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I was just wondering if anyone has been back there since the invite only days and the opening days, and if so have any improvements been made to the place since.
I was there last Thurdsay and won’t be rushing back.
The place is not even remotely near completion and shouldn’t be open to the paying public at this stage (certainly not at £18 a pop anyway!).
And whoever decided (even if it is a temporary matter) to put O+T in the middle of the course really needs their head testing.
A rushed,hotpotch job but as long as the corporates continue to turn up and pay I’m sure the powers that be will be happy.
Shame as the surface itself has received universal praise.
Sounds about right GD, a friend has just moved 2 miles from the track and keeps asking me to arrange something but I keep telling them until it’s finished it won’t be VFM for a day out for a group of people.
Kempton has it’s knockers but you can’t fault the facilities for a standard days racing at a standard track, I certainly would begrudge spending normal price for something that seems barely started let alone not quite complete.
The invites were very nice but even my naive self thought there would be a bit more there if they were actually opening to the paying public. On the upside, it should be very good when it is finished.
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Not really much to do with the subject matter of this thread but I notice the RP – tardy in producing standard times for this track – has the record times for each distance under the standard times button.
Might be old news to some, but I’ll find them useful.
There were three class 3 races at Great Leighs today and most of the top trainers were represented on a surface which is acknowledged to be good and fair. OK, so the facilities may not be great at this stage but IMHO this is fairly good class midweek racing by current standards.
If it’s a choice between excellent facilities and class 5 and 6 fare and basic amenities and class 3 and 4, I would choose the latter every time.
Just my 2p worth!Powered by Linux
I went today for the first time and was pleasently surprised.
Its obviously not finished, but the viewing was excellent of the horses both before and during the race. Massive big screen, something which i think is scandalously not at every race meeting.
The bars were excellent and spacious, although there were rather a lot of bouncers in th true sense of the word rather than security!
Parking was easy and everyone was very friendly. I found it a refreshing change to a lot of the stuck up courses that we have, to borrow a quote from the RP today why should I have to dress like I’m attendng a close friends wedding just to be allowed to access the best facilities at a racecourse.
People will always resist change and I know that there are a lot of anti AW people for some peculiar reason, but I would urge people to give the course a chance.
I am a fan after one visit, though I suspect I caught it on a good night.
I would be interested to know what reet hard means by "tardy in producing standard times". The evidence is that Racing Post has gone to print prematurely with standard times at other recently opened tracks.
I went today for the first time and was pleasently surprised.
Its obviously not finished, but the viewing was excellent of the horses both before and during the race. Massive big screen, something which i think is scandalously not at every race meeting.
The bars were excellent and spacious, although there were rather a lot of bouncers in th true sense of the word rather than security!
Parking was easy and everyone was very friendly. I found it a refreshing change to a lot of the stuck up courses that we have, to borrow a quote from the RP today why should I have to dress like I’m attendng a close friends wedding just to be allowed to access the best facilities at a racecourse.
People will always resist change and I know that there are a lot of anti AW people for some peculiar reason, but I would urge people to give the course a chance.
I have to say I disagree with almost everything you say in this post – but then again we all approach the matter from a different perspective.
The only points I agree with is the ease of parking and friendly welcome.
The fact the course is all weather is not relevant as far as I am concerned. There facilities / viewing at the the course simply does not justify the admission cost.
As for your comment about separate enclosures – why shouldn’t people be allowed to pay for better facilities if they wish to? Following on from which if I pay more money for better facities I would expect my fellow racegoers to make an effort to look presentable – I cannot see the problem. If people want to dress in an overly casual manner then they have the main enclosure – personally I really regret the fact that a number of courses have lowered their standards although one or two still strictly enforce the jacket and tie rule in the top enclosure and I applaud them for that.
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Pru
Standard times don’t necessarily have to be scriven in stone. There has been enough racing at GL for the RP to form loose standards, and I really don’t see why they can’t avail us of them, even if they have to be adjusted at some later date.
That might not do for the avid clocker, for the rest of us they’d be a better guide to the pace of individual races than we have now.Paul , I am appalled at your sartorial elegance post , its just unbelievable that guys like your goodself can have that view
IF racing is to survive it must appeal to all sections of folks , mostly those who like to dress casually , its the way we are right now , if you want to play victorian role models then you can save up and invest in proper clobber for Royal Ascot each yr , in the meantime can you please smell the coffee
best regards
Ricky
ps , one enclosure race days will become the norm soon due to the economic reality ,people cannot afford overpriced race days , so what will you do then Paul ??
cheers
Ricky
Have to agree with Ricky
A dress code is no guarantee of looking good anyway. Look at those groups of blokes in their gelled hair, cheap suits and dismal ties. Also the strict code doesnt guarantee great behaviour. Royal Ascot is a seriously ugly event IMO
Some people are too ugly to look decent whatever they wear anyway.
Should perhaps be a seperate enclosure for them
"Some people are too ugly to look decent whatever they wear anyway.
Should perhaps be a seperate enclosure for them"
Could the same enclosure take in people who can’t spell separate?
I’m assuming you weren’t being serious, Clive, but those are seriously an ‘un-nice’ couple of sentences, and shouldn’t be made by someone hiding behind a computer screen.
Colin
I am being very serious. Good looking people like me find it demeaning to share space with mingers
An alternative would be for stewards to hand out paper bags to be worn over heads. Something worth considering perhaps
Paul , I am appalled at your sartorial elegance post , its just unbelievable that guys like your goodself can have that view
IF racing is to survive it must appeal to all sections of folks , mostly those who like to dress casually , its the way we are right now , if you want to play victorian role models then you can save up and invest in proper clobber for Royal Ascot each yr , in the meantime can you please smell the coffee
best regards
Ricky
You are missing my point entirely – if people want to go racing dressed casually they can – they can use the Grandstand or Tatts enclosure.
If people want to pay a premium to go into a separate enclosure, where certain standards are enforces what is the problem with that?
It is no different that flying for example – I can either travel cattle class in the back of the plane or I can choose to fly in more comfort in business class. The important thing is to have a choice.
As for having a view on "sartorial elegance" I didn’t realise it was non-PC to have a view on looking smart
Paul
You seemed to have altered your tack, towards paying for the best facilities e.g Business and Economy class.
That wasn’t my point at all I’ve travelled business class on plenty of occasions and not once have I been turned away for not wearing a suit!
That wasn’t my point at all I’ve travelled business class on plenty of occasions and not once have I been turned away for not wearing a suit!
Maybe, but you’ve got more chance of being upgrade to business class if you are wearing one tthough. It was the best bit of advice an old boss once gave me.
I generally agree with Clive about the dress code…but not the outrageous bit about his good looks.
I get in trouble for going on about Great Leighs. Quite a few people in cyberspace do seem to talk it up. It would be interesting to see how many of them have actually paid the £18/£20 admission out of their own pockets.
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