I DROPPED THE BALL, BIG TIME!

Ben Morgan scrummed down with some rugby stars – and ended up in the sin-bin

- Ben Morgan

The first quarter of the flat season seems to have dragged on forever this year and the wait for Royal Ascot has been excruciating and expensive.

A culmination of a once in a life time stag do, poor choices and very little luck has certainly put me on the back foot going into the middle of the summer as you are about to find out.

A mate of mine that I have known since school has enjoyed and still is enjoying a successful career in the world of rugby. Due to get married in the off season, his best man, knowing he loves racing, decided to book a lavish trip to a box at Epsom races on Derby day. A truly incredible experience which we all looked forward to.

Me, being the horse racing ‘expert’, carried a fair burden on my back as the whole party of 17 men were expecting me to provide high quality tips. I have plenty of confidence in my own ability and have enjoyed plenty of success in the past so with this in mind I would have laid you very long odds at the start of the weekend that I wouldn’t have had a single winner throughout the twoday Epsom meet. If only I had a fiver on that.

It all started in the Woodcote Stakes where Balon D’or (£20 win) was denied by a fast finishing Bobsleigh which led to me receiving an icy reception from all the lads as we arrived in to London.

A pattern started to develop as Orbaan (£10 e/w) could only plug on for fourth in the mile handicap next up and some members of the stag party probably lost an interest in my tipping at this point but some poor souls continued to stick with me for the remainder of the weekend.