Bad news guys – after four exhilarating days of fantastic jump racing at the Cheltenham Festival it’s the bookmakers who have come out on top, and this is also true for my charity bets.

‘Dave’s Donkeys’ were in the main aptly named, with only two winners and a few places from my 16 selections over four days.

The daily free bet I was given by Paddy Power was a ‘Yankee’, which consists of doubles, trebles and a four-fold.’ This meant I had to achieve two winners, or at least two placed, on the same day to receive any winnings.

Yesterday carried on where the previous days left off – Guitar Pete was placed third in the opening race and there were no other selections placed to go with it.

How many places I achieved is a slightly moot point – as in two races my choice finished fourth in large fields where some bookmakers paid out for fourth and some didn’t.

Unfortunately Mr Paddy Power was in the miserly camp on this occasion and didn’t pay out for fourth.

Now, I know he is usually a very generous man and I am hoping that, as any winnings go to benefit the wonderful Prospect Hospice, we might get him to bend the rules on this occasion.

I am going to enlist the help of Jackie, the wonderful manager of the Paddy Power shop in Bridge Street, to assist me to extract as much cash from the bulging Paddy Power satchels as possible.