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Sorry for the sombre thread title…but what are the five races you’d put on anyone’s bucket list?
Grand National
Epsom Derby
Arc
Melbourne Cup
Velka PardubickaThree done – maybe I’ll do the other two but if I don’t c’est la vie
Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup, Velka Pardubicka, King George V1 Chase and a grade one chase from Ireland.
Grand National (Done)
Chelt Gold Cup (Done)
Arc (Not Done)
Champion Hurdle (Not Done)
Frankels 2000 Guineas (Delorean on order. Great Scott!)Grand National [done sort of; was there but didn’t see much..does that count?]
Champion Hurdle [done inluding Istabraq’s third]
Gold Cup [done including Best Mates third]
Arc [done but wish it had been when Sea the Stars won it]
Derby [next year, hopefully]
….oh blimey;kiss of death.. perhaps I should put off going to Epsom or change it to the Melbourne Cup which I’m unlikely to go to…?Grand National [done sort of; was there but didn’t see much..does that count?]
Champion Hurdle [done inluding Istabraq’s third]
Gold Cup [done including Best Mates third]
Arc [done but wish it had been when Sea the Stars won it]
Derby [next year, hopefully]
….oh blimey;kiss of death.. perhaps I should put off going to Epsom or change it to the Melbourne Cup which I’m unlikely to go to…?I’d say it counts, unless you are planning following the field on a motorbike you aren’t going to improve on it!
I did ask someone there how I could see the race and he replied ‘m’dear, go home and watch it on the telly’..which I have done ever since. Hadn’t realised how big the place was. Stood at the Elbow, we hadn’t got a clue who had won.
I did ask someone there how I could see the race and he replied ‘m’dear, go home and watch it on the telly’..which I have done ever since. Hadn’t realised how big the place was. Stood at the Elbow, we hadn’t got a clue who had won.
If you want to see anything then you need to go either the County, Queen Mother or Princess Royal roof viewing.
As Paul says, for those with the National on their list, even from a stand roof, most of what you see is horses racing away from you then, even more distantly, toward you. It’s difficult to grasp, just from watching TV, how distant they are most of the time, on the far side of Melling Rd.
The water jump is the closest view you get (bar the finish), and if you are at ground level, you need to be on the rail.
The 5 that I’ve been to and would most recommend:
First day at Royal Ascot
Cheltenham Gold Cup
Breeders’ Cup
Longines International day at Sha Tin
Dubai World CupThe 5 that I’d most like to attend before I…
Melbourne Cup
Japan Cup
J & B Met
Chester Cup
Point to Point at Flagg – although this would now be 2015 at earliest.At least I got to go over the Melling Road in the coach [couldn’t believe it was actually a road]. Re Flagg; is it not on next year? I’m only asking because I’ve always been working that day and next year I won’t be so, I can go; did go to it many years ago but can’t remember much about it. Went to Alnwick Point to Point a couple of years ago; that was good [other than the fact it was so misty no one could see anything].
For me…
those I’ve seen in the flesh …
Grand National
(the anticipation as they mill around at the start and every moment of the race itself thrilling and pulsating)
Supreme Novice Hurdle
(that few seconds before the start when you realise…Cheltenham is finally here)
The Derby
(THE Derby…Epsom, I mean – the greatest race in the world, IMO. The course, the history, the crowd, the location….everything)
Cheltenham Gold Cup
Twelve months of anticipation and that moment when the ‘gold cup horse’ everyone dreams of turns into reality.
The Ebor
Plot horses, seasoned handicappers. Top trainers, small trainers. Great racecourse. Always a fantastic puzzle.
and those on my bucket list…
Kentucky Derby
Arc
Melbourne Cup
Chester Cup
BC Classic1986 Grand National won by
West Tip
(Done)
1990 Grand National won byMr Frisk
(Done)
1999 Grand National won byBobbyjo
(Done)
1995 Grand National won byRoyal Athlete
(Watched it on TV and cheered home my 66/1 winner).To say you backed the National winner at 66/1 is like telling your mates you’ve shag*ed 66 women when they’ve only had 40!
2008 Grand National won byComply or die
( Watched that at home too and created my beautiful daughter after celebrating another brilliant victory)
There is No race like the Grand National,its an experience to walk the course and see the fences,its an atmosphere filled with trepidation as we all know fatalities are part and parcel of this great race and that more than anything singles it out as nerve racking.Its a bit like a Chicken Tikka Madras,you know its going to hurt but you just cant help yourself,once a years enough though!
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