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with the car park soon to be turned into a housing estate,things can only get worse at newbury.
I find the thought of going very far on a Sunday unappealing.
A long journey home and an imminent return to work don`t do a lot for the mood.If I`m taking a day`s leave to go racing I`d sooner it be a Friday rather than a Monday to recover from the Sunday. Each to their own I know.
Once upon a time American stakes races were spread out all over the week. Then tracks got desperate (ca. 1980s) and moved ’em all to Saturday (except Keeneland and Saratoga which have a stake every card. Also steeplechases at parimutuel tracks are almost always run on weekdays because bettors whine about them. They ~ruin~ their horizontal wagers). Didn’t do much to improve handle.
GT,
You are more familiar with the action down Newbury way than I but I note that the 3 day Hennessy meeting has reverted back to Thu-Sat as opposed to Fri-Sun when I last ventured south in 2006.
I was tempted to return the following year when it was still Fri-Sun but the 3 day pass offer (basically gave one day entry free) was not available so that lack of incentive put me off going!
The vibe I got from attending both meetings was that Newbury was the day after the Hennessy and the meeting had already climaxed with the big race the day before. Whereas Kelso was a one off Sunday meeting with the whole community involved and intent on having a good day out. Fair play to Newbury since then as I think they have made an effort to improve some of their lower class race days with better marketing (and pop concerts and the themes dare I say it.)
One final thing…I was talking to a friend last week who has been to Newbury races many more times than I’ve had hot dinners and he is aghast at the continued lowering in quality of the racing at his local track.
Oasis,
Saturday being thought of as the big day, there’s always an element of downgrade on a Sunday. Whatever they put on after the Hennessey will seem that way. Be the same problem if the Oaks was on a Sunday.
Newbury’s offers may not be as good now. Presume they look in to whether each offer is effective for them as well as us. I am a full member now so wouldn’t know much about that sort of thing. They’ve done away with Tatts Membership now (which allowed you in to tatts but not "members") still rather have that. At least they gave all Tatts Members a full membership this year at a price of only last year’s Tatts Membership + 5%. As a good incentive to continue.
They also give our West Berkshire Racing Club a good deal. It would cost us a lot more to find a different venue.
Suspect there’s still the same amount of good races numerically. It’s just the percentage has gone down. Due to evening racing of lesser quality (for same reasons as Sundays) and moving good races to Saturdays (eg Fred Darling used to be on Friday). Believe latter is usually on the insistence of Channel 4. So you’ve got to search for the better races these days. Saturdays are probably of better quality! You can get Weekend Membership which works out at £13 a meeting apparently. As well as Flat only, Jumps only and Student membership. Still plenty of options.
Value Is EverythingFor example Haydock on Saturday then Aintree on Sunday would be beneficial to a lot of the parties involved in racing.
This did happen, briefly, in the guise of the
North West Masters
weekend that took in the Betfair Chase at Haydock on the Saturday and the Becher Chase at Aintree on the Sunday. That certainly could have been persevered with for longer, had the will been there.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
For example Haydock on Saturday then Aintree on Sunday would be beneficial to a lot of the parties involved in racing.
This did happen, briefly, in the guise of the
North West Masters
weekend that took in the Betfair Chase at Haydock on the Saturday and the Becher Chase at Aintree on the Sunday. That certainly could have been persevered with for longer, had the will been there.
gc
That was my stag weekend a few years ago!
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