The Sports Betting thread

[Summers]

Yeah, I need to know who came fifth. Seabass got 3rd for me.

Three horses need treatment on the track. The horrible side of it.

[Summers]

In Compliance came fifth! 100-1 to win and I bet e/w. Yay!

So Seabass and In Compliance finish for me.

[Matt]

I'd be in a much better mood if Sunnyhillboy had a bigger nose.

[METALMAN]

In my first ever bet I won £2.50!

[GA!]

Fucking Shakalakaboomboom fucking up on the last fucking fence. Hope the kebab made out of it is substandard.

[Cymbols]

Rare Bob and the one that bucked his rider before the race started have died

[Summers]

Gazz & I were saying they should have withdrawn Synchronized. Massive shame.

According to Pete is also dead.

[Gazz]

Synchronised should never have been ran after unseating his rider before the start.

According to Pete, the privately owned horse that had been raised from a foal by a family has also been put down, can't imagine how gutting that is for them.

[Summers]

Synchronised should never have been ran after unseating his rider before the start.

According to Pete, the privately owned horse that had been raised from a foal by a family has also been put down, can't imagine how gutting that is for them.

Aw, that's horrible for the family. Any horse dying in these races is a massive shame, but that's a horrible thing for the family too.

[Cymbols]

Might've been According to Pete not Rare Bob that I heard about.

[Jimmy]

Won nothing, but a friend of mine won £33, so good for him.

[Starvinho]

Backed 5 horses and 3 of them finished but the best placed 9th. 12th and 14th for the other two, unlucky really thought I'd get at least one placed.

[Liam]

Backed Neptune Collonges. I r winnar.

And of course Synchronised should have run. They checked it, it was fine. It fell. It had to be put down. It happens. It is the kinda thing that would have happened irrelevant of the horse breaking early or not.

[IAceI]

Syncronised was unsettled before it ran, mind you, it seemingly didn't want to run before the actual race began - whether something was up with it or not I'm unsure. My mate was down Cheltenham with his girlfriend and her stepdad today, the stepdad's uncle trains According to Pete so it's a bit of a depressing time. It's a real shame and it's never any nicer to hear, even when you know it's going to happen before the race though which is probably the unnacceptable part.

Anyways, taking into account all my bets and returns - I won £5 today. Silly me for being safe as Seabass was always my main pick, £10 e/w - but I had Giles Cross and Shakalakaboomboom as well as safety picks at £5 e/w a piece, but there ya go. Still up for the festival and still on a good run this past week. On to tomorrow's betting!

[Liam]

It did what a lot of horses did, and McCoy wasn't ready for it, so McCoy fell off. Without a jockey on, it ran. It didn't bolt off, it cantered away and looked fine when the TV cameras showed it. Not out of breath, hadn't really exerted itself. Seemed pretty happy. Commentary suggested exactly the same.

I worked in a betting shop, I've seen enough horses bolt/throw their jockeys/run before the race begins, and it comparitvely wasn't as bad.

Wallace Synchronised should never have been entered in the National!!!

Liam Byrne Why not?

Wallace: The horse was too good! National is a death trap. He had another Gold cup in him next year! not anymore]

A short convo me and a mate, who has worked longer than I have, had. His issue was more that the horse was way too good for the National, and it was an unnecessary risk....which I agree.

[Cymbols]

I heard that Synchronised's fatal fall came a few jumps AFTER throwing his jockey.

[Liam]

He threw his jockey before the race, which was the issue people seem to have.

He then died during the race (or was put down, whichever). Whether that was on a jump when he lost the jockey or not, I don't know.

However, people seem to have more of an issue with it being allowed to go considering it had originally bolted.

EDIT: Yeah, you were right. The fatal jump was without jockey.

BBC pundit Mick Fitzgerald, who won the 1996 Grand National on Rough Quest, said Synchronised should have stayed in the race, despite unseating his rider beforehand.

"Synchronised cantered and sauntered down on an approach of no more than 400m - more than he would have done anyway. He was examined by two vets and he had his heart monitored.

"AP got back on board and he was happy and even allowed him to look at the first fence again. [Owner] JP McManus looked at him and was happy. They would not even have attempted it if they didn't think the horse was 100%."

Quote on the BBC page.

[Thrilla]

Any of you guys play on BetDash? Its basically a betting site where you get given 100,000 in credit and have to turn it into 1,000,000 in 21 days.

[LexChaney]

SeaBass got me a fair bit with earning a place at third.

I was going to put money on both of the Neptune's running in the race. But in the end I didn't.

It's sad to know that two horses had to be destroyed after the race. It must be hard for the people who raised them and trained them as well as the jockeys riding them today. In the end it's the only humane way for the horse. With the adrenaline still pumping in them they may not have felt the pain at first. But once that wears off then the horse will be in pain. A considerable amount of pain. And it must be a terrible pain for them to suffer. Plus there is no assurance that they may ever recover properly and not be in pain for the rest of their natural life. Never mind race again. They can get all kinds of infections and worse things than what they suffered in the race while they recover.

Synchronised should not have been in the race after it threw off it's jockey. It was obvious to see that it was spooked after throwing off the jockey and going into the line up for the start. The way it would not stand still at all. Even if the vet said it was fine. It still did not look okay. Yeah it may have been at 100% with what the vets said. But no matter what if the horse bolts the rider before the start something is clearly wrong. The horse will not be able to tell you what. And vet may not find anything that could be wrong with it. So it's a two sided coin really. And not many people may agree on it. But to me if the horse shows them kind of signs and even if they vet, the owner and jockey are happy with it. How do you know really that it's going to be okay. But sometimes, maybe it's a chance they are willing to take and that's what they did today.

[Summers]

The REAL humane thing is to not race them.

I agree with the second bit. Vets can't always know if a horse is in the right mindset for a race. Sync obviously wasn't, and paid for it with his life.