Horses

Bet on us to win the handicap league I think it was the season when we signed Marcus bent and sold Rooney. We qualified for the champions league and I had 𧴜 at 18-1. Biggest bet that both I've placed and won.

I thought this thread was going to be "horses" as a metaphor for football teams, based on Mourinho's comment last season:

"The title race is between two horses and a little horse that needs milk and needs to learn how to jump. Maybe next season we can race."

But no. Turns out it's about horses as, er... horses.

I don't know much about the Gee-Gee's but I have seen a few Donkey's at Goodison during my time of watching. Won a couple of bob with my mates in 1984 with the correct score in the final but only enough to pay for a night of drinking and it was all spent by Sunday night.

But apart from that Final, I have stayed away from backing Everton and I could never ever bet against them no matter what the odds were - I would feel like a traitor if I cashed in on a defeat and I wouldn't want to jinx them if I backed the Blues' to win.

At times last season, I wish Mourinho would have been a little hoarse just so he would shut the fuck up now and then.

Good grief Andy. You come up with some crazy stuff. Don’t know where you’re going with this one.

You’re right. The great Brian Labone owned "Goodison." Won at least one decent race. "Gypsy Moth" sounds familiar. Not sure about the owner but wouldn’t be surprised if Bally had a piece of it. His best horse was Pick up Sticks. A real flyer. He also owned a piece of another good’un. Go Go Gunner.

Remember. Any pal of Mick Channon ended up with a horse, whether he wanted one or not. I saw him many times at various courses, including Ascot and Goodwood. Think of him next week during the Glorious Goodwood Festival. He was always there with Mick.

My best football / racing pal was Alan Hudson when we both lived in Stoke. We didn’t win much but had a great laugh. He also introduced me to a Bookie who funded me for my first London show. (6 months earlier a one armed artist whose work featured in the movie 9½ weeks, whispered in my ear, "Harry, you’ll never be the Pope in Stoke on Trent." I knew it was a big hint for me to head for The Smoke, which I did, and never looked back.) OK, it was nothing to do with owning a horse and Alan probably wouldn’t remember me now, but it’s a nice story.

Nothing to do with the Mighty Blues but 1987 I was working on a student training placement in Widnes as part of my degree from Sheffield.

The lads I was working with all went to the bookies at lunchtime and I usually went along.

Knowing nothing about horses and being skint, one time I picked these 4 horses with a "royal" theme with a 5p win lucky 15.

They were Regal Steel, Queen of Aragon, Rakaposhi King and Sir Harry Lewis. They all came in and I won 㿷 for an 83 pence bet.

I got daggers at the bookies.
Not won since!

Funny thing was, I was on my own on the train back to Liverpool. The money was rolled up in my jeans and I'd break into spontaneous laughter in front of a train load of strangers just thinking about it. People started moving away pretty quickly ......

Andy - I haven't a clue to be honest, well before my time. Great stories though.

Harold - so Kingman did it, and what a finish. Good news is I did the forecast - bad news is it only paid 7/10 - better a short odds winner than a long odds loser though, eh :)

As for backing Everton - the Coleman 1st goalscorer / score anytime odds in the first half of the season were the best bets across the Premier League - pennies from heaven.

Andy, Brian Labone did own a horse called Goodison. I had the great good fortune to drink with Brian a fair few times in the late nineties early noughties in the white Star pub in Button Street, near Cavern Walks. It was a Red Shite pub and is twinned with all sorts of Norwegian pubs, but they used to open early to accommodate Brian who had a'round' of pubs he liked to visit each day. He was talking about his horse and my mate, Barry, had backed it and won a few bob. Brian was delighted at this. He was a real gent and spent his time talking about Everton to anyone who wanted to talk.

If you ever go into the pub, you'll see a photo of Brian on the wall in his Everton blue . They put it up when he died. Quite a tribute in a RS pub to areal true blue gent,

I'm with Kev, not what I thought it was going to be!

Remember being in a taxi in 1995 and the driver was a blue who said he'd had a bet on us to win the FA Cup. Was just before the 3rd round and we were struggling in the league. 50/1 he got. Dumbass that I am, I said I'd wait to see if the odds went out any further.

Still, had Rideout to score first in the final.