Gamble goes west as quartet all beaten

Sheena West: quartet of short-priced horses all finished down the field
PUNTERS who latched onto a plot on Thursday were left short-changed as the quartet of short-priced Sheena West horses were all beaten out of sight following market support in the morning.

The quartet, all owned by permit trainer Daniel Steele, were cut from big prices to short-odds favouritism with bookmakers warning darkly of multi-million pound liabilities as word of the plunge spread on social media.

Yet it was followers of the plot who ended the day with empty pockets after the gamble went badly awry.

Lucky 15 bets and four-folds were not going to collect maximum dividends after Fintan, who had been backed into 6-4 from 6-1 for the 2m4f hurdle at Wincanton, dropped out of contention a long way from home and was pulled up.

This was a taste of what was to come and the other three horses in the gamble began drifting markedly as maximum liabilities were slashed.

Half an hour later Landscape delivered an equally underwhelming performance in another 2m4f handicap hurdle, with followers left hoping for a Polytrack double to gain some compensation.

Labouring at Lingfield

Over at Lingfield, Tee It Up Tommo travelled well into the straight but found little for pressure to finish at the rear of the field.

With three legs downed it was left to the last of the West-trained horses, Well Painted, to salvage something from the day.

Sent off 5-1 joint-favourite, Well Painted duly failed to oblige his beleagured backers and finished dead last.

In the end, the four horses in the gamble finished pulled up, last, second last and last.

All four riders - Marc Goldstein, Mattie Batchelor, William Twiston-Davies and Miss M E Spencer - were interviewed by the stewards, although no action was taken.

Although Steele confirmed he had backed the four horses in multiple bets, he informed the public in the morning that "no big money was down".

The gamble was clearly limited in scope, with Betfair exchange prices much larger than those offered in the shops, but it was a case of burnt fingers and back to the drawing board for the Sussex duo.