A FOOTBALL favourite was not on the ball when it came to picking a fancy from a horseracing card.

Kevin Ball, the long-serving Sunderland midfielder, was guest of honour at the opening of a bookmakers' premises which serves a Durham housing estate.

The ex-Black Cats skipper was offered a free £250 charity bet to mark the launch of the new Reuben Page betting shop, the first on Newton Hall.

Ball, who is now on Mick McCarthy's coaching staff at the Stadium of Light, conceded that unlike many professional footballers he is not much of a punter.

So Reuben Page director Austin Carney suggested he should make a selection from one of the tipsters' picks in the morning racing papers.

He nailed his colours to the 'Nap of the Day' in the Racing Post, Rule Britannia, in Friday's 3.50pm at Ascot.

But the patriotic selection failed to live up to expectation and ended unplaced in the eight-race field in the O2 Handicap.

Mr Carney allowed the bet to still go to the charity of Ball's choice, benefiting the Grace House Hospice Appeal, in Sunderland, by £250.