Gallop of hope: All Is Green’s debut and the reality check of racing

So, I bought a couple of shares in a horse. Again. Her name is All Is Green. A beautiful little two-year-old filly with the most amazing personality.

When it comes to thoroughbred horses, the golden rule has always been to not expect a thing, because then you’ll always be pleasantly surprised. Theoretically, of course.

Yeah right. Try telling your children that Father Christmas has filed for bankruptcy and that they’ll have his milk and cookies as compensation for not delivering gifts. Expectation is ingrained in our DNA.

No person in the universe buys a motorcycle with the expectation or intention of breaking 10% of all the bones in their body. Hell no.

We dream of cruising around Chapman’s Peak with a hot blonde on the pillion wrapping herself around you, loving you more with every vibration from the purring 1 200cc engine.

ALSO READ: See It Again posts Met alert

And nobody in the world gets married hoping to get divorced. We stand in front of the pulpit, promising our partner the world, but silently hoping that he or she will have the patience and clarity of mind to remind the caregiver to change our adult diaper before we go to bed 60 years down the line.

But hey, hospitals and lawyers thrive on bikers and married folk, and not necessarily respectively. Back to my horse.

She lives a perfect life at Milnerton, galloping with Table Mountain as backdrop and the smell of the Atlantic in her flaring nostrils.

On Saturday, she made her debut. It was a big day at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth, with a number of feature races, including a Grade 1 event.

For those who don’t know how racing works, Grade 1 races are like Formula 1. Only the best and most expensive.

ALSO READ: A man has to keep his cool

All Is Green ran in the first race which, compared to Formula 1, was an under-16 schoolgirl cart-race. Nine horses in the field, so theoretically she had a one in nine chance of winning, was my thinking.

What I forgot, is that she also had a one in nine chance of finishing last. And she did. Stone last.

Despite the disappointment, it was a fantastic day out at the races, and I am sure All Is Green will improve and prove to be a winner.

Next time, my expectations will undoubtedly be more realistic.