Taunton races with Honor, Tuesday 22nd February 2011

Half term so what better way to spend a day than one at Taunton races with my 10 year old niece Honor who has just started riding lessons and is into anything to do with horses right now. Also, it happened to be Family fun day at Taunton and with Ned teething and still not quite walking I thought it would be a lovely idea to take Honor instead. Luckily she agreed and so we were all set for the trip buoyed by the prospect of meeting David Pipe to witness what a top trainer’s pre race routine involves which had been arranged by the racecourse as a special treat for Honor. We were both very excited as we headed south down the M5 having spent the previous day travelling in the opposite direction to Wolverhampton. Taunton race course is easy to find when you leave the M5 and it’s in a lovely spot actually, if you look down the finishing straight you can see the Quantock Hills which provide a truly breathtaking backdrop. On a slightly brighter day I am sure it’s even more stunning. Racing with a youngster at their first race meeting is an educational experience because you realise that for all the years following the races there are still things which you don’t know fully understand yourself and these knowledge gaps are brought sharply into focus when you are asked what something means. For example, it sounds obvious, but when Honor asked me what Soft going meant I had to frame the answer relative to the other going descriptions but what does soft actually mean? When we went to look at the course you could see how deep the hooves were reaching for all the divots and clods of earth up the straight. Honor fortunately didn’t ask me to explain the handicap system other than the fact she did find out a little later about jockeys having to weigh out and weigh in order to conform to the rules of racing. When you think about it there’s an awful lot to take in on your first visit and it certainly kept me on my toes. Racing is getting much, much better at explaining all the jargon particularly in the new format of the Morning Line in C4 but also in most race cards, it must be said. So, before we settled into the rhythm of our viewing and betting experience we made sure to have a good look around the facilities including the restaurant and bars in the main Grandstand and, of course, how could we ignore the hot dog van located on the inside of the course just next to the giant TV screen lorry....one with onions, one without and a traditional bag of chocolate fudge for Honor to enjoy during the races. Now all we needed were a couple of winners to put the icing on the cake. In the first race I was brave and rather than keep it simple I kicked things off with a Tote reverse exacta....I said to Honor that as long as Qozak and Shoreacres finish in the first two places we’d be alright, this gave her two horses to follow using my binoculars. Sure enough, the Champ AP McCoy got things rolling on Shoreacres seeing off Qozak by 20 plus lengths and off we trooped to collect our winnings...all 90 pence of them as the tote returned £2.90 to my pound reverse outlay of £2. A win’s a win though as they say and I didn’t think it wise to encourage Honor with large stakes. In the 2^nd race we liked the look of both Dark Lover and Dineur but we opted for Dineur each way as the odds were much better. This was a cracking novice hurdle race with Dineur just being overhauled by Dark Lover in the final strides of the race....what a great finish that was. I could tell from Honor’s reaction that she was taking to this form of entertainment. In the 3^rd race our luck started to change as inevitably it does at the races. We backed Kinkeel but it was not to be with the race being won by Kirbys Glen. The 4^th race was the feature race of the day sponsored by Weatherbys offering £20000 in prize money with a handsome pot of just over £10K to the winner. We backed Iolith from the inform Alan King yard but it was to be Ciceron who took the spoils for Venetia Williams, another in form trainer and Aidan Coleman in an extremely well handicapped race there was a blanket finish for the places. I suspect one or two of these horses will be eyeing up Cheltenham and Aintree for even bigger prize pots. Honor decided that we need to change our betting strategy at this juncture as the original one was starting to falter. So rather than combine forces and back one horse together we opted to go our separate ways. Honor asked me to put £2 on Just Amazing to win and I went for Come What Augustus e/w. Earlier on in the day I had been advised by Stephanie at Racing for Change to keep an eye out on Come What Augustus as she rides him out at the Woollacotts in Devon. Augustus has been very successful winning lots of point to points but this was his first steeple chase for several years at the races. We backed him each way and if he hadn’t been hampered at the last fence with a circuit to go I am convinced he would have won  the race. In the end he had to make up several places, which the talented jockey managed to do, but he just couldn’t quite get up on the line losing out to the Paul Nicholls trained Just Amazing. So, both Honor and I ended up in the money again but it was a special moment for Honor who backed her first winner and will no doubt remember Taunton for the rest of her life for that. Things were about to get even better as were now about to meet David Pipe and spend the build up to the 6^th race in his exalted company. We met outside the main office and were then introduced to David. Then we were off to the preparade ring to watch E Street Boy being saddled up – it is a real privilege to get this close to a racehorse before the off and the thing I noticed was that they all had a very clear sense that they were about to be going hammer and tong over some hurdles...like athletes going through their final routine before lining up in a middle distance race. We then moved to the parade ring where we also met David’s Dad the 15 time champion trainer Martin Pipe. Here we witnessed the trainer giving the final instructions to the very friendly Tom Scudamore and then the horses were off to the start. Sadly E Street Boy didn’t finish in the first 3 so we didn’t get the chance to be reunited with the connections in the winners enclosure....not to mention the £5 each way we lost! Seriously, though, that didn’t matter a jot because we’d had a brilliant day and been lucky enough to get so close to the action. Honor and I absolutely loved our day together and I don’t think it will be too long before she asks to go racing again. A big, big thank you to the management at Taunton, to the Pipes and to Stephanie for suggesting we would get  a run for our money following Come What Augustus...she was spot on.

