Forum Replies Created
- Posts
It’s quite easy to answer isn’t it? I would have said:
Certain racecourses want to maintain a tradition of smart attire and a sense of occassion to their meetings. Racing caters to all strata of society and is accessible to all; more so than many other sports. We believe that having a dress code in the Premier Enclosure enhances the spectacle and makes a day’s racing eye-catching and more than just a sporting event. Many of our customers feel the same way which is why we try to cater for them. We also cater for those who don’t want to dress up for the occassion, which is why we have enclosures where there are no restrictions at all.
What did Nick Smith say?
As someone who hates wearing ties, for reasons of comfort, I still endorse the right for a racecourse to have a dress code. I choose not to go in the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot because I know, that in likely hot weather, I will be uncomfortable in a morning suit and top hat.
The problem as I see it is that racecourses want to have their cake and eat it. Certain courses want to maintain an air of tradition, standards, smartness etc., yet they don’t seem to maintain standards of decorum, drinking, behaviour etc. Why? Because, as a nation of drinkers, there is too much money to be made from the public throwing alchohol down their neck at every opportunity.
Ascot’s methods have backfired spectacularly, but was it really that bad? When you buy ANYTHING these days there are terms and conditions and you would be a fool if you didn’t read the small print. Ascot quite clearly state that you should wear a jacket and tie in the Premier Enclosure. Obviously they decided that they wanted to show a bit of grace to those who had failed to follow the standards, as a way of making sure standards were followed in the future. As someone else said earlier, the orange sticker wasn’t a "badge of shame" it was a way of ensuring that individuals weren’t spoken to every single time they entered the enclosure. Did people really feel SHAME if they had an orange sticker on? The question is how to publicise the regulations better so that only a handful of people are turned away on race day.
I must admit that I was surprised Ascot have a jacket and tie policy for winter racing. I don’t understand this at all bearing in mind that the attire is likely to be covered by a big winter coat, hat and possibly scarf.
Looking at a lot of the dress code policies from different racecourses, the ones that want to maintain a dress code are just far too vague. I actually think they should post pictures of attire that is unnacceptable, rather than use someone’s interpretation of "smart". Ascot have actually done quite a good job in defining the code for Royal Ascot, but for every other meeting the term "ladies should dress for a smart occassion" is just too vague. Look at the Aintree meeting in March – there are plenty of girls dressed for a "smart" occassion…..but I’m not sure a ‘Big, Fat, Gypsy Wedding’ counts!
At every sporting event you go to, including the working man’s sports like football and rugby league, there are tickets available according to price. If you are prepared to pay you get the best view. It’s the way it is. Racecourses should be allowed to do the same and they should be allowed to have a dress code. The problem is that they don’t have the balls to enforce the dress codes properly because they don’t want to turn people away.
Tuffers – I agree, but I would ban alchohol in the Premier Enclosure full-stop. The biggest negative for me at racing are groups of people who seem to want to go for a day out and to get drunk. I even wonder if some of them watch the racing! I went to watch a golf tournament at Wentworth a couple of years ago and was amazed at the amount of beer being drunk by the spectators. Without wishing to sound old and boring it does seem that a lot of people in this country can’t enjoy themselves at a sporting event without drinking plenty of alchohol. In my opinion there is a time and a place for getting drunk….a pub, a nightclub, or at home. But there’s just way too much money to be made from the swillers and racecourses aren’t going to turn that down!
Have to dress smartly, can’t drink beer while in the stands, costs an arm and a leg for bad food, high entry costs.
I never go to racecourses for precisely these reasons. Just ridiculous really.
Nice to see the policy working! Keeping beer-swilling, scruffy people out of the Premier Enclosures is what the policy is for isn’t it?
Don’t buy the bad food, don’t spend all day drinking beer (does it add to the enjoyment of racing for you?), and then the entry cost won’t seem so prohibitive!
Oooooh……….Ladies! Don’t stop now….it’s just getting good!
Don’t we all pick winners and losers? And aren’t there always different reasons you can say they won or lost? Does it make you a better person on a racing forum if you pick more winners than someone else?
Anyway, as somoeone who has neither won or lost a huge amount of money, I like Al Ferof for this. I like the way he jumps and travels. I think he hit the front too soon at Sandown but still found enough when challenged.
