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Sean Rua
I can recommend the 175 Euro for a season ticket at Cork City FC as GREAT value. Smack bang in the middle of the Donie Forde stand. Way better than all those London wannabe clubs that Clivex supports.
Sean Rua
I can recommend the 175 Euro for a season ticket at Cork City FC as GREAT value. Smack bang in the middle of the Donie Forde stand. Way better than all those London wannabe clubs that Clivex supports.
Langar
Way better than all those London wannabe clubs that Clivex supports.
do you mind?
Lifetime Chelsea fan here. On the terraces through the dark years mate…
Clive , as always your post is on the money , but a lot of courses take the mickey , overall its a very expensive hobby when you take travel costs into account
If you are not based in London though and have to travel it becomes a different ball game
cheers
Ricky
Btw, Towcester is good value, especially for people who live in or near Milton Keynes.
As someone who lives in MK I would suggest the [b:rzeq9mss]only[/b:rzeq9mss] reason Towcester is good value is because it is free.
And in my view the only reason it is free is the course made such a mess of the redevelopment and they went back on their word to racegoers that they daren’t make a charge for admission.
I’m afraid that even though it is on my doorstep, most days when there is racing at Towcester I will end up going racing somewhere else.
In terms of racecourses in general, the only reason I actually happen to live in MIlton Keynes is because it is one of the few locations in the country where 57 of the 59 courses are in easy range for a day trip (the only exceptions are Perth and Kelso) plus most Irish courses are also reachable as a day trip from here.
Racing in this country is terribly expensive and, with a few notable exceptions, provides very little value for money. The best way for a regular paying racegoer to get value for money is take out a couple of annual memberships and take full advantage of the reciprocal days.
Sorry to hear that Towcester is so bad, but at least nobody asks for their money back!
I agree with most of the views in the thread, but , sadly,lads, I hate soccer nowadays and I wouldn’t look out the window at it if they were playing in the garden. In fact, I think i’d call the Gardai, especially if it were Cork!
Only joking.
One thing that keeps me going in this ridiculous trivial pursuit we call racing, is that most times when things are really really bad, I manage to get a result that puts the smile back on the dial.
Ludlow a couple of months ago is an example. The mist was down and i could see nothing. It was cold, damp and miserable and so were my bets!
Last race, the rotten old bumper, and I hit the exacta – a bet I rarely play.
Not brilliant, but saved my bacon.I still think I need one of those "Press" badges, though!
It’s the overheads, you understand.Sean Rua.
I expect most of you know but..
The Racegoers Club membership is very worth while. £20 and you can get in to race meetings £3 cheaper.
Also, Newbury’s tattersalls badge gets you in at around £5 a meeting. No Reciprocals though.
Had the stuff from Goodwood asking me if I would like to renew my badge. Theirs worked out about the same.
It was, if I go to every reciprocal from Perth to Folkstone. Who does that? I do not have a helicopter Lord March, Can you lend me one please.Have heard something about a badge covering all or most of Yorkshire which sounds exceptional value. Don’t know if I am right about that.
Value Is EverythingRip-off France alert!
Admission for Prix D’Amerique day this Sunday in Paris is 5€, with 18-to-25s and over 60s getting in for 3€, and under 18s free.
Not bad for a top quality 9 race programme with over 1.5 million Euros up for grabs. In fact, it would be pretty decent value for a card full of banded races in the UK.
Rip-off France alert!
Admission for Prix D’Amerique day this Sunday in Paris is 5€, with 18-to-25s and over 60s getting in for 3€, and under 18s free.
Not bad for a top quality 9 race programme with over 1.5 million Euros up for grabs. In fact, it would be pretty decent value for a card full of banded races in the UK.
I will be in Vincennes on Sunday, it`s great craic and excellent racing if you like Trotting , always go to Solvalla when in Stockholm!!
I`m in Pau at the moment and just returned from a decent 8 race card, nice crowd unlike at the Paris tracks and the catering is half decent, didn`t pay entry so couldn`t tell you the price but i assume its only a few Euro.
I feel sorry for the average person that goes racing in the UK, mind you, everythings expensive at home so i guess it falls inline!!
Bottom line is that market forces win out.
There is a lot of competition in the leisure market. If people want to go to a particular entertainment and see it as reasonable value then it will flourish.
