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As I mentioned to Alchemist, below, if you buy tomorrow’s Weekender it will give you the entries and times of races. You may be able to do some form summary on RP but will be sketchy unless Hunter Chasing or under rules a while ago.
The declarations won’t be made until 45 minutes before racing and the racecard will have a potted form guide and rating.
Not sure if your area has a specialist website. In East Anglia the website has a very well written preview page for each meeting with decent tips.<br>
LOL
Yes there is bookies its a cracking day out the track is fair but at the same time weird-can be good to firm in the homestraight heavy on the bends!!!!
but usually very very busy
Grasshopper, Balcormo is a few miles north of Leven. If you head from Leven towards St Andrews, you are sure to see some signposts off to the left around Lundin Links. There will be around 10 to 15 bookmakers offering the usual poor value odds catering mainly for casual £5 punters. Like most P to P meetings its a great day out and mainly a social rather than betting occasion.
The course has been watered this week and the going should be close to good. The declarations are announced about 20 minutes before each race. If Wise Man is running it will win the Ladies Open although if there is lots of rain at Perth it will run there instead.<br>
Don’t forget to buy a racecard, it should only cost a couple of quid and gives you a complete list of all entries with a form comment below each horse (which happen to have been written by yours truly – no responsibility is being held for the accuracy or any loss of cash).
The runners in the racecard are those that were made at the initial entry stage on Monday and final declarations are only made 45 minutes before every race, so it would help to have a few pens or highlighers handy. As Wallace said, there should be plenty of bookies but don’t expect to get any fancy prices, betting to around 150% generally constitutes "value" at your regular P2P meeting. The most important thing, especially at this time of year, is to follow the money as the locals will know the form and the horses like the back of their hands.
There are seven races on the card, starting at 2pm. As you say, many of the runners will be unfamiliar to you, especially in the maidens, but many of the horses in the better class races should be more recognisable, especially if you have followed low grade Northern jumps racing over the last few years. In all honesty the standard of entry there on Saturday is moderate. The Mens Open and the Club Members races look set to be the most competitive, Lord Who has been in outstanding form this year and will be the one to beat if turning up for the former race.
However, probably the most interesting entry is a certain Leopard Spot (entered in the 8yo+ Maiden and the Members). Those of you with long memories would remember him costing 6 million Francs as a yearling, finishing third in the Chesham and fifth in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud for Aidan O’Brien, then going jumping with increasingly minimal effect for Jonjo O’Neill, Ian Semple and finally with Lucinda Russell. He is now nine and has still yet to win a race of any nature – who would have thought back in 2001 that half a dozen years later he would be coming up against the mighty Tam (a lumbering Irish draught-cross), Tandawizi and Venture To Fly in a Members race in the badlands of Scotland?
Hopefully the course will try and provide decent ground and avoid last year when the ground was extremely hard and only 22 turned up for the seven races (including one walkover and three two runner races). As far as I can remember there is plenty of watering going on at the moment, so fingers crossed.
Enjoy it – we’ll make a P2P nut out of you yet!
HJ, We southern softies, who may get a nosebleed if we ventured up to Balcormo, are off to Fakenham PtP on Sunday.
With all your copious form research have you any good things for me?!
(Edited by Adrian at 2:25 pm on April 25, 2007)
Adrian, I’m sure you know the ins and outs of the East Anglian form far better than me!!
Actually, I haven’t looked at the West Norfolk entries very closely. I see that Millington has made a job lot of entries, which should be fun watching round there, but that’s about as far as its got so far. I may have a closer look tomorrow.
HJ, without appearing to be too mean one of my most memorable point to point races of recent years was at this West Norfolk fixture in 2004.
In the 8yo+ maiden there were 5 starters with A Fine Story the 11/8 favourite. The jolly was already well clear (one of the outsiders had refused at the 3rd) when his nearest pursuer fell at the 15th.
Unfortunately A Fine Story, by then a distance clear, himself capsized at the 16th!