Wolverhampton races - Monday, 21st February 2011

I had long been intrigued to find out about all weather racing at Wolverhampton and on Monday I had the ideal opportunity to make the 100 mile journey up the M5 to witness the action. Wolverhampton is Britain's first floodlit racecourse.  The inaugural all weather meeting was Boxing Day 1993, although the newly built facilities and all weather track were opened officially by Her Majesty the Queen on 24th June 1994. So all weather racing on this polytrack surface (sand, rubber chips and wax resin to bind it all) has been around for a while now. Whilst all weather racing has its critics, I am certainly not one of them, particularly when you find out (by paying a visit, which I urge all race goers to do at least once) how hard a racecourse like Wolverhampton is working to open its doors to as many would be race goers as possible and to give them great value for money. I got a really good positive vibe about the place from the moment I pitched up in the car park. Easy to find and well sign posted from the motorway you are quickly into the heart of the racecourse if entering via the Holiday Inn club entrance. Here I was met by Lindsey and Lesley both part of the dynamic sales team at Wolves. Lesley took me on a tour of the facilities before racing started just so I could get my bearings and get some of the hard investigative work done before our lunch appointment in Horizons, the panoramic restaurant with fantastic sightlines over the entire course and right up the finishing straight. My business partner wasn’t able to make it so Lesley had to put up with me over lunch instead! There really is something for everyone at the racecourse including a large sized conference space Ringside which becomes a nightclub on Saturdays, bars and betting facilities on every floor of the Dunstall Park grandstand each catering for either the regular punter who wants a cosy pub type atmosphere on the ground floor (Weighed In) with close proximity to indoor (on Mondays or in bad weather) independent bookies, to the very comfortable leather armchairs in the family/owners & trainers Dunstall Suite on the 1^st floor , well appointed private hospitality boxes (can seat 8-64 people at a time) to Horizons on the 3^rd floor. If you haven’t booked a table in Horizons, which is advisable as it’s so popular, then you can also try the hotel which again was pretty busy for a Monday afternoon I thought. There is plenty of crossover between the hotel and the racing which all makes sense because it’s actually part of the race course and this makes for quite a buzz about the place at any stage of the week I reckon. It also makes for a perfect conference destination where you can mix business with the pleasures of a fun afternoon or night at the races. Having explored the course we headed for Horizons. Immediately it made me think of the panoramic at Kempton and as Lesley was quick to point out it was Kempton who copied their idea (table side TV screens to boot)...imitation being the highest form of flattery of course! The food and service was slick and of a very high quality. I had a delicious creamy mushroom soup, pork loin with extra loud pork crackling and an almond and pear tart for pudding. To those who know me well I am a closet food snob who loves watching TV master chefs at work (loving