Patricia Hodge is used to backing a winner.
In a private enclosure at Brighton Racecourse, the veteran purveyor of cut-glass Englishness on stage and screen holds court at a large table with her winnings placed carefully in front of her.
As one of the guests of honour at the inaugural Dandy Dick Theatre Royal Brighton atgtickets.com Fillies' Handicap Stakes, Hodge got to select the best-looking horse before the race. Afterwards, she presented the trophy to the winner, along with co-star Nicholas Le Prevost and the rest of the cast of the play that gave the race its name. She even managed to have a flutter herself. That a handsome steed named National Hope was favoured by Hodge in these pursuits may suggest some kind of insider trading, but she'll never be a millionaire.
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