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Friday 18th July was the date and my second ever visit to one of Scotlands finest looking racecourses in beautiful Lanarkshire.
After a long train ride from Manchester of 3hrs30mins i checked into the Quality Hotel which is near enough inside Glasgow Central Station and due to booking online i paid £42 as opposed to the normal £120.
The afternoon was spent having a wander in the City Centre which is modern and well designed whereas Edinburgh is very traditional and old looking but these two cities complement each other in a fine way.
About 4.00pm i set off to the course and had a simple 25m journey to Hamilton West then a 1m walk to the members entrance with my Haydock Park badge in full swing and had a nice welcome as i entered the grounds of Hamiton Park.
Tea was a nice sandwich of Ham and Cheese followed by a packet of shortcake biscuits with a nice cup of tea for a very good £3.95, i passed on the hot meals of haggis,neaps and tatties but had a very good Venison Burger later with Cranberry Relish for £4.75 and it was quite literally DEER but very well cooked and tasted wonderdul.
To the racing and the feature event was the 2008 running of the Scottish Stewards Cup which was first run in 2001 and brought a decent field and would not have looked out of place at York,Donny or Haydock and last years victor Knot in Wood did what Zidane may not do and win a 2nd Stewards Cup in a row just hanging on in a photo from Baby Strange from the Derek Shaw yard in Newark.
Pawan ran a game race in 3rd and may win again before the season finishes and gave the Ann Stokeil team money of £2839 and this means that Ann gets a percentage for being the trainer and also being the jockey which isnt too bad is it.
The winner was game though and Richard Fahey who won the Goodwood version many moons ago with Superior Premium has now 2 Scottish versions to add to his list of winners.
Later in the card Aleatricis hacked up at long odds on in the 1m3f handicap following on from his win at Ayr on the Monday and Seb Sanders who came up from Newbury did not go home empty handed, In the paddock the horse looked wonerful and being a gelding it would not surprize me if Mr Graham Wylie got his cheque book out and bring him up to County Durham as he has the size and scope to make a good hurdler and could be at Wetherby come October,
Always Bold who won the 1m5f is another one with some ability and looks to be going places for the now inform Mark Johnston stable and won this Class 4 event quite well and may be Melrose bound but will probably be aimed at a smaller event before hand.
All in all a very good evenings racing and the Friday crowd were a fine example of how to behave even after having a few beers.
Hamilton is a wonderful racecourse and well worth a visit if you have never been and is well worth coupling with a chance to see Scotland.
My next visit to Scotland is Ayr in September for the Ayr Gold Cup which will be my first visit to the West side of this gorgeous country.
So a good time was had by all even though i was one of only four members of Haydock Park who went up for this meeting but found the hospitality,racegoers,staff and racing all to be great and put my faith back that it is possible to go racing without the need for violence to erupt and that people can enjoy a days racing.
Hamilton is a fine credit to the sport and some of the bigger racecourses should nip up and pick up hints and tips on how to run a racecourse correctly.
Nice review Neil! Hope to make over there for a meeting at some stage. Looks a picture on the TV.
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Pawan ran a game race in 3rd and may win again before the season finishes and gave the Ann Stokeil team money of £2839 and this means that Ann gets a percentage for being the trainer and also being the jockey which isnt too bad is it.I think she also owns it but the fact remains if she put a proper jockey on it she may have had the win money as well.Most of her horses are owned by her or her family I can’t imagine any outside owner wanting her to ride
Grasshopper’s Hamilton review:
Derelict industrial ghost-town in middle of Unemployment Belt. Local transport infrastructure has pleasing number of exits to more interesting places. Famed for its depressing architecture, kid-on Weedgie accents, ‘couture bas’ and birthplace of numerous second-rate footballers. Has racecourse.
Grasshopper’s Hamilton review:
Derelict industrial ghost-town in middle of Unemployment Belt. Local transport infrastructure has pleasing number of exits to more interesting places. Famed for its depressing architecture, kid-on Weedgie accents, ‘couture bas’ and birthplace of numerous second-rate footballers. Has racecourse.
Can’t wait for your Sedgefield review Grass
Mike
To be fair, firefox, I never mentioned Hamilton’s racecourse, which a good pal of mine assures me is delightful.
Besides, the phrase "one of Scotland’s finest racecourses" is a bit moot, when there’s only five of them!
Good effort Neill. Always nice to get an opinion. Glad you had a good day.
Mike what’s wrong with Sedgefield?Hamilton is a cracking looking track….and very well looked after. Its just a shame its bang slap in the middle of a right old shite hole, and full of bampots on buckie…..
Good effort Neill. Always nice to get an opinion. Glad you had a good day.
Mike what’s wrong with Sedgefield?Nothing
It’s my local track and I quite like it, but having places like ICI located within five miles of it (or thereabouts) might have given GH some ideas to describe it
(a bit like Boro always getting the SMOG tag)Mike
Been to Hamilton racecourse. Very picturesque, unlike the town itself.
One particular fine summer evening, I witnessed a small group of professional footballers, who then played for Scotland’s seccond best team mulling around the bookmakers looking for the best odds.
I recollect one of their number ( an ex- Question of Sport team captain ) collecting a rather large wad of notes on three consecutive occasions.
As if Mr McCoist hadn’t enough money already.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Hamilton is a cracking looking track….and very well looked after. Its just a shame its bang slap in the middle of a right old shite hole, and full of bampots on buckie…..
It’s the "Longchamp of the north".
BTW, I’m not taking the piss, it’s really a nice course. I’d say it’s the nicest in Scotland.
(surrounded by a bit of a craphole, unfortunately, but that’s another matter)
Steve
I work in Hamilton about a quarter of a mile from the 6 furlong start. While the town is hardly the prettiest in the country, it doesn’t seem anywhere near the worst.
Course is a great place, plenty of space, good viewing, nice parkland setting, decent competitive racing.
Rob
Hamilton is a lovely track and if considered by some to be’in the middle of a right old shite hole’., its a shite hole made by the decimation of the central belt manufacturing industry by the Thatcher government in Westminster which is only now being put right by Holyrood.
Incidently , on the subject of racecourse surroundings. The filthiest pub I’ve ever been in (a not insignificant amount) was in a town called Ascot not 400 yards from the straight mile start.
Stu
Good to see some balance to this thread. If people think Hamilton Park is in a bad area there is no hope for them. There are probably more millionaires living within a five mile radius of the course than any other in Scotland!!!
Good to see some balance to this thread. If people think Hamilton Park is in a bad area there is no hope for them. There are probably more millionaires living within a five mile radius of the course than any other in Scotland!!!
Wallace, I suspect that might have something to do with jakey (second-rate) footballers being too parochial to move far from their local chippy/bookies/golf course, rather than anything to do with Hamilton not being a shite-hole.
Hamilton is a cracking looking track….and very well looked after. Its just a shame its bang slap in the middle of a right old shite hole, and full of bampots on buckie…..
It’s the "Longchamp of the north".
BTW, I’m not taking the piss, it’s really a nice course. I’d say it’s the nicest in Scotland.
(surrounded by a bit of a craphole, unfortunately, but that’s another matter)
Steve
I have to say it is my favourite of the five courses north of the border – although it shouldn’t be as Perth has the potential to be better and would be if they improved the viewing and access / egress at the course.
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