AGAINST THE ODDS:For Vinny Fitzpatrick Saturday afternoons from mid-November until mid-April mostly meant one thing - racing.

ON A filthy Saturday afternoon, all rapier wind, stinging rain and winter chill, Boru Betting was a haven of hope for the gambling fraternity of Dublin 3.

It was a melting pot of minds and wallets, of whippersnappers and old codgers, the hobnobs and the skint, who would arrive light of heart and leave, mostly, light of pocket.

It was only a short walk from Clontarf bus garage to Boru Betting but the stiff south-westerly gale meant Vinny Fitzpatrick, eyes watering, nose running, was puffing hard by the time he took refuge in a familiar world.

For Vinny, Saturday afternoons from mid-November until mid-April mostly meant one thing: racing.

He loved the thrill of the chase, in every sense, and nothing gave him greater pleasure than spending two or three hours plotting, picking, punting and praying.

Being in the bookies was, for him, more enjoyable than playing the odds on his lap-top at home.

Here, among his fellow dreamers, in front of a bank of screens showing Racing UK, At The Races and Channel 4, all emotions were on the line, not on-line.

If the spotty youth in the corner was on the same horse, you instantly became soul mates, at least until the next race.

Or if the resident curmudgeon bemoaned an appalling ride from a jockey on a horse that you too had backed, you shared his discomfort and anger.

Before the off, especially a race in which he had an interest, Vinny would feel that customary tingle shoot through his fingers and toes; his heart would beat a little faster and adrenalin would course through his veins.

To him, there was no better place to be, not even next door in Foley's having a pint with the lads, or a romantic night with fiancée Angie, who was off duty this Saturday having gone shopping in Newry with her sister.

Given one last day on Planet Earth, Vinny would pass it in the bookies on a wintry Saturday. Given two, he'd go on the batter with the lads followed by a canoodle with Angie.

On this day, Vinny, against the odds, had one of his better afternoons. A slavish devotee of the Paul Nicholls-Ruby Walsh partnership, Vinny put six of Walsh's seven rides at Wincanton into a 50 cent Heinz, which consisted of 57 bets, including 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-timers, six five-folds and an accumulator. It didn't matter that the selections were all tight prices; for Vinny an even-money winner was better than a long-odds second any day.

He needed three wins to break even; but got four as Walsh booted home Tchico Polos (5/4), Oracles des Mottes (3/1), Breedsbreeze (4/6) and Express Leader (2/1) turned his €28 stake into a little over €80.

As a bonus, he'd put a score on his beloved Everton to beat West Ham and allowed himself a little chuckle as three late goals at Upton Park increased his profits for the day.

After five o'clock, as the regular crew shifted back into the real world, Vinny was about to cash in his chits when the channel switched to rugby.

At first, he couldn't place the venue but then he heard the commentator mention Thomond Park and it clicked, Ireland were about to play Canada.

Rugby, mostly, left Vinny lukewarm. It had done since his dad, Finbarr, took him to a club game at Castle Avenue some 40 years ago and spent the entire afternoon shouting "kick a head 'Tarf, any head". Vinny felt there was a sense of the inevitable about rugby, unlike soccer which could turn at any time, or National Hunt racing where the runaway leader could fall at the last.

Rugby was often decided inside half an hour which meant you didn't get much value, especially if you were a paying customer.

Another aspect of rugby which got under Vinny's flabby skin, was the way some of the lads, particularly Fran, whose sons went to a posh rugby school, would drone on about Ireland's world ranking and the team's chances in the World Cup.

As only seven or eight nations played the game to any decent level, what relevance did the world rankings have, wondered Vinny? As for the World Cup, you didn't have to qualify to be there and some of the lesser lights who made it to the finals probably wouldn't give Clontarf Thirds a decent game.

When Fran sat on his Heineken Cup hobby-horse, that tended to get up Vinny's hairy nostrils. Notwithstanding the fact that only four or five countries were involved in the competition, it irked him that Fran built up Munster and Leinster to be some sort of superpowers.

"As provinces, you'd expect them to beat club sides nine times out of 10 anyway," thought Vinny to himself. "If Blackrock played Wasps, it would put Fran back in his box."

As he watched Ireland run in three early tries, Vinny was miffed that he hadn't had a bet on Ireland to score seven tries or more as that would have given him an interest.

Turning to leave Boru Betting at half-time, he overheard the commentator talk about Ireland having to play a lot better against the All-Blacks the following Saturday.

The All-Blacks. Now, there was a team worth watching, thought Vinny.

As he felt himself being buffeted along the promenade at Clontarf, Vinny's mind rewound to 1973 and the famous game between the Barbarians and the All-Blacks in Cardiff.

He could still see Phil Bennett's dummy under his own posts which sent half the All-Blacks in the direction of Swansea, sparking off a thrilling counter-attack.

And he could hear Cliff Morgan's immortal commentary. "Kirkpatrick to Williams. This is great stuff. Phil Bennett chased by Alastair Scown. Brilliant, oh that's brilliant! John Williams. Pullin. John Dawes, great dummy. To David, Tom David, the halfway line. Brilliant by Quinnell! To Gareth Edwards! A dramatic start! What a score!"

Thinking how his mostly hum-drum life had been enriched by that sporting moment in time, and that maybe rugby wasn't so boring after all, Vinny threw a little shimmy as he turned into Causeway Avenue.

Bets of the week

3pts New Zealand (-11 pts) to beat Ireland (10/11, Paddy Powers)

1pt e.w. Piraya in Paddy Power Gold Cup (11/1, Paddy Power)

Vinny's Bismarck

3pts Lay Longford to beat Wexford Youths (Evens, Boylesports, liability 3ts)