Lorraine Pascale right now) and, whenever possible, sampling good food and wine. The chef at Wolverhampton deserves extremely high praise. My loin was tender and the vegetables deliciously fresh. The really classy touch was the orange zest mascarpone cream served with the tart...so original and refreshing too. Chatting to Lesley over lunch made me realise how important racing is to their local community. Wolves will stage around 100 fixtures this year so it’s a busy place and it gives local trainers like Reg Hollinshead, Tony Carroll and Mark Brisbourne to name just a few the ideal place to send their runners. If only I’d followed her advice and actually backed them I would have shown a handsome profit on the day. I did however back Richard Hannon’s runner Captain Cool in the second race which gave me a cushion which I needed to lean on for the rest of the afternoon. The main reason for this was the distinctly poor run by Harry Lime in the 4.30pm Maiden Stakes, trained by Mark Johnstone and ridden by Joe Fanning the horse was sent off as 9-2 2^nd favourite and with a Derby entry to boot thought it might at least make the frame.....ended up coming last beaten several lengths by Crystal Sky ridden by Jimmy Quinn. But the lack of betting success certainly wasn’t going to put me off my day. I think it’s a sign of the economic times that a horse like Erinjay who won the seller at 4pm and who has now won 5 of his last 10 starts wasn’t bought in the auction conducted immediately after the race. I really think this horse would repay the outlay quite quickly and yet there were no bids (see video clip); sadly I didn’t have a spare £3K.  On leaving the racecourse I spotted a very smart black Mercedes endorsed with the JSC Sport logo; I was straight on to my mate Johnno Spence to see if he was at the races but, as it turned out, he was on holiday in Mustique and the car, as it happens, is owned by a certain Hayley Turner! So, a big thumbs up to the team at Wolverhampton from one of your growing army of happy race goers. If new visitors keep receiving the same warmth of welcome attracted by the varied programme of entertainment (see below for upcoming examples of this) laid on by the racecourse then you will thrive even in these harsh economic times. Well done again and thanks to Lesley and Lindsey for looking after me so well.

Saturday 12^th March – Lincoln Trial Day with Pro/Am Darts Challenge

This is the only Saturday afternoon race meeting at Wolverhampton and features 2 prestigious races, The William Hill Lincoln Trial and the Lady Wulfruna Stakes.

The Pro/Am darts contest will be held during racing. Between races, race goers can take part each throwing 9 darts with the highest scorers going on to partner former world champions Keith Deller and John Lowe.

The final will take place after racing and the winner will receive a table for 4 guests in the Horizons Restaurant here at Wolverhampton Racecourse.

This event is a must for racing and darts enthusiasts.

Link for tickets/details http://www.wolverhampton-racecourse.co.uk/raceday/fixtures.html?mode=view&fix=1799

Saturday 19^th March – Irish Night

Evening Racing followed by live entertainment from Richie Muir and his band.

The band will be performing a range of material from Irish artists as part of our Irish themed racing and entertainment night.

