16 JUNE 1979, Page 17

Frustrated

Sir: It was inevitable, I suppose, that the week that my erstwhile drinking and marching partner, Jeffrey Bernard, finally tipped the winner of the Derby my newsagent would fail to deliver our Spectator. I have been waiting for Jeff to pull it off for more years than I care to number and when at long last he gets it right I am on some shtoomer with three legs that drifts home tenth with Lester Piggott laying about on its back.

I did not learn that Jeff had given Troy until it was all over bar the chagrin and choked sobs and I am now seriously thinking about suing Menzies, Foley Street W1 branch, for my £15 stake money plus six times that amount in special damages. Frank Norman 5 Seaford Court, 220 Great Portland Street, London W1