspire early on in life. âThe first live sport I ever went to was gymnastics. Remember in the 70s when Olga Korbut and Nellie Kim were on fire? They did an exhibition in London and I went with the school. It was mostly girls going and I wasnât sure I should even be there. And then I saw Olga Korbut and she blew me away. I wanted to touch her to see if she was real. I couldnât believe it was real.â
Findlay has strongly-held views on what he believes is the blight of organised religion and believes sport is plugging an important societal gap vacated by the churches. âI think I was more educated watching Wycombe Wanderers home and away as a teenager than ever I was at school. I remember travelling eight hours through the night to North Yorkshire to watch them play in the old FA Amateur Cup and we got there hours too early. So we all chipped in about three pence each to buy one of those old Wembley footballs. We played a match on an old aqueduct with cows all around us, and it was the most exciting thing I had ever done. I remember the journey back like it was 10 days ago. The trip home was eight hours, but I didnât want it to end. Thatâs the power of sport. Itâs phenomenal. I think the Irish get this more than anyone.â
Which, coincidentally, brings us all the way back to Jimmy Barry Murphy. Findlay had got to know and share many adventures with Finbarrâs Finest through a mutual love for greyhounds. His acquaintance with the Cork man has impacted his view of both of religion and hurling. "One of my big regrets is that I never saw Jimmy Barry Murphy play live. People tell me that it was like watching poetry. I remember once weâd been coursing in Abbeyfeale and there was about six inches of snow. Not too many were risking the drive to Cork but the two of us needed to get back, and the roads were sheer, sheer ice. He must have blessed himself about 20 times during the journey, and I was yelling at him, âJimmy will you forget all that f**king religion and just keep your hands on the wheel and get us home.â However, Harry was converted to hurling.
âI remember taking my wife and 10-year-old daughter to Thurles to see a game, Limerick and somebody, and it blew their heads off. It was the only sporting event that I ever brought them to and they went, bloody hell, this is a proper sport.â His own first hurling match was the final between Galway and Tipperary in 1988 and he recalls the impression one particular player made on him. âGalway had this half-back with long black hair and I couldnât believe what I was watching. It was like watching Olga Korbut again. I was thinking 'how does he do that? Running with the ball on his stick while people were hitting him.â
That could well be the first time that Gerry McInerney has ever been compared to small, female Russian gymnast.
Pressing the Button
Findlayâs encyclopaedic knowledge of most sports is his true intellectual property. His revenue stream comes from an appreciation of what constitutes a good price. His victories come when he makes a judgement that the probability of an outcome is greater than his opponents on betting exchanges have realised and then having the moxy to, as he calls it, âpress the button.â He is dismissive of the value of tips and âinside informationâ and they play little role in his betting strategy.
âLet me explain to you,â he continues, âno one, but no one, can win at gambling by relying on information. No one. The way the market is now you have to spontaneously know when to take down a price. You donât have time to ring up so and so and say âdo you think six to four is okay?â You have to be able to make up your mind yourself. All these people who say they are good at gambling need to prove it. Press the f**king button. That is why gambling is so real and tangible these days. Thatâs the great thing about the exchanges.â But surely his faith was decimated by the All Blacksâ night of horror in Cardiff?
âI must have bumped into a hundred people since who told me how wrong I was. But I was 100 per cent right. If Argentina hadnât beat France on the first night in Paris it would have been the biggest cakewalk in sporting history. We didnât want to play anybody half-decent on that artificial pitch and then you get four injuries and two tries that should have been disallowed. It was the biggest freak in sporting history. I am not a rugby man, but I was definitely right. Its all about the price and the value.â
Findlay is facing into the upcoming National Hunt season with a lot more anticipation since Denman stormed up that hill earlier this week. He is conscious that he got a bit of a mauling at times last year for being a bit too brash and he also suffered some one-dimensional comparisons of him and his co-owner, Paul Barbour. Most of it was along the lines of what the Italian would call âchiaroscuroâ or âlight and shadeâ and he was usually the shade.
But by the sound of things there is less chance of this changing Harry Findlay than teaching the old greyhound on the sofa how to juggle. âI think people read too much into the differences between us. Heâs a farmer and I am a gambler. Thatâs it. I call him the Hawk. He hovers around and he sees everything. He is a quiet, modest man, but is a big, big help.â And then he considers the ongoing rivalry between Denman and Kauto Star that could once again define the season. He isnât hedging his bets.
