Chinese and Eights

 

The Olympics will open at 8:08 on the 8th of the 8th, 2008.

Perhaps they will be lucky as eight is the Chinese lucky number!

Twenty years ago, my late wife, Celia, had a horse called Golden Panda, who she had named after a Chinese friend’s restaurant in Ipswich. On the 8th of the 8th, 1988, Golden Panda ran in a handicap at Nottingham. Given a superb ride by Steve Cauthen, she won easily at odds of twelve to one.


Some Chinese restaurateurs couldn’t hold back and there were rumours of bookmakers losing large sums of money. Whether these were true or not, I do not know, but we did get lots of free meals!