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I had noticed the cuttings section hadn’t been updated for certain September information I was looking for. I hope this isn’t the prelude to us having to pay to use the site.
Thanks, Darren, for the Youtube link. Now that’s what I call a water jump.
I must put in a good word for National Spirit just after WW2, winner of two Champion Hurdles and fourth in two others, where there was talk of him being got at. Not only did he win 19 hurdles but also 13 flat races, four of which were worth £1,000, which was big bucks then. Not top class on the flat, admittedly, but tough and very popular, running about 50 times under both codes in three and a half years.
One of his Champion Hurdle wins had a horse called Le Paillon in second, who later won the Arc de Triomphe, so that one was pretty versatile too.
It so happens his old racing silks are up for auction by Bonhams at Tattersalls in Newmarket on 19 July. See lot 249. The description names him wrongly, it’s Herbert Blagrave as you say, although Henry was one of his middle names. One of his horses, Couvert, had won the Coventry Stakes at Kempton (!), the Birmingham Cup and the Royal Hunt Cup between 1936-38, when he was training at Beckhampton. Sorry I don’t have flat race form books for more recent times!
Thanks, everyone, all you say is of interest to me. I shall enjoy planning an expedition or two; that can be almost as much fun as the jaunts themselves.
Thank you, milord. I think there are many weeks you could go to Paris and go racing on a different course at least half those days.
I’ve also wondered about going to Vincennes to see trotting, but is that in one of the less salubrious suburbs? And I was going to investigate the Eurostar that goes to Lille, where there is a racecourse.
Apart from the well known Paris tracks, are there any others further out that can be reached from the central rail termini with roughly the same length of journey as Chantilly?
At least we’ve been given notice with Walthamstow. I shall make a last pilgrimage there. Catford’s closure in 2003 was immediate. No chance for us locals to say goodbye to the old place, even if it was a bit of a dump.
Its swift closure looks particularly ironic in hindsight, as nothing has happened to the site since the stands and the big Tote indicator building were demolished.This is a major threat to the future pleasure of Informed Racegoers. Better to stay at home and watch it on TV. Family Days are a tolerable evil in comparison, because kids always like to see horses, and that might engender an interest in racing later; but boozing yobboes wouldn’t take the simple pleasure of seeing horses that we do; you could create a virtual racecourse a la Steepledowns and bus them in there; they’d be happy if they could booze, bet and see it on TV screens.
Informed Racegoers can indeed attend on Monday to Thursday afternoons, especially not in the summer months, avoiding festivals, and get a proper old-fashioned day’s racing.
I’ve had some trips to French and German courses in the last few years and the atmosphere there is so laid-back – no drunks, nobody walking around eating or drinking. People sit down to eat there. (Who remembers the time here when it was bad form to be seen eating in the street?) I thoroughly recommend Parisian racing to anyone who’s within reach of Eurostar and who doesn’t mind a virtually alcohol-free environment; the grizzled locals imbibe little cups of very strong coffee.
Pontefract meetings often used to start at 2.45. Was that originally something to do with giving local miners time to get to the course?
Neil, I find the AW meetings at Lingfield are pretty soulless as there aren’t many people there. Some of the facilities may be shut, which adds a slight air of gloom. On the plus side, there’s plenty of room to move about, and it might be one price for all enclosures midweek at that time of year.
I have a vested interest in plugging Fontwell, so I will confine myself to saying it is a justly popular course, with good viewing. I recommend you go into the Members, where there is a wonderful garden to admire, unlike anything on any other racecourse as far as I know. And visit the middle of the course for one of the chases; stand near the middle of the figure of eight, where you get a good close view of the last fence and one of the downhill fences on the other straight.
The Saw Doctors will be there that day you’re going in October ("Super Irish Saturday"). The Wurzels did their best today between races in front of a sparse crowd.
Now you have reminded us about all their classic titles, it sounds rather more appealing. "Why does it rain on me" could be quite appropriate, and when it comes to getting out of the car park so could "The tractor song."
I’m afraid it’s £17 tomorrow, Ginger. Join the Racegoers Club for £20 a year, though, and you get £3 off most meetings, so if you go racing seven times a year it’s paid for itself.