This left only two standing – Macrobert’s Reply, ridden by Mr Millington, and his stable companion Society Scandal, ridden by Patrick’s then groom Miss L Fear (who’d never ridden a winner).
Macrobert’s Reply was left in the lead until Mr Millington started riding him in his own inimitable fashion from 2 out. Society Scandal, who had not finished in front of another horse that season and who has rarely completed since, came to win his race at the last, under a cool ride, and drew clear.
A 1-2 for Mr Millington but unfortunately he’d chosen the wrong one to ride!<br>
Absolutely priceless Millington anecdote, Adrian!
More through luck than skill, mine and the Orange Man of Market Harborough’s paths have yet to cross this season despite lots of trips to the races, though his brother did accidentally drop a racecard on my head from the stewards’ box at Dingley earlier in the season.
Tempting as the 15-hour round trip from Hitchin undoubtedly is, I shall be foregoing the charms of Balcormo Mains in favour of a first ever trip to Parham on Saturday, then doing girlfriendy things the day after.
HJ beat me to the punch, though – if Wise Man turns up at Balcormo rather than Perth, it ought to be a matter of how far. It’s good to see the Alexander family having another upturn in fortune with this veteran, having lost their most progressive handicap chaser Fearless Foursome on the gallops at the start of the year.
Finally for now, and to aid the Balcormo experience further, herewith the write-up on the course from Mackenzie and Harris’s annual:
BALCORMO MAINS, Fife (first meeting 1907) Superb wide oval galloping course; home and back straights level, but ground falls and rises in between; variable nature of going on different sections does reduce number of runners; fences portable; ideal for good jumping stayers. Permanent shed used for weighing room, changing, etc. Car parks adjacent to course with good access. Viewing is excellent from many locations – best on inside of course; crowds cheer every time the horses come past; most of the student population of St Andrews turn up and behave amusingly (or outrageously according to your viewpoint). A grand spot for racing – a visit is thoroughly recommended. Poor racecard in 2006.
I suspect the latter comment appertained to the layout of the racecard, rather than the quality of anything HJ wrote in it, I thought I’d better qualify. ;)
Jeremy<br>(graysonscolumn)
<br>(Edited by graysonscolumn at 10:55 pm on April 25, 2007)<br>
(Edited by graysonscolumn at 10:57 pm on April 25, 2007)
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Wise Man runs in the Hunter Chase at Perth tomorrow. The analysis is quite simple, if it stays it wins. The decision to run at Perth became a no brainer following so much rain on watered ground.
Lucy is bunking off school for the day to take her first ride under rules. The sort of thing dreams are made of for a young rider in her first season. She probably needs one more win to secure the PtoP northern area novice title so Wise Man may be out again soon if tomorrow goes well.
Noted, Wallace. Wise Man’s form figures alone indicate that this has been a mutually beneficial partnership so far – would you reckon Lucy is already accomplished enough to hold her own in a hunter chase? Genuine question, incidentally – I’ve not seen her in action yet.
gc<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I have a bit of a quiz question about the course at Balcormo Mains ~ in terms of configuration, what is particularly unusual about the track, historically speaking?
I’m not quite the PTP anorak that some on here are, so it’s possible that other courses are similar in this respect, but it would surprise me. I also hope I’m not, in the words of Grasshopper "spouting sh*te" !<br>                        :biggrin:
graysonscolumn, I think Lucy is up to the task having come all the way through the Pony Club ranks and a lot of hunting experience. The family are steeped in breeding, hunting and jump racing.
Quote: from rory on 9:31 am on April 26, 2007[br]I have a bit of a quiz question about the course at Balcormo Mains ~ in terms of configuration, what is particularly unusual about the track, historically speaking?
Did they once race in the reverse direction?
Rob
As we’re on the subject of tragic, anorak-style questions, a bonus lollipop to whoever can tell me which P2P track, who have historically always raced left-handed, raced the other way round this season (or were due to)?
(Edited by Happy Jack at 11:18 am on April 26, 2007)
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