A good day made considerably worse by Sky.

It was entirely my fault. I’m knackered, goggle-eyed from too much screen-time, and blighted at the moment with a lack of confidence, punting-wise.

Earlier this week, the late, great John Carrington’s estate ran CELTIC ART under the careful stewardship of Jeremy Scott, with Arty hosing up at Taunton at 12s. Carrers’ widow had called to say it was running; Madame was going to Taunton in any event to see the Hot to Trot team catch a small pearler. So she, the estate, the cat’s mother, and, for all I know, the last remaining tribespeople, entirely unconnected to the outside world in the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea, were all on it.

But not I… ‘cos I was trying to fix computers, mixed up my times and missed the race.

Then, over the last 24 hours, I was told not once but four times by different sources that FINAL ORDERS was strongly fancied. Then Ruby interviewed Keith Donoghue, who has won more XC races at Cheltenham than anyone else, in one of those excellent Irish interviews where they’re speaking a form of English that is almost redacted in the mouth, lest some trade secret slips out - despite having just been directly asked what the secret is. And he still told us he fancied the socks off it.

I had also tipped you off, gentle readers.

I then backed it, going down to the start, and, in a moment of foolishness, assumed that Skybet was paying B.O.G., so I backed it at 10/1. Three minutes later, it won at 16/1 thanks to a massive punt on the runner-up, which sliced the market. HUZZAH!!!

No, because I was paid 10s because Skybet don’t do BOG. Skybet is, of course, part of Flutter, which also owns Paddy Power, Betfair, Timeform and several other major global gambling sites.

So, before I go any further, do have a look at the following link to Tax Policy Associates, which, in brief, outlines the taxation jiggery-pokery that Paddy and the boys initiated in Malta and which was uncovered some three weeks ago, by ITN.

Two weeks ago, we had that appalling budget and the Archbishop of Flutter, the Holier-Than-Thou Kevin Harrington, Flutter’s UK and Ireland chief executive, said the Budget’s tax increases were

“...a very disappointing outcome and will have a significant adverse impact on our industry. The Chancellor rightly wants to address harm, but these changes will hand a big win to illegal, unlicensed gambling operators who will become more competitive overnight. These black market operators don’t pay tax and don’t invest in safe gambling. At 40%, the UK’s remote gaming duty is now above countries such as the Netherlands, where a recent tax increase saw a rise in illegal gambling and a fall in government receipts.”

He added that “...through both our scale and leading position in the UK, as well as the proactive cost initiatives that we are taking...” the firm is “...well placed to navigate” the changes.

They’re screwing us out of at least £25m, and me for almost £100.

So what should I have done?

The answer, of course,