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As it’s going to be a gorgeous weekend I have decided to add another P2P course to my list – Kingston Blount nr Oxford.
Question to those knowledgeable forumites – Is it worth the trip?!
Hi Aragorn,
Despite its relative proximity to me, I’ve never actually been to Kingston Blount. This has partly been due to timetable clashes for me (I’m otherwise engaged again this weekend) and partly due to a possible misinterpretation of the entrance fees hitherto – I’d always thought it cost a mandatory £25 to get in, but the course website lists prices this time as £25, £20 and £12 per car, depending on where you stick it.
The course has a decent reputation, and is run by some names with which you’ll be familiar – Bon Accord’s trainer Alan Hill (husband of licensed trainer Lawney) owns the site, and that gelding’s owner Rodney Mann is the chairman.
The going can get pretty fast there, though I think Mr Hill got a bit narked when it was described as “firm” in the press at one meeting last year.
Further details on the site, the fixtures and directions are available at http://www.kingstonblount.com/. Sorry I can’t be of more help this time, though I’m sure some of the other usual suspects can help fill in the gaps a bit.
Not sure when my next pointing jaunt is – possibly Larkhill on Wednesday 28th, all being well.
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)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.
Seen as how i’m not part of the Land Rover & Hamper brigade i’ll quite happily opt for the cheap parking!!! They probably wouldn’t take kindly to my boy racer R32 disturbing there eloquent tittle tattle.
I’ll report back after and let you know what I think.
I believe they have the point to point championship final at Towcester? Or is that the hunters….. Can’t remember but they definitely have some sort of end of season championship there, normally around the 30th May (Just checked there is a friday evening meet there on the 30th – Always a huge crowd). And (I keep banging on about it) it’s free entry!!!
Guys, does the season end with the big race at Stratford???
Not quite. There are still one or two hunters’ chases at Cartmel in the days after Stratford, plus one 2m4f contest at Hexham, and maybe one or two others I’ve missed. Historically I think the Stratford meeting DID include the last hunters’ chases, but things have shifted a bit in recent times.
The point-to-point season, meanwhile, is not tied to the same dates as the hunters’ chase season – it started in the first week of December, and finishes as usual at Umberleigh in Devon in mid-June.
Also, I watched the Cheltenham evening on RUK the other night (even had a winning bet on that old rascal Take The Stand).
What sort of attendance do they get there? Looked a bit empty in the enclosure across from the winning post. I presume the crowd was pretty big "behind the camera"?
What sort of atmosphere is there – is it better than the festival (ie. more knowledgable grass roots racing people in attentance, less drunken yobbos)?
Hard to quantify a crowd spread more thinly over such a big site, but I’d have said 5,000 wouldn’t be a bad guess as a ballpark figure. It would not surprise me if it was well in excess of that, though.
It was a terrific atmosphere on Wednesday. The genre of racing inevitably attracts a greater concentration of specialist fans / enthusiasts, but there weren’t any outbreaks of trouble that I saw inamongst either them or the remainder. It was easier to count copies of the Weatherby’s loose-leaf update than it was pints of beer around the parade ring!
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)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.
I believe they have the point to point championship final at Towcester? Or is that the hunters…..
That’ll be the Mens Open series final at Towcester this coming Monday night, sponsored by Volkswagen Touareg and the culmination of a series of Mens Open point-to-point qualifiers held around the pointing tracks all winter. Amicelli’s win at Guilsborough the other weekend was one such qualifier, but I’m not sure connections fancy aiming him at that.
This series final has had an itinerant existence over the last 15-20 years, having originally been held at Chepstow when I first became aware of it.
Chesham to Towcester isn’t a huge trip, so as long as I can get away from my Day Job on time on Monday night I shall be there.
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)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.
Twelve and a half thousand were at Cheltenham, if you believe Alastair Down’s article in the paper today. It certainly didn’t seem as much to me, although to be fair I did only once go downstairs to mingle with the hoi polloi
It wouldn’t be a vintage renewal of the Touareg Final. Connections of Amicelli (who lamed himself at Guilsborough) have a more than adequate stand-in, in the shape of Sonevafushi. Rydal Park, Dennis The Legend and Man From Highworth are others of obvious interest, although I wouldn’t fancy the latter up the hill.
Kingston Blount is currently good to firm, but they are apparantly watering like fury to take the sting out of it. Entries are fairly healthy for this time of year – the Ladies Open in particular looks as though it could be particularly competitive, while the Hunt race will be a Hill benefit – the clerk of the course/master of the Hunt has six of the seven entries (Lawny has even been jocked up on one of them and she’s not ridden in a race for six years!)
Well I went on Saturday and as usual at a P2P meeting had a cracking day.
Jeremy, you have three parking options when you arrive:
1) Park across the road and pay £12 (It’s a 50 yd walk tops)
2) Pay £20 to park by the entrance (£8 for 50 yds?!)
