My Secret Santa gift - the ones to back in the two big festive handicaps

I'm going to say this pretty quietly so my wife and friends don't hear but I can't tell you how much I hate Christmas parties. The thought of standing around in a stupid jumper pretending to like people is not my idea of fun, and the worst bit is when the Secret Santa presents get handed out.

Socks is what I usually get and you should see the dirty looks I receive when I give out a betting slip with a £10 each-way double on it for the Christmas racing, even though on more than one occasion the lucky recipient has paid for their Christmas on the back of the recommendations.

I suppose it's not that exciting receiving a gift that more likely than not will amount to nothing, but compared to socks it's a winner surely.