Betting at races as brisk as the weather

The Minister for Agriculture was trying to pick his first winner of the day at Leopardstown when a woman approached him and, in between showering him with good wishes, sprinkled him with holy water as well.

It would have been nice, in yesterday's temperatures, if the water had been heated. Even so, it was just what Joe Walsh needed, having just backed Alexander Banquet to win the feature race and spoil what had so far been a happy Christmas for the bookmakers.

Unfortunately, the woman didn't get near enough the parade ring to sprinkle the horse. He clearly needed it more than the Minister; and it was curses rather than blessings that accompanied him as he tramped home in the mud, a distant fourth.

The going was officially soft to heavy - a description that also fitted many of the St Stephen's Day race-goers - and, as Joe Walsh said ruefully, the ground was "throwing a lot of them out". But at least one member of the Cabinet was faring a little better.

This year's Christmas card from the Department of Finance featured a betting docket from "McCreevy" bookmakers with the message, "Rudolf to win (by a red nose)". Rudolf wasn't running at Leopardstown, in fact, but Mr McCreevy was there anyway. And in answer to the obvious question - had he blown his Budget? - he admitted backing the day's only winning favourite, John Magical.

That apart, he must have been a proud man yesterday at the influence of his recent largesse, as the huge attendance indulged in a record give-away.

In the biting cold, people did what they could to warm themselves up, and the most popular exercise was clambering over other people to throw money at the bookies. Such was the press of bodies that bets were still going on races with the horses already half-way around the first circuit.

As the sixth race got under way, a Belfast voice on the Sean Graham stand tried to calm the crowd: "Stop pushing, lads, yiz'll all get on." He was right. They all got on, and still had time to watch 20-1 shot Florida Light pass the winning post in silence.

Official figures showed attendance up 2,000 on last year, to 16,221; tote takings up more than £100,000 to £376,403; and ring takings up a whopping half-million to £1,203,976. In the orgy of gambling, one woman even lost her engagement ring.

One other politician who backed a winner yesterday was Labour's Joan Burton, who had a small, unspecified bet on 4-1 shot Tryphaena, along with £1 from her daughter, Aoife. On a roll, the Burtons somehow resisted the temptation to back an outsider called Joan Knows Best in the last race, preferring the favourite, and they briefly regretted it when the long-shot led towards home.

It faltered, eventually, but so did the favourite. A 10-1 winner saw one more flurry of losing dockets float ground-wards, and as the crowd cleared it was obvious it had been yet another white Christmas in the betting ring.