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To answer the question posed – isn’t it linked to one’s age. I used to have trouble getting to sleep on Christmas Eve.
It was more special with 3 days in the fact that you hardly had any races that weren’t ultra competitive and where appropriate had a full field thus making it hard to win and even sweeter when you did, which afterall isn’t that what a Cheltenham Festival is supposed to do?
Yes an extra day means more opportunities and we have had some great races because of it but the fact remains that it has diluted some of the other championship races, which have been denied seeing a top horse being truly tested simply because there was an easier opportunity created with a 4th day.
It has also created many more uncompetitive races with a reduced number of runners so more urgent work needs to be done to nip that trend in the bud rather than exasperating the issue by adding a 5th day even if it means only adding two additional races and re-jiging the other days.
I left after the 3m handicap hurdle (3rd on An Tailliur which copped me an each way double with the wolf, thanks for asking)
And the crowd was noticeably thin on the ground throughout.
Not as much disposable income to go around even down in the Cotswolds and listening to the chatter the general conversation was the standard young girl drama about who was drunk last night, she was sooooo smashed she liiiiike slept with Ellie’s brother LOL.
At £7.50 a pint though, who the **** wants to make an effort to go. I managed to spend the princely sum of nothing but I understand that for many a few bevvies at the races is part of the day out.
You could have offered me £60 (petrol money plus admission price) and I still wouldn’t have gone to Cheltenham today or any day.
I can watch at home and I eat something a lot nicer than a burger (yuck!) for £10 and the £7 it costs for a pint would be more than enough to buy all the soft fruit-based drinks a non-boozer like me requires too.
It’s an over-rated venue anyway – the “home of jump racing” doesn’t even have any obstacles in front of the stands, located, as they are, at the end of the run in and not on the actual circuit itself.
Poor viewing for a track only 1m4f in length because they get so far away from you due to the configuration of the circuits and the run in.
The stands are set too far back from the run in too.
Beautiful Cotswolds back drop, the best quality Jump racing for sure, but the actual racecourse is pants.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I’m inclined to agree with you on most points Ian. For the November meeting can I come to yours and you can make me some dinner and provide me with fruit based juices?
The viewing spectacle isn’t the best, no doubt about that. But it’s still a great feeling when you’re there live and your horse jumps the last half a length up to be able to shout them home up the hill.
You can’t recreate that in your living room.
I understand from your previous posts your a self confessed misery guts and if your happy to watch the racing on mute, never go to a meeting with more than 3 bookies in attendance and refuse to spend a single penny then that’s great.
But racing benefits from a prosperous crowd spending a few quid and enjoying themselves.
On the specific point of Cheltenham though, you’re 100% correct that it’s a poor viewing experience on course.
Apparently there was 19,471 in attendance today which is up on last year’s 19,069 and 2019’s 17,724 turn out.
Although apparently it included 5,000 students under the ‘attract a younger audience to come racing’ scheme (not the official name) in the Best Mate enclosure – the usual crowd there were offered a free transfer to the main enclosure to escape the experience however, that might not have been need once said students were told £7.50 for a pint please……me thinks that is 5,000 potential new racegoers saying ok day out but won’t be coming back as I can get smashed on pints that are more than half those prices back home/student union bar.
The viewing at Cheltenham is not great but I still enjoyed my last visit in April. I will certainly go to that meeting again but not interested in going to the festival or the November meeting.
£7.50 a pint is ridiculous. No one can convince me that is not profiteering. At least you can get a pint of Arkle beer from the Arkells brewery there, in a nice bar with mementos of the great horse.
I might go to Aintree tomorrow. A track with better viewing and unlike the National meeting, all areas of the track will be open to everyone tomorrow. Including the roof terrace of the old grandstand, with a panoramic view of the track.
“I understand from your previous posts you’re a self-confessed misery guts”
It’s a fair cop – you’ve got me bang to rights there!
Yes, if everyone was like me (hardly ever go and when I do it’s using R4R points and I never buy any food or drink), racing would DIE.
I have actually had decent quality, imaginative, food at reasonable prices at racecourses occasionally – some Point-to-Points aren’t bad in that department either – but that’s been the exception, not the rule.
Most racecourse food and drink is a absolute rip off and you could waste half your afternoon queuing up for it.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"If you can guide me to those places Ian I’d be most grateful. The only times I’ve enjoyed my food on a racecourse is when I’ve taken the mrs and paid for the hospitality. Chester on the Sunday family funday in the white horse and ascots meeting in February to the 5th floor restaurant are both very enjoyable.
The absolute muck that’s on offer at the catering outlets open to the general public serve no purpose to any self appreciating man or woman who’s not had an absolute belly full of crap wine/lager.
I’m sure it’s been remarked many a time on here about the direction race courses are going in to attract a different/younger crowd is simply alienating its core supporters.
The problem is, I’m not sure what they need to do to attract the Ian Davies of the world back to the course to get them to part with their hard earned.
It’s the pissed up 20 somethings that are keeping most courses afloat these days! However everyone has their tipping point. I’m due to go again for the festival in march on a coach trip and I’ve already made my mind up that I’m not going to be drinking when I go and I’ll take a packed lunch to eat before and after.
