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Loved reading this series and fantastic to see Champion Hurdle day voted number one by readers.
I couldn’t agree more.
This year will be my seventeenth consective visit to it and having been to the majority of the top ten, including annual visits to the top four, for me it’s a cash of Champion Hurdle day first, the rest nowhere.
I love Gold Cup day, thoroughly enjoy Derby day each year and the Grand National is an ‘experience’.
but the middle Tuesday in March
… The readers view section summed it up perfectly.and I sensed they were beginning to kick in anyway but having read that piece the sleepless nights well and truly begin.
Lee
Yeah, excitement growing here too, not actually been myself, but the first day is something special, though The Thursday is easily the best days racing of the week.
It’ll always be Grand National day for me though, that first day, and the 2 or 3 days leading up, runs it very close.
Out of interest, did "Ladies Night" at Hamilton make the top ten?
Actually VtC I got it wrong and it was only the top 50.
And surprisingly, no it didn’t. It must have been number 51
1. Champion Hurdle
2. Gold Cup
3. Grand National
4. Derby
5. St Leger
6. Champions Day
7. St James’s Palace
8. 2,000 Guineas
9. King George VI Chase (know by non racing folk as Boxing Day… or something like that)
10. Champion ChaseWorld Hurdle was number 17 btw.
Lee
I voted for Champion Hurdle day. 361 days of anticipation crammed into three and a half hours. Pure adrenaline rush of an afternoon.
The right result. Day 1 of the Cheltenham Festival is like Christmas day. I’d have had any Royal Ascot day ahead of the Leger personally.
Charles Darwin to conquer the World
Got to agree Nathan, the St Leger Day being voted top 5 would have to count as suspicious betting activity. Highly unlikely that many people would The St Leger into the top 20, never mind the top 5
The first day at Cheltenham is like a cross between Christmas and Viagra. It will forever remain with me when I had a treble on Vagador 4/1, Danish Flight 11/2 and Celtic Shot 7/1 in 1988, run on bottomless ground. I swear that they took so long coming up the run in during the Champion Hurdle that I played an entire frame of snooker waiting for Celtic Shot to finally reach the line. The Mother of all hangovers was present the following day and I think the defeat of Mole Board was the last thing I remember about the meeting thereafter.
2000 Guineas day is another favourite for me at a time of year when all things are still possible and anticipation fills the air.
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Day 1 of the Craven meeting. When it REALLY begins!
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
Ive been to 7 out of the 10. Not the guineas or grand national and strangely, given i live not far, the derby
I would agree with the number one but the gold cup, not at all. Horrendously crowded. Cheltenham is hard work without making in worse and its not quite the great card all round card of the first two days As for aintre, ive been to aintree once on the first day and was a bit so so about it all. Not an enormous fan of the national itself either
King george day would be much higher on my list and not sure the leger (as much as defend the race) is really that much of a fantastic day
Outside the top ten, i would have tingle creek for sure.
I attended the Leger this year for the first time, and even with a "borrowed" RCA metal badge I have to say I would never go again. The fact the paddock is in front of the stands is the big problem – there is literally nowhere to escape the crowd. With a course like Ascot you can stay paddock side during races for the odd race to avoid the crowd but at Donnie on Leger that is not an option.
I took the missus and we were appalled that as we had to barge our way up into the stand to watch the first race, people holding drinks were standing on the gangways and the security were doing nothing to clear them. If that is par for the course it is surely only a matter of time before a serious accident happens.
I would say of the "big" meetings my favourite will always be Derby day as my old man started taking me in 1981 and it became an annual pilgrimage during the 80s (annoying not 1986 as I had my A-Levels!!!!
). Sad though it was to see the old paddock go, the new stands make the user experience far more enjoyable even though the crowds are not necessarily as idiosyncratic as days of old.I also think Ascot on Champions Day is a fantastic day out, though I must confess I am very much coloured by this year’s event which saw Frankel’s bow out. I don’t hold Mottershead’s faith that the meeting will grow into a true rival to the Arc weeken or Breeders Cup.
I can take or leave Cheltenham these days. It has grown into a corporate monster compared to, dare I say it, the old days, and the hype often far outweighs the performances. The last time I went it rained all day (GC 2010) and it was impossible to get served a drink until after the 4th race. Typically British to accept such shocking facilities, but shame on the executive who constantly big themselves up for having increased the paying audience eponentially since 1987, and yet have failed to expand the size of the stands and bars to accomodate the bigger audiences.
