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6 races over a combo of hurdles, brush hurdles, and portable fences. Not 1 faller, not 1 unseated, I would suggest that the executive have turned one of the great NH tests into a glorified P-T-P track.
Still, the piss-artists in the bars will neither realise nor care.
Bear,
Don’t think anything was ever going fast enough to fall – good old Kirkland Tellwrong must do his official going reports through a medium.
AP
Hello,
Regards the behaviour of the "racegoers"…CH4 were unable to screen Big Mac’s reports from the betting ring due to the drunken crowd’s antics.
Quite frankly, IMHO, the management of Haydock don’t care about the racing, just creating a Social Venue for Unsociable types who have money..
Wait till the increased Flat Season, then the yobs will really flower in their Football shirts and accompanying cans..
But Haydock will make money..unfortunately, that is what it is all about…
regards,
doyley
- Total Posts 17716
Maybe they’re changing it to an all-flat venue by stealth?
Reduce the fence sizes a little bit each season, and one day they’ll be gone without anyone noticing.
Should be a body that controls these things………one commentator said something yesterday a long the lines of…………"he badly damaged that fence but it doesn’t seem to have stopped him" says it all
Haydock fences were some of the most famous in British Racing and they should be made to put them back.
Steeplechasing was all about horses being able to jump and gallop…at Haydock it seems all you have to do is gallop.
If every course follows them it will ruin jump racing as we know it.
If I want to go and see Show Jumping I’ll go to Hickstead not Haydock
Always loved going racing and would have walked anywhere in tight shoes to watch a good steeplechase. Haydock is the closest course to where I live and I have been there literally hundreds of times but I do think that I have made my last visit.
I’ve got loads of memories of the place, stood around one of the braziers that they used to put out when it was freezing, the walk through the tunnel where the old clock tower used to be, the old tipster who used to hold court before racing behind the stand with black and white pictures of him supposedly leading in a derby winner, he would throw a wad of cash on his coat and then launch into his act. Always using the same open air urinal next to the paddock for luck, stood next to Robert Sangster having a slash once and his horse won the next race trained by Eric Cousins and ridden by George Cadwalladr? who always seemed to win the last race in those days. Dodging around the vibrant betting ring looking for a best price with the bookies chants ringing in your ears – "anyone got a fancy", "first fifty gets evens", "who wants a bet", "come on lads – 2/1 the jolly and you stand there hesitating!". The betting ring now is a boring joke, every board has the same price and the majority won’t take a chunky bet without first referring to the betfair screen – pathetic! Most amazing of all a bloke in a bowler hat who used to come amongst racegoers selling wilkinson sword razor blades – he also used to ply his trade on the old Spion Cop at Blackpool in the 60’s and 70’s – can you imagine!
Anyhow all gone now and so have I sadly. Come racing – no thanks Haydock.
Quite frankly, IMHO, the management of Haydock don’t care about the racing, just creating a Social Venue for Unsociable types who have money..
Along with York and Chester with Newmarket Rowley heading in the same direction.
A sign of the times I’m afraid.
I to used to enjoy going to Haydock but last time I went there, there were more drunks that punters. Never again.
Hello,
Haydock has it’s problems due to it’s proximity in the middle between two Cities, Manchester & Liverpool, who literally hate ecah other.
The nearest train stations are Newton-le-Willows, approx. 3 miles away.
The trains’ are infrequent, and the village has about six taxis’. A 3 mile walk may not be considered too stressful for the majority, but it does involve taking your life into your own hands attempting to cross the M6 Roundabout…going there is OK, having some beers makes coming back, a nightmare!
The other station is at Wigan..too far to walk.Due to this lack of transport to the course, [which was never taken into consideration when building the ‘effin place], 95% of race-goers have to get there by car, or, COACH..here lies the problem…
Adorned in there Football Shirts and from the state of them, drinking since breakfast, they arrive in their scores!!
They are fully serviced by Haydock staff who have Ghostbuster Type Waiters’ that mingle with a Beer Tank on their back and serve on the hoof!!
Therefore if you are too pissed to get to the bar, the bar will come to you!!In April/May the nutcases are also serviced by Live Football Matches in one or two of the bars’. As you can imagine, a Liverpool/Manchester match is not only contested on the screen, but also in the Haydock Bar area..
Anyway, it doesn’t matter who is playing by the 3.30, after drinking since 9.00am or earlier, competitive jostling is evident through-out the Tattersalls.To maximise profits, Haydock have increased FRIDAY NIGHT meetings for the Stag & Hen Parties [at the expense of cutting the "pure" NH]. Can you believe it? Other Social Venues, including Cities like Prague, are working to eliminate such occasions….Haydock Race Course are ENCOURAGING IT!!
