Bets are down as Charlie shows true colours

There was a sobering start to the Leopardstown Christmas festival when, in the first race, connections of a horse called Santa's Girl were hauled before the stewards.

Like a well-known Laplander, stewards are responsible for finding out who's been naughty. And after making a video, and checking it at least twice, they invited the trainer and jockey of Santa's Girl to explain a lacklustre performance.

Their verdict on the explanations was "Bah, humbug," or words to that effect, and a seven-day ban for the jockey. Between that and early-morning rain, the Yuletide spirit took a bit of a dousing at the south Dublin track. But wins for three well-backed favourites eventually restored faith in the magic of Christmas.

The December 26th fixture is traditionally a charity event in aid of Ireland's hard-pressed bookmakers, many of whom have not turned a profit since Christmas Eve. On St Stephen's Day, they hang their prices out like stockings, inviting naïve, once-a-year race-goers to give generously. And for the first three races yesterday, punters did just that. Leopardstown has an unfamiliar look these days, having lost part of its circuit to the M50 motorway en route to Carrickmines. But it was business as usual on the track, when the first three favourites finished somewhere between the slow lane and the hard shoulder.

Punters' luck underwent a Scrooge-like conversion in the fourth, however, when Honest Yer Honour landed a big gamble to win. After that, the bookies were hit by a bus: the one that carried 24 supporters of a horse called Central House, from the Wicklow village of Shillelagh. The reserved enclosure was anything but reserved as roars of "Come on, Shillelagh!" greeted the 9/4 favourite's success in the feature race.

The horse is co-owned by John Kenny, sharing its name with his pub. Asked what winning the Novice Steeplechase meant to him, he said: "a dream come true, and a big session". Only four of the eight horses finished the race, which proves that Leopardstown is not a place for dodgy jumpers. Even so, the ever-courageous Charlie McCreevy was wearing a new red one. It was probably just a Christmas present, but the subliminal message (Minister for Finance in red!) seemed to worry race-goers, and betting was €300,000 down on last year.