A couple of weeks ago, for Jacqui’s birthday, I went to my first outing to the greyhound races at Harold’s Cross. I didn’t do too badly, and on Saturday, at the pub, I was telling about the event. The folks that I met up with were fairly receptive (as I told the story and crocheted on my Ambitious Project at the same time) and we had a few good laughs.

Well, I had mentioned I needed to go sort of early because I had to work on Sunday – and shortly thereafter, the place became more crowded and the bartender came round and put a flyer on the table. Little did I know, I’d popped down to the Bell on the Boys and Girls club Annual “horse race” fund raiser.

How it worked was that they had several races from a few years ago – and had edited them in such a way that they would be played on the big screen that they had set up at the back of the bell. Each horse was given a “new” name, and we would place bets on the horses according to which ones we thought would win. The pre-recorded races were run, and the local DJ announced the race over the speakers in the Bell – from beginning to end. The races didn’t take long – and the betting pool and prizes varied depending on the race chosen. There were 9 races in total, with the last race being the winners of the previous 8 races – and the grand total prize being ~300 euro.

Me personally, I only bet on the first race – horse number 3 – because I liked the randomness of its name – Sherry Baby.

The horse started off strong – and led up until the last seconds of the race – and then lost by a nose. The folks that were at my table were rather flabbergasted that my “random funny name” picking technique really did work – and congratulated me on the fact that the horse I picked was winning for 99.9% of the race. While they thought I should bet on the next couple races, I declined – and headed home, well satisfied that despite winning no money, the Boys and Girls Club had gotten a small donation.