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Only one makes it a really difficult choice.
I am going to avoid some of the more obvious choices and opt for being at Aintree when Red Rum won his first National in that epic race with Crisp – there can not be that many races where the runner up is remembered just as much as the winner – how many other National runners up stick in the memory? (just one other in my case – Just So who I had backed at all prices from 50’s down to 28’s in the weeks before and who was runner up to Minnehoma in 1994).
I have watched the race video countless times and every time I still find myself willing Crisp to hang on. It would be even better being there and having the chance to bet in running – but that is being greedy.
Faced with an upcoming 8 hour flight I will be taking Dan Brown’s Deception Point to read on the plane.
I am hoping it will be better than The De Vinci Code which I found to be an anti-climax after having read the excellent Angels and Demons first.
I don’t know why but when I fly I tend to take totally different books than I would normally read. Does anyone else do the same?
I always remember one flight where I picked up a collection of Jeremy Clarkson musings to read on the plane – big mistake – I think my fellow passengers were getting fairly hacked off with this bloke who kept laughing out loud throughout the flight.
I maintain a separate bank account for my betting to which I used to add a set amount each month. Now I am taking my investing more seriously I am fortunate that I have not now needed to "top it up" for over two years now. I don’t aim to live off my betting but I use it to pay for holidays and other ‘extras’
In terms of setting a target – if I am going racing as a punter (as opposed to writing about it) my aim is to make a 6-10% profit on my investments.
I have, today, come back from the Capri / Sorrento/ Pompei trip – fantastic scenery – although be careful in Capri it is a tourist honey pot.
The only negative is the driving – driving generally in Italy is bad – in this area it is even worse (and that is saying something) – indeed so bad I left teh car in teh hotel car park and used public transport to get around. Trouble is the roads are not built to cope with 21st century traffic levels.
Pompei is really impressive but make sure you take some water in with you – it is very open and hot but only one place inside to buy water.
Of course teh food is fantastic.
At least he is still with us to be able to go to stud – that is the most important thing.
I just hope he makes a better fist of things with the fillies than old Georgie boy did
I can’t wait to see some petit Manduro’s in the years to come.
There is more on Sporting Life
It is good to see the approach being adopted by Coral – I hope other bookmakers follow.
Another interesting point is the betting shows on the big screens and cctv at most racecourses is fed directtly from ceefax (courses who pay Racetech for a premium service have a more bespoke presentation style but I believe these are also fed from the ceefax feed).
The betting updates given by the commentators on-course are also taken from ceefax.
Sadly I think this is just another example of the BBC’s disregard for our sport. As was eloquently pointed out by Maxilon 5 earlier in this thread the erosion of the BBC coverage of racing has been relentless over the past few years.
You can also bet your bottom dollar that when the Fallon et al trial begins in a fortnights time the BBC will suddenly start giving wll to wall coverage of the trial – they will have a field day.
At the end of the day we live in a, relatively, free market economy.
As such traders, in this case PP, make an offer to trade and the purchaser (thee and me) have the option to accept the offer to trade or not.
If enough people choose to bet on bullfighting then I am sure PP will continue to offer it, if there is insufficent uptake then I am sure the book will soon be closed and market forces will prevail.
As for boycotting a provider on the grounds of moral repugnance that is a matter for the individual and their conscience – there are some businesses I refuse to deal with on moral grounds. What I would never presume to do is try and persuade others to boycott said providers – at the end of the day we all have different moral codes.
Just for the record I do find bullfighting repugnant, however in the whole scheme of things there are far worse things happening that need addressing first.
Thanks for your post David – that is the area I am planning to visit shortly – you have almost picked up my itinerary exactly.
I have briefly visited Capri and Sorrento before the others are new.
As for the rest of Italy – Pisa, Venice (of course) although very expensive. The area around Rimini and San Marino is also worth a visit.
Rome is good to visit – very touristy but a must see – once. The Vatican is a fantastic art gallery.
I can’t seem to figure out what the difference is between being a member and buying a season ticket.
Even so I have to say I would not pay 300p for a season ticket – but then again my love
of AW racing could be behind that.Have you seen what they are charging for membership – £500?
I’m hurting now – I laughed so much!!!
As they keep saying on their web site – "….. only in Essex"
It is interesting to note that even with firm going Bath attracted some decent sized fields today (as well as a couple of cracking finishes) …. makes you wonder why there is such a rush to water courses all the time and have this seming obsession for good ground all the time?
Clearly there are some horses and trainers who want the firm ground.
Apart from periods of extreme hot weather, why water on the flat?
Learn from Warwick last week, live with nature and lets have horses for courses.
After working for 30 years in IT, I bit off my employers hands when they offered me redundancy with early retirement – finally getting my freedom in July after a few months garden leave. When working I used to manage to get racing two or three times a month.
Since the beginning of this year I have been building a racing web site designed as an introduction for beginners and a guide to UK racecourses. I have also been doing a sports journalism course so I can, hoefully, do some freelance writing.
Now I am "free" I am going racing at least twice a week and some weeks I have been known to go every day – I even managed three meetings in two days during the summer.
After my complaining about the situation, some credit where credit is due.
It appears that as well as the 50% refund Warwick are also providing a free admission voucher to be used at a remaining meeting this year.
(Source Warwick web site)
There is a 50% refund available but it has to be claimed by post.
50% discount for a total 2 min 18.02 seconds of Class 4/5 racing still isn’t the bargain of the century though – not to mention travelling costs and time which cannot be reclaimed.
David,
I agree with what you say and the race was run to suit him, which suprrised me as I thought Flying Clarets was originally put in as a spoiler to force the pace.
However I still would never considering backing him until I had seen him in the paddock and going down – he has proved he is more than capable of losing the race before it even starts.
In terms of beating inferior rivals he can only beat what is put in front of him and in yesterdays race his time was impressive, over four seconds faster than standard in one of only two races faster than standard at the meeting.
of AW racing could be behind that.