The Marine Society & Sea Cadets

MacDara Breathnach

Last weekend, we had a charity horse racing night onboard the British Trader. It was a chance for us to unwind and to lose some money.

I am sure that you are asking yourselves as to how we have a horse racing night. For a start, we have six horses onboard (not real ones) and we have a racetrack. Each horse has a number from one to six. The horses move by throwing five dice, and when the horse's number is thrown it is then moved.

Money is put on each horse and then the bookmaker calculates the odds and takes some money for charity. The money made by the bookmaker was donated to "The Wooden Spoon Society"; a charity that supports mentally, physically and socially disadvantaged children and young people.

Our resident bookmaker for the night was Paul, our Gas Engineer. Picking the winning horse is all a matter of luck.... or so we thought. After three races it was decided to change the dice as the number 2 horse had won all the races.

The fourth race was the Donkey Derby. This is won by the horse that comes last. Yet again it was the number 2 horse, which won by coming last. This would be a telling factor in the owner's race.

The last race of the night was the owner's race. The six horses are up for sale and everybody bids against each other. The winning owner wins all the money from the sale of the horses. The bidding was fierce and some of the horses went for a good price and some of them were sold for a prayer (metaphorically speaking).

The number 2 horse was sold for the most money, which was a surprise as it had come last in the previous race. I managed to buy the number 3 horse, I had studied the horse's form and I made my purchase based on her form.

Once they were all sold it was time to get the horses lined up. The starting "gun" was shot and they were off to a thunderous roar. The number 3 horse came in at a canter to take the winnings for its proud owner (ME!!!).

It was a great win and the winnings will be useful when I pay off!

Once I got everyone to talk to me again it was time for the after races concert. Our resident bookmaker/Gas Engineer/singer started us off on the karaoke, and that turned into a competition as well. I'm glad to inform you all that I won the singing too. After that I retired to my bed as champion, and I have not stopped gloating since.