âA lot of so-called good judges said that Kauto Star didnât run his race in the Gold Cup, but anyone who thinks that needs to have their brains scanned. Listen, and you can quote me on this; anyone who doesnât think that Neptune Collonges [who finished third] wouldnât have won the Kauto Starâs Gold Cup the year before by 10 lengths is blind. Quite blind. Denmanâs Gold Cup form is as solid as solid can be. Kautoâs Gold Cup form is as solid as a papier-mache fart.â
And with that the perfectly-named Harry Findlay formally declares this yearâs National Hunt season officially open
I absolutely hate harry findleyâŚloud mouth wide boy cuntâŚi hate him as much as i adore the legend that is KautoâŚ
Good man HB
Thatâs a cracking article/interview. Not well enough up on my dogs/horses to even know the guy but thatâs interesting reading.
Has coursing much of a following in England?
Fook off Puke.
i wonâtâŚin fairness harry could be a sound skin in person but he just boils my bloodâŚkauto will set the record straight this coming march
[quote=âtherock67â]Thatâs a cracking article/interview. Not well enough up on my dogs/horses to even know the guy but thatâs interesting reading.
Has coursing much of a following in England?[/quote]
Since the coonts in the house of Lords banned it, Ireland is their only outlet for it.
Greyhound game in England is generally in a mess though.
Harry is a good supporter of Irish Coursing at this stage, is always in Clonmel, and makes another few meetings a year. He buy most of his horses from the Irish point to point scene as well.
Its easy to see why some people who have never crossed paths with him or know no more about him than the Denman related stuff dislike him. Top cunt Vincent Hogan did a hatchet job on him post cheltenham gold cup last year, but got a firm wrap on teh knuckles form many areas (sporting press had a good retort) for it and the Indo had to print an apology. When Denman won last year he rightly had a bit of banter in ring and gave it a few Oi Oiâs, now the pukes and vincent hogans of this world think he is an English cunt as a result, but the fact is, that if Denman was bought by JP, Archie OâLeary, or another prominent Irish owner post Liscarroll point to point, and the ring was full of yahooing paddies that day, then they would be âligendsâ.
[quote=âHangBlaaâ]Since the coonts in the house of Lords banned it, Ireland is their only outlet for it.
Greyhound game in England is generally in a mess though.
Harry is a good supporter of Irish Coursing at this stage, is always in Clonmel, and makes another few meetings a year. He buy most of his horses from the Irish point to point scene as well.
Its easy to see why some people who have never crossed paths with him or know no more about him than the Denman related stuff dislike him. Top cunt Vincent Hogan did a hatchet job on him post cheltenham gold cup last year, but got a firm wrap on teh knuckles form many areas (sporting press had a good retort) for it and the Indo had to print an apology. When Denman won last year he rightly had a bit of banter in ring and gave it a few Oi Oiâs, now the pukes and vincent hogans of this world think he is an English cunt as a result, but the fact is, that if Denman was bought by JP, Archie OâLeary, or another prominent Irish owner post Liscarroll point to point, and the ring was full of yahooing paddies that day, then they would be âligendsâ.[/quote]
Great post HB
Quite right HB. Harry is one of the few legends left, a self-made pro gambler. It is fascinating to see he appreciates hurling, heâd be having a right old time if he knew a bit more about the game and had ploughed into the Kilkenny machine over the last few years, heâd love to be steaming into them at ten-on. 
Hoganâs article was an utter disgrace, the worst thing Iâve ever read in a broadsheet. Scurrilous, underhanded bitter, ignorant gutter press. Harryâs banter always goes down well at Clonmel and raises a smile even with Mickey Rooney when he has just taken him out⌠âHave you no eyes?â and âMore sweets for the fat boyâ being my own personal favourite catch-cries⌠Refreshingly honest and upfront is Harry. How many other people would come out and admit theyâve done three bar on the All Blacks.
A half decent card in exeter tomorrow i seeâŚthe 2.40 has the potential to be a good competitive race with twist magic, natal, howle hill, mahogany blaze and ashley brook in the mixâŚ
howle hill has a bit of value about him at 5/1âŚ
I see War of attriction gave another solid performance the other dayâŚwill he be able to get back in the gold cup mix thoughâŚ
katchit is running in wincanton tomorrow, didnât see his first run of the year but heard it was unspectacularâŚi am a big fan of katchit and alan king and i hope it gives a good run tomorrowâŚgiving a stone in weight to blythe knight wonât be easy but katchit is a battlerâŚ
RuntâŚHave you anything that catches your fancy in limerick sundayâŚ