More Dogging

We celebrated Nick and Amy's 30th birthdays yesterday with a trip to Nottingham Greyhound Stadium.

We started in Revolution in Lincoln at about 2pm. They had reserved a private area and, as well as Nick & Amy, there was Mark & Naomi, Catherine (Amy's sister) and her partner (husband?) Martin, and me. At about four we were joined by Martin H and Jon. At five o'clock we headed to Unity Square to meet the bus that Nick had booked - there we met Will and Dean.

The bus took us to Hykeham first where we were picked up K, Lottie, Helen & Gareth, Phil and Ted & Yvette. So this merry band headed to Nottingham. On the way, I did the draw for the Euro 2008 sweepstake (see separate post to see who got what).

When we got to Nottingham we were met by Mark H who had been at Trent Bridge watching England thump the Kiwis. There was about 50 minutes before the first race of the evening so there was time to stock up on pie and chips and suss out the racecard. We had some novice doggers so I shared what little knowledge I have so that the mass of data started to make sense.

For each race, the on track tipster, known as The Hound, gives his tip on who he thinks will finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I decided to follow his tips on every race in a scientific experiment that would determine if there was yet another dog who was smarter than Jon. The Hound started badly with no wins from the first two races but Jon won nothing either so it was all square. On the other hand, Mark H was off to a flyer - his tactic was to bet on the dog with the longest odds. He got it right for the first three races in a row and was about £30 up straight off.

My tactic began to pay off as The Hound's tips began to improve. Overall, he managed to pick just under half of the winners. I was betting on the dog to finish in the top 2 so I wasn't winning much but I was gradually getting ahead and by race 13 I was three quid up. I won't be giving up work just yet but it has proved under scientific conditions that a two-dimensional cartoon dog is smarter than Jon.

In the last race (race 14), I decided to stop the experiment and bet on a dog called Baggie Babe (Baggy being the name of our cat), it was one of the favourites and I put £15 to win with a bookie called MS Racing. I got 5/2 so would have collected about £50 if it had won. It finished fourth. Nuts.

Bus took us home and Martin led the bawdy singing on the bus. We enjoyed many lovely old hymns including "I want to be a Harrows cricketer", "We're the left side of the bus" and "Beastiality's Best". The bus driver kindly did several drops around town so we all got home easily. It was a top day and night out. Thanks Nick and Amy and Happy Birthday.