Tommo tips a treble!

Earlier today I was alerted to the fact that Derek 'Tommo' Thompson and former Flat jockey Richard Fox were opening a new Betfred shop in Coventry city centre. I've been trying to keep out of betting shops recently, what with the credit crunch and Mrs Tips badgering me all the time to switch the heating on, but this just seemed like too good an opportunity to miss, so I popped in during the dinner hour to check out the fun. There were plenty of free bets up for grabs with Tommo asking punters (mostly) racing questions and Mr. Fox chipping in with a sly quip here and there. The double act liberally interspersed their well-rehearsed racing stories with advertisments for Tommo's tipping line. At one point punters were asked to guess which famous film Foxie had recently appeared in. The wags suggested Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, E.T. and Lord of the Rings but it turns out Mr. Fox has doubled for Ron Weasley in one of the Harry Potter movies. Tommo's tour-de-force was to walk the office, pointing out his four best bets of the day. Bless my old boots, three of them obliged - Ouqba at Salibury (15/8f), Enticement at Nottingham (11/4f) and Stevie Junior at Kempton (4/7f). His other selection, Damini (evens favourite), came in fifth. Apparently the Channel Four presenter expects something of a surprise in Sunday's Arc but for details of that you'll have to ring his (premium-rate) phone line number nearer the time. I'm currently considering that option...