For patriotic Irish punters, there was nothing for it but to join the British against the common enemy
It was only the middle of the second day, and already the bookies were declaring victory. "I will not be going home a loser now," admitted Ellen Martin, her Cork accent even more mellifluous than usual as she struggled to cover up her happiness.
She was speaking after Well Chief became the latest short-odds favourite to lose, crashing out at the second fence in the Champion Chase, and further straining the seams of the turf accountants' satchels.
"I was actually disappointed for the punters there, because they didn't get a run for their money at all," she added.
You know things are bad when the bookies start feeling sorry for you. But her sympathy didn't extend to giving any of the winnings back. Gesturing towards her bagful of profit, Martin explained her tactics for the remainder of the meeting: "I'm building a wall around it."
After Tuesday's succession of long-odds winners, yesterday's opening race should have marked the punters' fightback. Aran Concerto was the official Irish banker of the meeting, and there were stories of punters with contingency plans to fly home two days early if he didn't win. Maybe that's why Michael O'Leary looked so relaxed as he strolled around the parade ring. Ryanair couldn't lose either way.
The thousands who had backed Aran Concerto were not so laid back. From early morning, it was obvious there was a run on the banker. There were rumours that the horse was "edgy" in his box. And his backers were edgy too. Aran Concerto's price drifted until his calm appearance in the parade ring. Whereupon, like stock market traders reacting to better than expected inflation results, the punters bought into him anew, adding to their subsequent losses.
Trainer Noel Meade was philosophical when the horse could only finish fifth. You had to be "or you'd go nuts", he commented, unable to explain why his star had underperformed. But for patriotic Irish punters, there was now nothing for it but to abandon nationalism and join English punters in a common war against the class enemy.
Denman was the home team's surest thing: his co-owner - professional gambler Harry Findlay - having backed him to win "just under a million pound", by his own calculation. And the Banker of England did not disappoint, galloping his rivals into submission long before the finish. But two out of three is never bad, and when Well Chief hit the ground early in the feature race, the day - and probably the meeting - had swung in favour of the bookmakers.
From Ballincollig but now living in Kilteale - home of hurling star Joe Deane - Ellen Martin has become a cult figure at Cheltenham, thanks to her frequent TV appearances with Channel 4's over-the-top betting expert John McCririck. The rose in the betting ring's briar patch, she mixes feminine charm with all the cuteness you'd expect of a Cork person who is also a bookmaker.
When she grumbled on air yesterday that her pitch in the third row of the bookies' stands was not attracting enough business, the effect was as dramatic as a Christmas charity appeal. Even after the Well Chief setback, punters were queuing up to throw money at her.