The focus was squarely on Doomben this week with the running of the Group 1 Doomben Cup and, according to Ponybet bookmaker Anthony “Juppy” Jupp, the punters arrived armed and dangerous.
“We were hanging in there early, but once the momentum swung, it was like trying to stop a flood with a garden hose.”
The day actually began relatively quietly across New Zealand racing and Ponybet was travelling around square after the opening exchanges.
That didn’t last long.
Randwick Race 1 proved an ugly start after Ponybet laid the winner, Friendly Fire, to one of the bigger professional punters along with several smaller players, resulting in an early $2,000 hit.
“If you’re losing before most people have ordered lunch, it’s usually not a good sign,” Jupp said.
Doomben offered no relief either.
A $650 bet at $8.50 on Express Payment in the opener resulted in another $3,000 disappearing from the satchel and the pressure was immediately back on the bookies.
Then came Sandown Race 2 where Ponybet laid Khor at BTSP (best tote/starting price) and dropped another $2,000.
“At that stage I was already looking at the clock wondering how many hours were left,” Jupp joked.
To their credit, Ponybet managed to claw back around $5,000 over the next few races before Exit Fee at Randwick Race 3 landed another brutal blow.
The biggest wager there was $1,000 at $3.20 and the result sent another $7,200 out the door.
“We’d just got ourselves back into the fight and then got hit with an uppercut again,” Jupp said.
Just as things appeared to stabilise, Thebudgiesmugla saluting in the fourth at Randiwck hurt the book once more.
Not only were there straight win bets at $3, but the horse also completed a $500 double with Exit Fee at a combined price of $10.85.
“Punters absolutely monstering doubles into favourites is one of the great modern traditions,” Jupp said.
Dreamzel at Sandown piled on even more pain. Ponybet laid $600 at BTSP of 24.5 and watched another $7,000 disappear.
“That one nearly had us putting the ‘gone fishing’ sign up,” Jupp laughed.
Thankfully, there was a brief period where the tide turned.
Over the next hour or so, Ponybet managed to grind its way back toward square and even found a few decent results.
The highlight came at Echuca Race 5 where the book stood Runway Ruler for $16,000 and Wagunda for $14,000, eventually collecting around $3,000 on the race.
“It wasn’t exactly Vegas money, but after the day we were having it felt like winning Powerball,” Jupp said.
Then came one of the more unusual setbacks of the afternoon.
A multi involving Tazima BTSP at Randwick Race 7 tied into under 9.5 tries in the St George v New Zealand clash cost Ponybet another $9,000.
Then it was time for the feature event at Doomben.
The two horses Ponybet desperately needed to avoid were Birdman for the win and Pride Of Jenni to run a place.
Naturally for bookmakers, racing had other ideas.
Chris Waller celebrated his 200th Group 1 winner when Birdman ran down Pride Of Jenni, punters celebrated alongside him and Ponybet was left staring at another $9,000 loss.
“You’ve got to admire Waller but it’d be better if he wasn’t emptying our pockets in the process,” Jupp joked.
Fortunately, the closing stages of the day finally offered some relief.
The last races across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane helped halve the deficit, Murray Bridge proved very kind to the book and the quaddie legs at Belmont allowed Ponybet to finally edge its nose in front.
Out wide betting performed strongly as well, with the only notable setback coming via a double involving Stylish Diamond at Mackay and over 46.5 first-quarter points in the North Melbourne v GC clash, costing around $4,500.
“The footy basically summed up the entire day,” Jupp said.
“A real grind. We got the money back eventually, but after expenses we probably worked all day for free.”
Still, by full-time, Ponybet had managed to finish narrowly in front.
Barely.