This is definitiely an age thing, but these days I really do prefer a day out at a small "gaff" track, and Hexham or Kelso would top my list. But of course the "raving for change" mob (thanks for that excellent term Tony Morris) probably don’t even know these tracks exist!
Agree with Jonibake that the Craven meeting, especially on a slightly overcast afternoon, does have a certain ambience although sadly the days when it was chock full of genuine classic aspirants seem to bve a thing of the past. I always found it gave the beleagured punter, who had spent the winter doing his bollocks on a poor crop of inconsistent novice chasers and hurdlers, renewed hope that betting may one day pay!
I attended the Leger this year for the first time, and even with a "borrowed" RCA metal badge I have to say I would never go again. The fact the paddock is in front of the stands is the big problem – there is literally nowhere to escape the crowd. With a course like Ascot you can stay paddock side during races for the odd race to avoid the crowd but at Donnie on Leger that is not an option.
I took the missus and we were appalled that as we had to barge our way up into the stand to watch the first race, people holding drinks were standing on the gangways and the security were doing nothing to clear them. If that is par for the course it is surely only a matter of time before a serious accident happens.
This is definitiely an age thing, but these days I really do prefer a day out at a small "gaff" track, and Hexham or Kelso would top my list. But of course the "raving for change" mob (thanks for that excellent term Tony Morris) probably don’t even know these tracks exist!
I do tend to get all defensive about Doncaster, as it’s my favourite ‘Grade 1’ track and I have an irrational love for both Town Moor and Town Centre; so I’m duty-bound to say that arriving at a seemingly unequivocal judgement of it by experiencing Leger Day is as foolhardy as judging York by a lone visit on Magnet Cup day
It turned out to be a black day but otherwise on the Monday just gone the on-course god was in his heaven as he tends to be on the regulation ‘quiet’ days at Donny
Regarding the paddock position, I take your point on busy days but otherwise, if a betting man, its position just a hop, skip and jump from the Tatts boards is ideal; and the new pre-parade ring positioned ‘around the corner’ is in a handy situation too. Knocks neighbouring York into a cocked hat where one needs to don hiking boots and have adequate supplies of Kendal Mint Cake to survive the trudge
Other than that I too prefer the gaffs but don’t think it can be correlated with age as I was relishing their peace, quietness and safe sanctuary from a mad-mad-rush-rush world when a teenager; no their allure is all the more glowing if one’s inherent persona tends to veer towards that of a reflective introvert
I do tend to get all defensive about Doncaster, as it’s my favourite ‘Grade 1’ track and I have an irrational love for both Town Moor and Town Centre; so I’m duty-bound to say that arriving at a seemingly unequivocal judgement of it by experiencing Leger Day is as foolhardy as judging York by a lone visit on Magnet Cup day
I wasn’t actually knocking Donnie per se – I visited it on the Friday of the Racing Post Trophy meeting in 2011 and it was fine – but that was because it was quite sparsely populated.
My post was in response specifically to the St Leger meeting being ranked as the 4th best raceday which I disagree with based upon the lack of comfort for the paying customer, which is no doubt eased if one decides to get completely hammered.
Oh, and I forgot to mention the awful attire of the local females – classless, and reminiscent of 3am in most town centres on a Friday night. They need to be taken to Chantilly on Prix De Diane day to be given a lesson in how to be glamorous, understated and classy at the same time.
I would generally agree with the Top 10, apart from Grand National day.
The National is a near pointless spectator event if you are on course, you need excellent bins and an expensive vantage point to watch the race "live", most of the race would be seen on a screen – if you could see one.
The place is packed out to the extent it is beyond comfortable (an argument that can also be made against Gold Cup day at Cheltenham.)
If you really want to watch the race then you would see more at home on the TV ….. it is one of those events most racing fans would want to visit once to say "I have been there" and the atmosphere is lively but as a spectator event it’s highly over rated, over priced, "experience".
If you want to experience racing over the National fences then go to the December meeting where there are two races over the bg fences and it is far less crowded.
). Sad though it was to see the old paddock go, the new stands make the user experience far more enjoyable even though the crowds are not necessarily as idiosyncratic as days of old.
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