I’d never paid it much attention. But because every other commentator gets it wrong I heard Holt’s commentary the other day and assumed he’d added in another syllable for no reason. It actually prompted me to look at the actual spelling and I realised he was right. Hats off to him.
It’s made me think of another pronounciation. At Sandown a couple of weeks ago Al Ferof was running. I pronounce it as it spelled with an F at the end. Mike Cattermole the racecourse commentator pronounces it Al Ferov with a V at the end, and the announcer in the parade ring pronounced it AL FEROOF. I crticised the Al Feroof pronounciation but my sister-in-law said she’d always pronounced it with ROOF as the last syllable.
Anyone know the correct pronounciation?
I’m still pretty new to racing but after watching old clips of races I really think that Gold Cup performance was the greatest ever. Combined with Richard Hoiles’ fantastic commentary I return to it often…..in fact I’m going to watch it again now!
I do agree with you. However, you are making mention of all the good stuff from Woodstock. I’m sure there was some real dross as part of that festival.
That said, V Festival has to be one of the worst around….followed not far behind by Glastonbury! Unfortunately nowadays everything is driven by marketing. The BBC coverage of Glastonbury makes me cringe with that old bird Jo Whiley fawning over the latest bunch of indie kids!
There is good music out there but at festivals you have to sift through a lot of rubbish to find it. That’s why with the English weather, and thousands of unwashed, smelly teenagers….I give them a wide berth!
If you are looking for something to relight your grumpy old fire then September is a good month. New album releases from:
Wilco – The Whole Love
The Jayhawks – Mockingbird Time
The Gourds – Old Mad Joy (recorded at Levon Helm’s studio in Woodstock)Oh come on…..Zab Judah was past it years ago! Khan is a good boxer no doubt but he’s got a long way to go to become a great. He’s certainly in the right place under Freddy Roach and I always admire British boxers who are prepared to go to America to improve themselves. Talk of Khan seeking out Mayweather further down the line are purely for financial purposes. There’s nothing wrong with that – I would do exactly the same if I were in his shoes, however Mayweather will destroy Khan.
Unfortunately, many British boxers are just happy to base themselves in the UK and pick up big purses from pretty mediocre fights. I put Joe Calzaghe firmly in that camp too…..one of the most overrated boxers we have had. His "unbeaten" record that he harps on about so much would be credible if he had beaten any of the champions in their prime that he ducked!
Have to agree about The Wire….favourite series ever.
Two that haven’t been mentioned are Deadwood which is up there with The Sopranos in my opinion; and a more recent one, Breaking Bad.
Anyone else seen those?
Can’t stop playing the new album ‘D’ from White Denim. Definitely my favourite of the year so far by a long way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKMIDHUwHmM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edm4qQ0355M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VNKAuRNjRc
Also listening to some older stuff:
The Sonics – Here Are The Sonics!!
Hard Stuff – BulletproofNew here as well. I’ve been looking for a decent forum since the BBC 606 site was closed down, and this one looked good.
I’m pretty new to horse racing (the last 2 years) but have become completely hooked over that time. I much prefer the National Hunt season to the Flat – reasons being that I prefer the way a race can evolve over the jumps and there is so much more going on. Also, I loathe the hot weather and wearing smart clothes – so although my wife goes to Royal Ascot every year I avoid it at all costs. The idea of sweltering whilst being dressed up in a morning suit fills me with horror! Bring on a frosty morning with a nice warm coat and cap followed by a bracing afternoon of jumps racing anyday.
The fact that I can’t pick a winner on the Flat but have been quite successful over the jumps has nothing to do with it…………
Another cynic here! I think Hannon has been less than gracious in defeat all through this. On Frankel’s previous runs I always thought he was there to be beaten, especially by a horse like Canford Cliffs. But Frankel’s run in the Sussex was special, it was beautiful to watch. And Hannon barely acknowledged that.
It does seem to have taken them quite a while to find this injury. You’re probably right – I doubt it will affect the stud fees for Canford Cliffs that much but it probably will somewhat. They have tried to "protect" CC’s record and got him into stud earlier than expected. A good time to cash in I think. Especially as next year his record would likely involve another defeat to Frankel. Equally, with the possibility that Frankel will carry on as a 4 year-old CC can make hay before Frankel arrives on the stud scene!