That’s not a viable option for many so a lot of people will begin to add up entrance fee (cheapest available £60 best mate) let’s say a fiver a race. 8 pints and something to eat and decide that the thick end of £200 for standing in a cold field in march just ain’t value for money when they consider that the actual spectacle in front of them is of little or no interest.
It can’t go un-noticed by any genuine fan of horse racing that the vast majority of the crowd at any meeting these days doesn’t know one end of a horse from
the other.
These are really good points IMO.
I pushed the boat out last year and actually parted with money (not R4R points) to attend Ascot Champions’ Day.
I was too tight to buy any food or drink, but the racing was high quality and I was enjoyed it.
But the ever more inebriated presence of the sockless Peaky Blinder wannabe brigade provided a progressively more hostile undercurrent as the afternoon wore on and scuffles were actually breaking out on Ascot High Street as I walked back to the car park after racing.
No one actually got larey with me personally, but it was unpleasant and was a major factor in me not bothering to go this year.
Some racecourses do locally-sourced decent food, I’ve had a very nice chicken breast in a bun with various vegetables, sauces and tracklements at Salisbury, for example.
But for the most part at most tracks it’s God awful processed meat products, bog standard burgers of sub-McDonalds standard at Harrod’s prices.
It would actually be a notch up if they simply let mass fast-food chains like Greggs have outlets on courses, let alone getting any decent authentic local quality food vendors in.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"You certainly need to choose which meetings you go to when trying to avoid the social crowd.
I do often wonder what they get out of it. To me it seems the lasses get to liberally apply fake tan, wear some lovely dresses and generally have a feeling that they’re looking glamorous.
The men get to sniff coke and drink from
11am and potentially score one of the lasses who’s had far too much Prosecco later in the night.Thankfully the flat crowd haven’t fully infiltrated the cold and wet meetings November to February yet and that’s when I go to the track more often.
York/Chester/Donny or any weekend fixture in the summer with a pop act afterwards then you couldn’t get me to attend for all the tea in china.
However. Those meetings are absolutely mobbed. So you know full well that there’s plenty more of them coming to a course near you soon.
But the bookies must hate them. £2, £5, maybe a tenner if they’re lucky is the average stake. They probably struggle to take a couple of grand across the card. Because the queues at the bookies are practically non existent in comparison to what they were like on course 20 years ago.
Small fields, crap prize money, poor attendance with people deciding to boycott the rails bookie.
There seems to be a perfect storm coming for British race courses if these trends continue.
From my perspective there is just no incentive to go on course anymore. In the late 80s/early 90s I would go racing every Saturday and as often as I could midweek, work permitting, but I can’t even remember the last meeting I went to – I’d be surprised if it’s more recently than 2012.
In addition to the points that have already been well made on this thread with regard to food/drink prices, undesirability of other patrons etc we now live in an age where every race in this country can be watched live on screen (and endlessly replayed) and you can bet (or lay) on a 100% book.
In the pre-internet days the on-course backer could be virtually certain to beat SP, avoid 10% tax, and see races that might not be broadcast elsewhere.
The only thing I miss by not attending is the “feel good factor” of witnessing a great performance or a stirring finish in the flesh but sadly that’s not enough for me these days (and you can sort of get that from a tv screen)
More really good points IMO.
It used to be a positive edge – which more than covered the “exes” – as a punter to go racing.
Off-course punters just got a brief indistinct audio Extel commentary, and even form book and racing papers readers just got an abbreviated comment in running.
I remember being at Devon & Exeter one August day and seeing a 3m1f Handicap Chase in which the winner led three out, went 20 lengths clear by the last and was eased right down on the run in to win by three lengths.
The comment in running?
“Ld 3 out, ro wl.”
Reappeared with a 7lb penalty the following week and wasn’t even favourite on the first show before being heavily backed and following up.
And there wasn’t the higher off-course tax to contend with.
Now every punter in the land can see every race live at home, while betting not only tax free, but virtually margin free if using Betfair.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Tizzards – going on from something you said – that’s completely the reason I love going, when you’ve backed a horse ante post and have been waiting almost half a year for the race, nothing in the world emulates the feeling and excitement you get watching it jump the last and storm up the hill in first with the backdrop of thousands of punters cheering it home. Yes it’s overpriced and rammed but we only get to live once and for some rare experiences like those I’m happy to part my cash.
I’ll never forget the feeling I got watching Vauban last Cheltenham having been on at 14/1, I was absolutely skint at the time too (my mate who I went with had to lend me the money for the ticket). That feeling really can’t be replicated.
Pints at Aintree on Sunday were between £6.20 for lager and £6.50 for Guinness. Cheaper than the National meeting but still too much. Easy to resist when there is a Wetherspoons selling better beer for just £1.99 ten minutes down the road!
I know it is the same at other venues (sport and non-sport) but no one likes feeling ripped off.
This is the thing – I neither eat nor drink on the rare occasions I go racing, but there’s often a Gregg’s and/or a Wetherspoon’s within walking distance of racecourses in urban areas where you can get food and drink of similar (bog) standard for a fraction of the price.
Racecourses try to sell a day at the races as glamorous, so where’s the pop-up restaurants and street food at tracks?
Many racecourses are still stuck in the 20th century – at best!
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"
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