A PUB landlord may have just jinxed England’s hopes of winning Euro 2024 – with the cheeky name of a horse race he’s sponsored.
Brave Matt Bailey, who runs the Par Inn, Cornwall, is confident Gareth Southgate’s side can go all the way.
So much so that he has named a race he’s sponsoring at Newton Abbot on Monday the ‘Well Done England Euro Champions 2024 Handicap Chase’.
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It comes after another Newton Abbot punter sponsored a race with a name celebrating his divorce.
The Three Lions face the Netherlands in the semi-final tonight after Spain saw off France 2-1 in the other semi on Tuesday night.
Bailey says he’ll look a ‘genius’ if England win the whole thing – but is well aware of how it could come back to haunt him.
He said: “We’ve also got the Par Inn race before this and then the England race. Normally all the races I sponsor will have Par Inn in them, but I thought let’s push the boat out and see how we go.
“I wanted people to know after Wednesday really, but we obviously had to put the race name in before then and it’s a case of fingers crossed now.
“It will be lovely if Gareth Southgate does his team talk on Wednesday, or even Sunday and says Matt from the Par Inn has sponsored a race in our name and we’ve got to go prove him right.
“I wouldn’t say it’s home and hosed but I’m keen for us to have some good vibes – we’ve not played well so far and hopefully this is something good to think about.
“If it comes in then I’m a genius and if it doesn’t, it’s something we can all have a laugh about.
“We just wanted to have a bit of fun and it’s a bit of publicity for the pub, it shows we’re out there and it’s just fun.”
England were long-time favourites to win the Euros but can be backed at as big as 7-4 to beat the Dutch tonight.
Bailey is hoping he proves to be a lucky charm – and is looking forward to even inviting the team down to his local Devon track.
He added: “I’ve been in the pub 15 years and we’ve sponsored at least one race a year in that time.
“This is the fourth race I have sponsored at Newton Abbot this year and I have a great relationship with the racecourse.
“There aren’t many pubs nowadays that follow racing like we do and they support us and we support them and we just have a good time basically.
“I would argue, as pubs in Cornwall go, we’re the most dedicated racing pub.
“We have racing on everyday, we have people in watching everyday and Cheltenham week is my biggest week in the pub every year.
“Perhaps if England win, Gareth and the lads can join me at Newton Abbot to present the trophy with their trophy!”
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