Next week on the 10th it will be a year to the day since the great man left this world for the celestial kitchen in the sky and it has given me the oomph to blog about one of the saddest and funniest weeks of my life. Hopefully the following tale will make you smile.
Dennis had urged me to start writing as he reckoned my tales would be a good read, especially about the days out racing which normally ended up with some sort of twist or drama, but I will save those for another day.
Dennis was bravely battling cancer and the speed that it had ravaged him was shocking because in the previous December whilst playing a round of golf, he'd played the best eighteen holes he had ever played with me. Still have the scorecard. He was in hospital when I got the email from Fleur Cushman, the editor of horse racing paper, The Racing Post Weekender.It was in response to a letter I had sent in asking to be one of their guest tipsters. She wanted five tips for the weekends racing to add to the profile I had sent in. Seeing as it was Dennis who had encouraged me, I was chuffed to bits to get an article in a national paper and was already planning to take the paper in and read it to him, whilst he was in hospital to cheer him up.
But at the 11th hour, Fleur sent me an email to say that due to space constraints there was no room to run my article that week and she would let me know in the future when it could go in. I was really disappointed, especially as I had spent most of the night studying the form and was sure it wouldn't happen.
During the following week after rallying bravely for a short while, Dennis took a turn for the worse and on the Friday night closed his eyes in utter exhaustion. On Sunday 10th April, Dennis sadly lost his brave battle, surrounded by his loving family. Devastated.
Just about as low as you can be, I felt an urge to check my emails late on Monday night after getting a gut wrenching feeling. Would you believe it, there was an email from Fleur saying, WE ARE ON! Please get your tips in by 10am Tuesday, no more than 500 words. Bloody hell, was up all night working on the form and managed to fire over the tips in time. I couldn't wait for the Wednesday when the paper was due out, I hadn't told anyone bar the wife and was as excited as a little kid!
I got the paper as early as I could and fair play to the editor, a full page spread, no adverts or pictures of horses, which they normally print with a guest tipster. They even put the photo I sent in, in its entirety. I'd sent in a holiday snap, thinking it would be cropped with just my ugly mug on show, but no, there was me, standing in a Brisbane bar with a wooden shark hanging over my head! The headline was a reference to a bet I had where I had five out of six winners for a near big win. I phoned everyone I knew to go and buy the paper and the laugh some of those had was just magic. I was walking around and just couldn't stop laughing. The feedback I got back was great and one of my workmates was treated as if he was mad, when buying the paper laughing his head off.
As I had tipped some horses, I had to go and have a bet. It was now, when the kind of twist of fate happened that I can't explain. Whilst in the bookies looking at the form, a horse's name leaped of the page. DENNIS THE LEGEND, 3.20 Exeter. I couldn't believe it and emptied my pockets, wallet and socks to scrounge every penny I had on me and lumped on just before the off. The horse ran like a drain, held up, reminders, hit 3 out, hung left, still a lot to to do approaching the last. But it was still going and even jumping the last had about 10 lengths to make up on the leader. Somehow the jockey galvanised the horse and he fairly flew up the run in. I had a feeling the result was never in doubt and sure enough Dennis got up virtually on the line and nailed the leader to win by a head. The commentator's roar of Dennis battling bravely on the run in, brought a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye. Won a few bob, Dennis was sure looking down at me at that moment, having read the article from his heavenly armchair.
The week carried on in that sort of vein and I was loving the attention, to be honest. The final twist was whilst out in Sutton Town centre on the Saturday, I bumped into an old pal and well known character from the Greyhound world, Terry Connolly, who I hadn't seen for a while. On him he had a Racing Post, here he says I got a tip for for you and opens his paper. Headline Act was his nap. I took him to the paper stand in Morrisons and gave him a copy of The Weekender, he opened it and on there in the paper was my photo and the headline of my near miss bet of £20,000! That's a proper Headline Act I told him. After him buying the paper, getting a girl from the breakfast counter to take a picture of us and making me sign it for him(my first ever autograph!) he went on his way to have a good read of the article.
Even managed to tip two winners, a second and a fourth from five tips.
Anyway, that's enough rambling on for one blog, but I can't believe its been a year since all of this happened and its all down to Dennis as without his encouragement, none of the above would have taken place.
Still miss our rounds of golf and very loud but enjoyable drink ups.
Still miss our rounds of golf and very loud but enjoyable drink ups.
Finally, I decided to post this blog a week before Dennis' anniversary and have just checked the results of today's racing, for some reason. The winner of the 4.00 at Kempton, Den's Gift at 10-1, spooky coincidence or something else? You can decide.
Thanks for memories Mr Allen, gone but not forgotten.
Randy.
