RaceBets dish out £1,000 as industry insiders choose wisely

Hindsight can be a wonderful thing and as the Flat Turf season drew to close at Doncaster on Saturday, RaceBets confirmed that three of our seven industry insiders had landed their charity bets from earlier in the year when asked to select the leading domestic first-season sire by winners.

Trainer Karl Burke, Tom Goff of Blandford Bloodstock and agent Oliver St Lawrence had various reasons for choosing the late Tally-Ho Stud resident Society Rock and they were bang on the money, with the son Rock Of Gibraltar, at odds of 7-1, supplying 22 winners in Britain and Ireland up to November 11.

Burke split his stake between Society Rock and Havana Gold. Remarkably, he trained Society Rock colt Unfortunately and Havana Gold colt Havana Grey to finish first and second in the Prix Morny - and both are currently the best performers on Racing Post Ratings for their respective sires.

Lethal Force, who ended the Flat Turf season with 18 winners, could have saved RaceBets' bacon while the third-placed Havana Gold, with 16 winners, would also have warranted a juicy payout if he had won.

£1,000 will now be split between Macmillan Cancer Support, the Injured Jockeys Fund and Racing Welfare.

"Society Rock took an early lead and to be honest, we could see the writing on the wall from a very early stage," said a RaceBets spokesman.

"He was very well supported by various well-respected names within the industry. The Society Rocks just seemed to be very sharp and it was noticeable that most were well-backed on their debuts too, which is always a positive sign.

"It was a little surprising to us that a son of Rock Of Gibraltar was followed home by a son of Teofilo in such a contest but the beauty of this game is that none of us really know!"

Top first-season sires in Britain and Ireland (as at November 11)

What they said back in March...

Karl Burke, trainer

Selections: Society Rock (7-1) and Havana Gold (14-1)
Charity: Macmillan Cancer Support

Society Rock is my pick as I have four of them and they're horses I like. I think he's going to be a big loss as they look very sharp. I've got two Havana Golds as well, and I like them too. That's the only reason I've picked them and I'll split the stake.

Tom Goff, Blandford Bloodstock
Selection: Society Rock (7-1)
Charity: Injured Jockeys Fund

I think the progeny of Camelot were outstanding at the sales last year and he does, I'm sure, have a great chance of being a very good stallion in time. But I'm going to go for Society Rock. He has plenty of two-year-olds to run for him; they looked very sharp and the vibe I get from quite a few trainers is strong.

Oliver St Lawrence, bloodstock agent
Selection: Society Rock (7-1)
Charity: Racing Welfare

Given the bet is settled on individual winners, I'm going for Society Rock. He has a good number of two-year-olds to run for him and won twice himself as a juvenile. I think his progeny were more forward looking than many of his competitors' offspring.

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