Laytown Races: All Weather Racing (but not as we know it!)

It’s a unique event in UK and Ireland (as far as I know), dear reader. Yes, they race on the beach at Laytown in Ireland tonight, and I was really hoping to get there this year. But pressures of work mean I won’t be there or at the other ‘sand’ meeting today at Lingfield, where the Geegeez geegee runs later on…

Laytown Races

Laytown Races: Racing on the beach

If you didn’t know, there is one race meeting a year on the sandy beach at Laytown on the east coast of Ireland, about 35 miles north of Dublin. It is clearly more a spectacle than a punting affair, and what a spectacle it is.

All the races are over six or seven furlongs, and all feature a maximum of ten runners. Jump jocks line up alongside flat riders, which only adds to the sense of fun and competition.

And, remarkably, they don’t always complete the card as they are naturally dependent on the tides staying out for long enough. Even King Canute couldn’t guarantee that the last race would be run here!

The actual calibre of horse is moderate, and it’d be a braver (or better connected) man than me who risked more than a few euros at the meeting. But I’m certain the craic would be amazing. Maybe I’ll get there in 2011… For now though, I’ll have to console myself with this truly excellent video (I wish I had the editing skills to make vids like this) of the races, and the craic, at Laytown.

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To more familiar climes now, and a leafy enclave of Surrey called Lingfield. Today’s 4.30 race is a moderate maiden contest with ten runners over seven furlongs (it could almost have been at Laytown!).

Khajaaly, Geegeez’ latest geegee, has his third run for us this afternoon, and bids to put a disappointing effort last time behind him. We think the trip will suit, he has cheek pieces on for the first time, which should keep him lively, and Adam knows him well and is a jockey in form (20/1 winner on Sunday and 12/1 and 9/2 winners last Thursday).

Hajjaan will likely prove a tough nut to crack but the rest are mediocre if unexposed. Assuming nothing improves markedly (and that might well happen), I’d be hopeful our chap can make the frame. Fingers (and all other appendages) firmly crossed.

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Now then, how about a Geegeez freebie? How about two?! These won’t be for everyone, but they might be for you. I’ve had specially developed, by a man who can do that sort of thing, a couple of little software programs that work bets out for you. Not what to bet on (sorry!), but rather how much to bet and / or how much you’ll get back.

One is a dutching calculator, which calculates instantly how much to stake on each horse to win a set amount when you’re betting more than one in a race. It will even calculate the returns with your Betfair rate of commission factored in. Very handy little utility to have on the desktop.

And the other is a multiple bet settler. This ‘glorified spreadsheet’ has a squillion calculations wrapped up inside of it, and will allow you to enter the odds of your selections, their finishing position, and the bet type and then work out your returns. So now you’ll be able to wow your bookie by telling him how much you’ve got to come on that 5p e/w Super Goliath with three placed horses and a winner at 8/11 !

The dutching calculator is ready now, and the multi-bet calculator will be ready in a day or two.

These tools should be self-explanatory. At least, I hope they are, because I have no instructions for them yet. So, please feel free to download them and play around with them, but… if you can’t work out what’s happening, resist the urge to email me, if you don’t mind. I will get some instructions made for you, but I don’t have them just yet. Sorry. And enjoy.

Dutching Calculator

[Stop Press: There is an instructional video for the dutching calculator in the zip file. It is the developer talking to me so forgive the redundant bits and focus on how the gizmo works.]

I’ll be back with more freebies tomorrow and Thursday, and either a trends analysis or a betting system on Friday if time allows.

So stay tuned in for this Geegeez Freebies Week! 🙂

Matt

p.s. Thanks a million for your feedback on the forum. Although some would like it, it’s fair to say that the overwhelming response was ‘Don’t do it!’. I’m not sure if I had asked a leading question (suspect I probably had), but I’m actually thrilled that you share my view that – although there is some great content hidden away in dark recesses of these places – most of it is too much hard labour to identify amidst the guff and gubbins.

p.p.s. As a couple of commentators rightly identified, there is a pitch and bitch free forum as part of membership to my Horse Racing Experts project. The guys there, like Brian and Dave (et al), offer their thoughts on a regular basis and it is refreshingly friendly and without ego… hopefully, much like this blog. 🙂

Thanks again for your feedback, which is always much appreciated and never ignored.

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