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I will have to check those numbers again with the calculator built into my mobile phone. If I get it right and 74 tallies – can I be number three in the Corky click ?
I am forever in your shadow and below your water line – forever your subject, and prostrate as always, in extreme ‘umbleness !
You make a shocking “Uriah Heep,” gamble.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I could have bent a further few inches for you Oh greatest one, but I think the ironed serviette dripping from my arm and the tin tray borrowed from Orwell’s Ministry of Love rather made up for the over preponderance of stature.
Let’s face it they could scratch half of the cards but there would still be an itch. It needs draconian measures – BOMB all weather out of its plasticity, and pray for rain frost and snow to cancel the culture and the boys out brigades, and a legion of slimey biblical frogs, to chase them bookies away.
Not sure how many people are at Stratford on Avon today but the opening race is two runners, both at odds on.
I suppose it can only get better!
Bit of a downward spiral since my one and only visit in 1984 – I saw Brownes Gazette and Townley Stone win different divisions of the same novice hurdle!
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I was thinking earlier about Aintree and how it seemed quieter on the Thursday this year. The useful link provided by Drone earlier on this thread confirms it was.
Last year there were about 26,500. This year there was just over 22,000 – the lowest crowd on the Thursday since 2002. At its peak, the Thursday attracted 30,000 in 2016.
I suppose the cost of living is a factor but it is slightly disappointing that a good value card with four Grade 1s including an appearance by Constitution Hill should attract such a fairly small crowd. Maybe he is not that big a star outside of racing’s parish?
The Friday attendance was almost identical to last year but the Saturday crowd was also down. Which suggests the party crowd was still there but the racing crowd on the Thursday and Saturday stayed away to some extent.
“Which suggests the party crowd was still there but the racing crowd on the Thursday and Saturday stayed away to some extent.”
That kinda makes sense to me.
In the World of Point-to-Point there are your hardcore racegoers who attend every week all season long and tend to be serious punters, dashing round the ring for value and very price sensitive about admission and race card prices.
Then there’s the spring picnic crowd, for who it’s a once-a-year day out at their local meeting and they don’t seem to be at all price sensitive.
And there are more of them.
Maybe your hardcore racegoer is similarly more sensitive to admission prices in a cost of living crisis than your “Ladies Day” party animal?
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I seem to recall Warwick being one of the first to jump on the ‘modern’ Ladies Day trend in the mid to late 80’s,on Warwick Oaks day. Historically the two Ladies Days that mattered were held on the Ascot Gold Cup and Prix de Diane days. After Warwick, Haydock jumped on the bandwagon on Lancashire Oaks day, but in name only as it never appeared to alter the make up of the crowd – always a big day with the Old Newton Cup, you’d watch the Eclipse on a telly in the bar, and keep an eye on the score in the Men’s Wimbledon Final which was still on the Saturday then. Up to the mid 80’s Aintree was still only pulling in 4,000 on the Thursday and 6,000 on the Friday.
Having now been to Cheltenham’s opening day I can compare it with Aintree’s and whilst I enjoyed Cheltenham, I’d go to the Aintree Thursday over that if it wasn’t so far away.
The two times I’ve been to the Aintree Thursday are two of the best days racing I’ve had and I hope to add to the 22,000 again one day.
I first attended the National meeting in 1990. I went on the Thursday and Friday. Looking at the data, there were about 13,000 there on Thursday and 17,000 on Friday.
Thursday is still the quietest day and Saturday has had a consistently large crowd since about the mid 80s. The day which has been transformed is the Friday. It now attracts over three times as many people since it was badged as Ladies Day. It might not please the racing crowd but it has been a marketing triumph for Aintree.
Despite the disappointment at not so many people wanting to see Constitution Hill, I have to admit the smaller crowd did make for a pleasant experience. There was plenty of space, I never had to wait in a queue and the noisier spectators were mostly absent.
The crowds clearly want to go on the Friday and Saturday but they are missing out on the best value day.
I suspect annual leave comes into it too, if you go on Thursday then you can be looking at one and a half or even two days if you need to come from afar and stay the night before so you effectively have a much bigger catchment area Friday and Saturday. The party crowd would need Friday off for ‘recovery’ even if local.
It may not have been the intention but a day that attracts a quieter crowd can only be a good thing. Even then I’m sure the bars etc rake plenty in and they certainly make up for it the following two days.
Have just had a quick search to satisfy myself that my mind wasen’t exagerating on how low the crowds really were up to the mid 80’s and found the opening of a behind the paywall Times article that reveals 6,293 attended on the Friday in 1984, which had already reached 21,303 in 1994, showing how successful their theme marketing was.
Could probably find a longer list if I went through old scrapbooks but just had to ensure myself that my memory wasen’t going off track.
I never attended Aintree in the early 80s but I believe it was not in a very good state back then. There was only the 3 days racing in the year and it was widely expected to close down to make way for housing. From what I have heard, the facilities were very poor and the crowds stayed away.
‘found the opening of a behind the paywall Times article that reveals 6,293 attended on the Friday in 1984’
If you ever need to get round a paywall then the website 12ft.io is your friend. It’s not completely foolproof but it does frequently work. So I’m told anyway
CAS,yes, nearly went under twice, under Bill Davies, then even when Lads got involved. Haydock and Donny were mooted as venues to take on the GN, and even Newmarket put in a cheeky expression of interest.
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