Link for details/tickets http://www.wolverhampton-racecourse.co.uk/raceday/fixtures.html?mode=view&fix=1802

Trip to Joe Tuite's yard in Great Shefford near Lambourn 17.1.11

When the news reached me via a mutual friend that Joseph Tuite was leaving Mick Channon, where he had been assistant manager for over 8 years and helped to regularly send out in excess of 100 winners a season, to set up on his own I determined to pay him a visit once he’d got up and running. Joe is a top man, both charming and knowledgeable in equal measures; essential qualities needed to attract owners into a new yard, especially with the backdrop of an uncertain economy and all the press about paltry prize money, increasing costs and trainers having to shut up shop. So it is already some achievement that he now has 12 horses based at Shefford Valley Stables just outside Lambourn where he rents his facilities (stable boxes, exerciser and private 6 furlong wood chip gallops) from Andrew Liddiard. At the minute the tack room doubles up as his office (see photo) although he is hoping to bring in a container type mobile home to serve as his office very shortly. Whilst I was chatting to Joe he was simultaneously drying out a damp muck sheet with a gas fired patio heater. This made for an atmospheric environment but also served to remind me that life isn’t always that glamorous when you are starting out on your own in business. What makes things a little more complicated for Joe is that he is still waiting for his dual-purpose training license (he will concentrate on the flat to start with) to come through the post so he is not able to enter his horses to race anywhere just yet. He is running everything on a shoestring until the results start to come and, knowing Joe, it will not be too long before we are reading about him saddling a first winner in his own right, such is the measure of the man and such is the loyalty which he engenders from those who have backed him by sending him horses in the yard’s infancy. Most notably, his yard sponsor, David Greaney who owns DG Imports (specialist importers of fruits, salads and vegetables) has sent him a couple of horses and the Heart of the South syndicate have sent Interakt to be trained by Joe. Some of his horses are ready to run whilst others need a little bit more work but I am convinced it will not be long before we see a certain Joe Tuite climbing the leading trainers table in the coming years. He has given himself 10 years to build his dream and given that most businesses when they set up think about the 5 year horizon you can tell that Joe is deadly serious and, in my opinion, very likely to succeed. I wish him and the team well at Great Shefford. Roll on February.......

Kempton Park twilight all weather meeting with Rafe - 16.12.10

It's been proving quite tough to go racing this month what with all this snow, ice and dodgy, Arctic weather which has wreaked havoc with the fixture list so there was just one thing for it.....a trip to the all weather polytrack at Kempton Park beckoned. There are plenty of dates to choose from - next year in fact Kempton will stage 96, yes 96 fixtures. I chose Thursday 16th December partly because Kempton is so easy to get to from Oxfordshire (M40, M25, M3) but also because I wanted to give my Godson, Rafe an early Christmas treat. He's only 15 (thereby qualifying for free entry NB I think Kempton have been very cute to raise the free entry from U16 to U18) and I thought it would be interesting to see what he thought about the experience from a teenager's perspective. I arranged to pick him up from Great Milton and after a lovely spot of lunch with his Mum, my Aunt, we careered to Kempton in time for the first race off at 4pm. The plan was to stay for 6 of the 8 races. I topped up Rafe's pocket money to the princely sum of £15 and challenged him to turn his budding knowledge of the form into some early Christmas money with which I would expect him to have added to his iTunes collection or PS3 video game library. Teenagers don't really change, just the technologies. In  my day it was still Vinyl singles, LPs and Gameboy.

We got to the fairly quiet beeting and food hall in the Grandstand (see video clip) with about 20 minutes to spare before the off which allowed me to watch the last races at snowy Towcester and Exeter on the BetFred TV screens and try to get into some kind of winning betting groove. The 3.40 from Towcester was a taste of things to come later in the evening although interestingly enough, not from Kempton. Addiction was pipped by a big outsider in a photo finish but I made a few quid on the place leg of my each way bet whilst down in the eye of the snow storm at Exeter Baby Car ran into a brave 3rd place from way off the pace along a frighteningly long run-in swelling the coffers by a few more quid (so, I knew, by now that I'd covered Rafe's top-up.....). I should have just stopped there because every one of my next 6 selections seemed to go into reverse the moment they clocked the winning post! Meanwhile clever young Rafe was asking me to put a couple of quid on for him here and there at the Tote and I foolishly dismissed his selections backing other theories, including trying some exotic bets like the Swinger and Reverse Exacta at the Tote.

