Bet on bad weather for a good day out

ONE Saturday in early August, the sun was bright in Bournemouth, so we started out for coffee by the sea. A breeze picked up and so did our pace. We reached the pub and climbed the 117 steps to the top of West Cliff. A couple passed us racing to get to the sea. Then it suddenly started to rain. The poor things came rushing past us again, this time to get back to their car. We carried on — we had no choice. We finally cut through St Michael’s Road into town, and the first shop we came across was BetFred, so we hurried in to shelter from the rain. People were inside studying form. My husband and I rarely put bets on horses, but as it was the Goodwood races, we decided to have a go. We looked in our copy of the Daily Mail, then on the screens in front of us, and chose our horses and paid for our bets, taking the betting slips home. Later, we checked to see which horses had won and, would you believe, we had both chosen the same horse. It was Storm King winning at 25/1. When we checked the other races, my other horse, Soldier In Action, had won, too. I told the man at the counter when we went to pick up our winnings that I didn’t know anything about horses, I just liked their names. He said that’s the best way to pick them.

Mrs J. Juden, Bournemouth.