However with the UK economy entering an uncertain period there appears to be some belt tightening e.g. pub chains and retail outlets have published disappointing profits and people may be going out and spending less.Those venues that have been complacently increasing their admission charges may be in for a rude awakening.
There will be a delayed effect in that racegoers will have already bought tickets for the very top meetings this year.
These top meetings may or may not be value – the best horses and riders are present but there are complaints about over crowding and redesigned facilities at certain tracks.However I do feel that at the lowest end of the scale £15 or £16 to watch some of Britain’s slowest racehorses ridden by middling at best jockeys on the AW during the winter does not represent value. That said, most of the meetings are staged for the benefit of the betting industry and to attract an attendance is immaterial.Conversely you would have thought that with Arena now taking on the catering at their courses, they would be interested in making money from food and drink.
Annual membership is good value if you are retired, unemployed or can attend regularly.The potential casual racegoer cannot benefit.
There is a parimutuel monoploy in France which keeps admission charges to very reasonable amounts. In the UK the racegoer pays for the privilege of bookies being present, though at some meetings you can count the number of rails bookies present on one and a bit hands.Looks like the only idea is to get rid of all on course bookmakers and have a tote monopoly so all profits go back to the racecourse and they can reduce prices and get more people in through the gates and the £15-£40 that you would have paid to get in can be used to buy a decent lunch on course and that way the track still gets your money but you dont feel like you have been shafted for it.
As for a bargain with the racegoers club you can get into Southwell with vouchers for £7 in tatts, fair enough the racing is not good quality but the price reflect that.
Last time I went harness racing was at Camborg in Normandy, i was recovering from once Upon A cat running green as grass at Clarfontaine and having been head butted by a ,mare called Lunevison ( though her son Geroge, then a foal now a two yearold, was very cute, though he now the size of a national hunt store).
Harness racing was a laugh, watching people riding horses at a trott the whole time. I stayed at the Headquarters stud in Normandy ran but friends of mine, its a great place too stay and given the facts tat the local country side has deauville and around half a dozen tracks within half an hour of the place, it nakes sense.
French racing makes the English look grap in terms of out over priced racecourses full of drunks, poor facilties, poor horses and lousy racing.As someone who lives in MK I would suggest the [b:3t08la0k]only[/b:3t08la0k] reason Towcester is good value is because it is free.
And in my view the only reason it is free is the course made such a mess of the redevelopment and they went back on their word to racegoers that they daren’t make a charge for admission.
I’m afraid that even though it is on my doorstep, most days when there is racing at Towcester I will end up going racing somewhere else.
Have we been attending a different Towcester each these last three post-redevelopment years, Paul? I love the place – free entry, fine viewing, a proper exacting test of old-fashioned plodding types, and always the likelihood of bumping into a TRFfer or three (as I have on each of the last half dozen occasions).
Lovely jubbly.
gc
(incurable lover of the ordinary)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.
[quote="graysonscolumnHave we been attending a different Towcester each these last three post-redevelopment years, Paul? I love the place – free entry, fine viewing, a proper exacting test of old-fashioned plodding types, and always the likelihood of bumping into a TRFfer or three (as I have on each of the last half dozen occasions).
I know you love Towcester Jeremy and I was expecting the response you gave
and I certainly agree with you about the racing itself.However, and it could just be I am turning into a bitter and twisted old man, when compared with the pre-developed Towcester, and what was promised, it is is a disappointment.
The viewing is reasonable and, if the weather is good, enjoyable, yet in the old stand you could see all the course and be sheltered from the rain (but never from the wind). Now there is no shelter and I have yet to find a vantage point where you can clearly see the first jump in the home straight.
What annoys me most of all though was when the redevelopment was first mooted I actually raised concerns that the new stand would be for the corporates and the needs of ordinary racegoer would be ignored.
I received a promise it would not be the case and that racegoers would be canvassed to find out what they wanted.
What was built – a grandstand designed for corporates and diners with poor facilities for the regular racegoer. So much for listening to the needs of racegoers.
Sean Rua
I can recommend the 175 Euro for a season ticket at Cork City FC as GREAT value. Smack bang in the middle of the Donie Forde stand. Way better than all those London wannabe clubs that Clivex supports.
Langar
Who you callin’ a Langar, boy?!
and I certainly agree with you about the racing itself.
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