3) Pay £25 and get a numbered plot (Yep, they had numbered plots) on the side of the course. I would pay £25 or £12 as the £20 seemed almost pointless.The course itself is left handed (There is one righ turn in it however) and undulating with the turn at the far end being right up and down a knoll. It was well organised and the races went off on time every time. The quality of racing was OK – I got excited when I saw Bon Accord on the entries but he didn’t show – but it was competitive and the best horses generally were there or thereabouts. After backing the winner of the first I managed three seconds and a third in the next four races so ended up down which was slightly annoying!!!
You can watch from inside the track right next to the third fence (Or first from the 2m5f start) which makes great viewing and gives you an almost panoramic view of the course. The ground was pretty quick and even though they were close to the track record those racing at the front tended to win (Except for the favourite (Something midnight – Can;t remember for the life of me!!) in the 3rd or 4th race who’s rider decided to make a bid with a circuit to go and was nailed by the staying on free at the last fence – No prizes for guessing which I backed!!!!).
All in all a really good day and I would recommend it. They brought the hounds out halfway through the meeting so the kids could be slobbered on and licked which I thought was a nice touch. The course itself is really picturesque being effectively set in a vale and there were Red Kites soaring above all day. For £12 I would definitely go back.
Cheers
NickJeremy,
Have been invited to go to my local Larkhill on the 28th. I’m a regular racegoer but this will be my first ever P2P, any advice?
Ginge
Value Is EverythingHello Ginge,
Curiously, given that it is both one of the premier pointing courses and also one of the most-used (four or five meetings a season), I’ve never been to Larkhill! However, I’ve tentatively got that meeting pencilled into my schedule as well, depending on how soon I can get away from the Day Job that afternoon.
The main thing to mention about Larkhill is that it is an enormous course – a big, galloping triangular track which takes in thirteen fences per circuit. Needless to say, action can get very distant as the horses reach the furthest corner of the track, and binoculars are not to be forgotten. With them, though, I think all is well – possibly one fence is obscured from view, but no more than that. The fences themselves are well made and comprise an adequate test.
It’s also important to note that Larkhill is probably more exposed to the elements than pretty much any course you will encounter in the country. Located on Salisbury Plain, a rough guess would put the nearest windbreak at least 20 miles away! That should be less of a concern if it’s as nice on the 28th as it is today, but bring an extra layer or two all the same.
Field sizes at Larkhill can deteriorate a little as the season nears it end (the last meeting saw only penny numbers contest the Opens), but there are usually some good performers in the sphere still in operation all the same. Facilities are decent enough, by all accounts, and access (hard roads) and parking (with rather a lot of Plain at your disposal!) both draw few complaints.
Hope this helps!
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)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.
1) Park across the road and pay £12 (It’s a 50 yd walk tops)
2) Pay £20 to park by the entrance (£8 for 50 yds?!)Oooh, you’ll be amazed how much of a difference that 50 yards can make to some fat old farmers after a skinful of hospitality…
I got excited when I saw Bon Accord on the entries but he didn’t show –
Yeah, I guess the horse isn’t quite right at present. The Hills have come on record as saying they shouldn’t have taken him back to Cheltenham last month, but instead have done what Cherry Coward did with Amicelli and contest a Men’s Open point – probably here at Kingston – next time out. Barring a wet end of May, I think we’ve seen the last of him this season.
For £12 I would definitely go back.
Good to hear! Where are you off to next? And were you at Towcester last night, perchance?
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)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.
No, didn’t make Towcester – Was playing football last night as i’m off to Germany to play this weekend and needed the run out. Should bring me on for the weekend!!!
I’ll be at Towcester on the 30th May for the Friday evening meeting and will probably go somewhere the weekend before as its bonus time and i’m on holiday. Either Newmarket for the bank holiday meeting or alternatively Garthorpe or Kingston Blount again if i’m feeling more rural that weekend!!!
The reason the Farmers park at the side of the course is because it would be physically impossible to carry all their drink in!!!!
Good man! I’m a very likely starter for Towcester on the 30th, too, as Mrs Column will be otherwise detained rehearsing with her band that night. I’m at Stratford on Friday 23rd, and will also be out on the Sunday or Monday of that Bank Holiday weekend – inevitably, my preference would be for Cartmel on the Monday…
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.
Good man! I’m a very likely starter for Towcester on the 30th, too, as Mrs Column will be otherwise detained rehearsing with her band that night. I’m at Stratford on Friday 23rd, and will also be out on the Sunday or Monday of that Bank Holiday weekend – inevitably, my preference would be for Cartmel on the Monday…
gc
Indie or Salvation?
Value Is EverythingMy money’s on Thrash metal!!!!!
I’ll have to go to this mythical place they call Cartmel one day…. I have visions of hobbits and fantasy type creatures parading before racing.. Perhaps I have an overactive imagination!!!
Indie or Salvation?
Oh, she’s beyond salvation, Ginge…
Singer and bassist in a guitar-bass-Theremin-violin-drums combo that sounds a bit like Hawkwind, Blondie, The Cure, Pentangle and Elastica having a fight in a fancy dress shop, as it happens. A career of widespread derision from the NME and tiny pockets of fanatical support in Baltic Europe surely beckons.
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.
I have visions of hobbits and fantasy type creatures parading before racing..
That’s no way to talk about Peter Naughton.
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.
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