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Has anyone out there been racing at every UK track? If so, do you know if it’s a common occurance?
Has anyone out there been racing at every UK track? If so, do you know if it’s a common occurance?
There’s a good book called ‘From Aintree to York’ by Stephen Cartmell who visited every course and also wrote a critique on each course’s facilities into the bargain.
I’ve visited well over half of all the courses in Great Britain, but know I’m going to have a problem getting to places like Fakenham and Kelso as they are in the middle of nowhere, have no local transport and I don’t drive.
If things change, leave Cartmel, Stratford, Hereford and Redcar till last. Look at the racing schedule and do tracks in clumps if you can. We did Hexham, Kelso and Carlisle in 4 days last November (we’re up to 50 so far). God bless
Will always have a soft spot for Hexham, I’ve only been there once but almost killed myself getting there as I walked all the way there from the railway station and its uphill all the way! Have never been so pleased to meet anyone or anything in my life!
Prepare to be underwhelmed by Hereford and Redcar, as they’re both soulless places. Would love to go Cartmel one day!
Phil – you can get to Cartmel a lot easier on public transport than at first you would think. Go by train on west coast main line, change at Preston, getting off at Cark. Its worth the effort – you’ll love it mate.
Completed the set when visiting Ffos Las last year.
Even went to Great Leighs a couple of times.
There are a few tracks I would like to visit again,one of which I did a couple of weeks ago when I revisited Fakenham.
If you were to go there Phil,get a train to Kings Lynn.
Walk to the bus station which is about a minute away and get a bus to Fakenham town centre (X8 service)and it is about a fifteen minute walk to the track.
You can get off at the train station on the return journey.
Think you can do similar with Kelso from Berwick but it is a while since I’ve been.I try to visit every racecourse, every year, but have yet to actually achieve it, it is now getting almost an obsession – my best ever was when I managed 58. Last year was a disaster as I only managed 53.
This year I am hopefully on target to actually achieve the goal, have done 23 different courses so far and the remainder are all scheduled. I think once I actually do manage it I will then give up. (although I will then probably concentrate on completing the "full set" of Irish courses)
As suggested doing meetings in clumps helps there is usually a Newton Abbot / Exeter on consecutive days and there is a group of three Scottish meetings at different tracks (Musselburgh /Hamilton / Perth) late June which also helps.
If you love NH racing then Cartmel is an absolute must – although from a viewing perspective the course is absolutely terrible, the atmosphere and setting more than makes up for it. Always arrive early – I always make sure I am there at least four hours before the start of the first race. Cartmel is the only course where Mrs O insists on joining me.
Fontwell is another fantastic track for NH fans – watching a chase in the centre of the course, near the intersection, is one of the best experiences you can have on a racecourse.
On the other hand there are some courses where it wouldn’t worry me if I never went there again – foremost amongst them is Chester which I hate with a vengeance.
You can ‘do’ Kelso by public transport by rail to Berwick or Edinburgh and then bussing it.
Don’t envy you the walk up that hill to Hexham!!
Ive just knocked off Folkestone and Newcastle and i can say that Folkestone is a lovely venue to visit and well worth a good day out plus it is so easy to get to now with the new High Speed Rail link from London St Pancras.
Do you mean all GB racecourses or all UK racecourses? If it is the latter then, geographically speaking you need to include Down Royal and Downpatrick though, of course, from a racing point of view they come under HRI. There is also the question of whether you really need to go to both Newmarket courses before you can be considered to have completed the set.
I completed the GB set at Lamtarra’s Derby and have subsequently added the two NI courses and Great Leighs and Ffos Las. Including point to points and a few meetings in Ireland and abroad I once worked out that I had been racing at over 150 different courses but then again I know of at least one person who has been to every point to point venue in GB and that’s well over 200 courses.
Do you mean all GB racecourses or all UK racecourses? If it is the latter then, geographically speaking you need to include Down Royal and Downpatrick though, of course, from a racing point of view they come under HRI. There is also the question of whether you really need to go to both Newmarket courses before you can be considered to have completed the set.quote]
Should you include Les Landes (Jersey) & L’ancresse (Guernsey)?
Joking aside, completing the set is one of my "before I kick the bucket" list although still got a way to go. Waiting for the kids to grow up a bit.
Joking aside, completing the set is one of my "before I kick the bucket" list although still got a way to go. Waiting for the kids to grow up a bit
I know how you feel – I only had 8 to do (the five Scottish tracks, Hexham, Chester and Wetherby) but haven’t done any new ones for about 15 years and in the meantime more tracks have opened (Ffos Las) and some have opened and closed (Great Leighs) before I could get my act together!
Those of you that have "completed the course" do you make any effort to attend both codes for the dual purpose tracks or is that a step too far?
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