Stradbroke Day is one of those rare winter race meetings that drags punters out of hibernation.
With Eagle Farm hosting the Stradbroke Handicap, JJ Atkins and Q22, turnover surged as professionals, recreational punters and multi-hunters all found reasons to get involved. For Ponybet bookmaker Anthony Jupp, it made for another rollercoaster Saturday behind the bag.
“Queensland’s biggest day always gets people interested again,” Jupp said.
“You can feel it in the turnover. People who might have been having a quieter period suddenly want to get involved and have a crack at the big races.”
The first meaningful blow landed in the opening race at Eagle Farm when War Eternal justified strong support.
“The first sting came with War Eternal and it wasn’t because of one massive bet,” Jupp said.
“The same professional punter who found one against us last week stepped in again, but what really hurt was that plenty of other customers found it around the $3.80 mark as well. Before you knew it we were losing money on the race.”
War Eternal cost Ponybet around $2,000 before Sandown briefly steadied the ship.
“We got ourselves back on track pretty quickly, but then Sydney absolutely stripped us out,” Jupp said.
“I think we won two races all day. Every other result seemed to go against us.”
The biggest damage came via Thebudgiesmugla in the Queen Elizabeth Cup (race 8).
“Once you factored in the multis and exotics, that horse ended up costing us about $14,000.”
Fortunately, Victoria proved kinder.
Sandown generated a solid result overall, although heavily backed favourites Clevor Trever and Thebelmontgangster both saluted.
“Clevor Trever was probably the most popular horse of the day for our customers and Thebelmontgangster wasn’t far behind,” Jupp said.
“We laid plenty of money on both of them and Thebelmontgangster alone cost us around $4,500.”
South Australia continued a recent trend of being bookmaker-friendly.
“South Australia has been very good to us since the end of the carnival and Saturday was no different.”
Back at Eagle Farm, the feature races provided some welcome relief.
“The two we really didn’t want in the Dane Ripper were Gerrigong and She’s Got Pizzazz,” Jupp said. But the punters got the better of Ponybet with the latter winning.
“Another on-course bookie, Mick Harrak, and I joke we should start a tipping service called myworst.com because whatever we stand seems to fight out the finish.”
The JJ Atkins was dominated by support for the Chris Waller-trained Tron Bolt who started odds on after black figures were bet all week.
“Punters treated Tron Bolt like he was already over the line. He was the only horse in the race we were really losing on, so when he got beaten we knocked off about $6,500.”
The biggest swing came in the Stradbroke Handicap.
“We were losing on Fangirl, Private Eye, Another Wil, Sepals, Transatlantic and Warnie, so there were plenty of ways the race could have gone badly for us,” Jupp said.
“Instead, Spicy Martini won and it ended up being about a $10,000 result for the book.”
The Q22 was another positive result, with Half Yours the only real danger.
“I’ve heard plenty of discussion about the run, but when you dig into the sectionals it was actually a decent effort,” Jupp said.
“The horse just had no realistic chance from where it settled.”
A customer with $200 at $15 on Royal Supremacy and some First Four liabilities trimmed the profit, but the race still landed comfortably in Ponybet’s favour.
Belmont threatened to spoil the party after four races.
“We found ourselves in a $20,000 hole and it was looking ugly,” Jupp said.
“To finish the meeting only $12,000 down genuinely felt like a win.”
Elsewhere, Narrandera was the only losing country meeting, while Ireland delivered an $8,500 win and Sha Tin chipped in another $3,500.
The football codes were largely neutral, although results later in the weekend ensured punters would head into the World Cup and Royal Ascot with money in their pockets.
“It wasn’t one of those Saturdays where everything went our way, but they rarely are,” Jupp said.
“We won enough to keep the taxman happy and still had enough left over for a round of Spicy Martinis. As far as bookmaker Saturdays go, that’s a result you’ll take.”