I could list numerous flare ups at Haydock that would make your hair curl, but as you have noticed the Employees at Haydock that are responsible for the actual racing are woeful [Betfred Sprint, Continual Abandonments & Eradication of NH], but please, please be aware, RACING IS NO LONGER THE CORE BUSINESS..
, Bar Tills ringing is the mangement’s indicators!! 
What a wonderful Society we live in, reminds me of Soddom & Gommarrah…
regards,
doyley
I’ve got loads of memories of the place, stood around one of the braziers that they used to put out when it was freezing
Yes they really were great days at Haydock, remember the braziers well and meetings with the likes of ‘Rummy’, Silver Buck and Night Nurse, etc., on show. As you say, there was the tipster who laid his photos out for all to see and some of the meetings attracted a chap who paraded outside with a sandwich board on which were chalked religious slogans for the benefit of the ‘sinners’. Saw Phill Bull there one day backing the Sangster horse, Arapahos, in a 3YO maiden and there was a Newmarket-based trainer, Ian Walker, who always did well at the track – if I remember rightly he landed a seller on one occasion with a 33/1 shot, Lend An Ear, owned by the actor Wilfred Hyde-White.
Even in those days, some of the evening and Saturday meetings seemed to attract their fair share of p**sheads and, not surprisingly, it sounds as if things have got worse. However, the track is not unique in this context. On the back of a Friday evening meeting at Chester about 3 or 4 years ago and the horrific experience of Royal Ascot at York I doubt whether I’ll ever attend a race meeting of that nature again. Sadly, the jolly marketing boys & girls will do their damndest to chase the drink and drug fuelled dollar – the rest of us and, ultimately, the sport finish a poor second.
6 races over a combo of hurdles, brush hurdles, and portable fences. Not 1 faller, not 1 unseated, I would suggest that the executive have turned one of the great NH tests into a glorified P-T-P track.
I’m no expert but I do like horses and an entire meeting without casualtys is a bloody good thing in my book. Granted the old fences looked much better but I think the course is taking progressive steps in making the sport safer for the animals which should be a paramount concern for all concerned.
To digress a little, I agree with much of the anti-scally comments on here. The solution is to offer a security guard a tenner to let you in the posher stand. They never accept the cash but discreetly send you up all the same (what with Scousunians being friendly if rambunctious fellows). Alternatively, stick to Wetherby because Yorkshire folk are much more civilized than NorWestners.
I had an absolute nightmare trying to get back to Newton-Le-Willows station after the Betfair Chase.
I hung around after racing to watch Inglis Drever/Mephisto/Hard Act To Follow have a racecourse gallop but on leaving the course at about 4.15 I saw a queue of around 50 punters but no shuttle bus. By this time it was starting to get pissy wet again and after about half an hour people began to make other arrangements because it became obvious that the damn thing wasnt going to turn up. All of the taxi firms in the area refused to come to the course so I ended up walking a fair distance to the main road with a punter from the Isle Of Man who was in a similar predicament.
Turns out it got stuck in the mud at the top of the racecourse but it really is poor that they only have 1 bus shuttling up and down especially for a big Saturday meeting.
Its the same when you get off the train before racing as well – there’s no signs telling you where to wait and they really need to have a look at what York/Cheltenham do for their customers in that regard.
I was first there when Kicking King ran and I shared a taxi to the course with the owner of Oodachee that year!
it’s difficult, the courses can’t be there unless they make a profit unless they get subsidised to put on the racing and you can’t knock the money spending punters as they make the profit for the racecourse
if i had my way i’d turn away a quarter of people at the gates purely because i don’t like the look of them, i’d remove the restrictions between enclosures and bars, put more basic facilities on for people who just want to go racing and scrap the restaurants – if you wanna go sit down eat, go to a restaurant, ffs – a burger or cup of tea or soup and a roll should be sufficient at the races imo
then again, if i ran the course it would be bankrupt in a year
snipers on the roofs might be an each-way bet for the interim though ….
Bear,
Don’t think anything was ever going fast enough to fall – good old Kirkland Tellwrong must do his official going reports through a medium.
AP
I’m convinced that Kirkland lives in Guildford and has never even been to Haydock.
Hello,
PaulCS, you sound like an Anti-thug agent dispensed by the Police??
If you are on the Forum, Good Lad..
The trip by bus to the Haydock ground would have cost you 50p…Correct? What do you expect..
Good to see young, good looking guys like you joining the Forum….
He said rather sheepishly, “Nurse, I will have that Night Nurse/ Benalyn cocktail please…
regards,
doyley
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