The bookies win again.

The bookies were cracking open the champagne tonight as they calculated their ante post gains on the withdrawal of longtime short-odds favourite Teofilo from the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket next Saturday.

I, on the other hand, was crying in my beer as I calculated my lost winnings on this racing certainty. I had €35 @ 16/1 on Jim Bolger’s colt to win the Guineas, the bet placed before he won the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh last year. After that victory his ante-post odds were cut to as little as 7/4.

Bolger had reported that the horse suffered a minor training setback in recent weeks, but had expressed confidence, until today, that the horse would be right for the big race.

Not my week with the long-term bets, I had €10 @ 15/1 on Man Utd to win the Champions League, but they were unceremoniously dumped out last night by a much better team. That was another good night's work for the bookies, I suspect.

Just as well I never expected to make my fortune at the bookies expense.