Just after the second race, in which the talented Cathy Gannon completed a big price double, we met up with James Hastings-Trew. James works for Kempton in the sales team and is rightly very proud of the Panoramic Restaurant  at the top of the Grandstand (*please see below for superb value deal available to readers of this blog offered up by James). In my opinion this facility is their crown jewel - smart, modern, comfy and clearly a place where lots of people were having a fantastic time (a fab place for Christmas parties - see photo), eating delicious food and good wine - 'tis the season to be jolly after all I reminded myself as the blizzard deepened ouside! As things had started to get seriously cold and snowy outside so I took myself and Rafe off to the Arabian desert (Meydan) for a change of fortune in their 5.45 back at Betfred.. £20 win (biggest bet I allow myself) on Swinging Sixties. The William Buick ridden horse looked all over the winner about 2F out only to be mugged on the line by another rank outsider...Pearly King at 33-1. Time to give up the ghost Charlie!

Rafe had been enjoying a bit more luck with some good priced places with Faith Jacaro in the 3rd and Mrs Neat in the 4th. I then clocked him nose deep into the Racing Post form pages establishing his strategy for the last couple of races (see photo). We drew a blank in the 5th but in the 6th it all cam good for the youngster. He asked me to put on his maximum bet £2 e/w on Gallantry whilst I went £10 e/w on Ice Cool Lady a recent, well fancied course and distance winner. Fair play to the youngster - Gallantry absolutely bounded clear winning eased down at the line...no sign of Ice Cool Lady though......one of those days. Stick to what you know Charlie - it's notoriously difficult to pick out these all weather winners - but it doesn't stop one trying right?

Rafe was positively beaming having scooped £15.20 on Gallantry thereby doubling his net worth on the night. I was left feeling rather impoverished having shelled £70 excluding drinks. I asked Rafe what he wanted to eat thinking he might say fish and chips or burger which I would have been able to get for him at the racecourse but he insisted on KFC on the way home at Oxford services. I think racecourses could do much more with their retail premises to attract more people and grow their average customer spend by working with brands like KFC. The offering on a midweek all weather, bitterly cold December night is OK but could be a whole lot better frankly especially for those on a lower budget which excludes the Panoramic.

Sandown has a Costa Coffee. Why not a KFC for Kempton...?



* SPECIAL OFFER

Buy One Get One Free offer that we have in our Panoramic Restaurant in January and February to the readers of this blog. This offer applies to all fixtures apart from 15th January and the 26th February.

For two people we would be able to offer admission, racecard and table for the fixture with a two course meal for £42 and £47 for a three course meal.

To claim this offer, call the sales team on 01932 753518 and quote the code KPLTR11. This offer needs to be booked in advance and is subject to availability.

Newbury Races, Winter Festival, Friday 26th November 2010

Today I managed to combine a bit of serious business and pleasure. First stop Highclere Castle to meet my clients who had booked a day’s game shooting through my events company Altis by 9am and thanks to the super fast A34 I made it with plenty of time to spare and could enjoy a cup of coffee with them before seeing them off in the estate Land Rovers for the first drive. As well as being conveniently close to Newbury racecourse Highclere Castle was also the location for the recent, hugely popular Downton Abbey series on ITV. The castle is stunning and it’s set in some amazing grounds as you can see from the photos. Highclere also has its own stud and it is also linked to some very successful racehorse syndicates known as Highclere Thoroughbred Racing. Their best known horse in training this year was Harbinger who won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth stakes at Ascot destroying a good field in record time but who is sadly now retired due to injury.

It seemed to make sense to take up the offer of a day at Gentlemen’s Day, the Friday of Newbury’s excellent 3-day Winter Festival, as I was so close to the racecourse...not that I needed much arm twisting, of course. I was on my own today so it gave me extra flexibility to visit some different parts of the racecourse as well as the chance to meet up with a couple of friends and family who are Newbury regulars. I picked up my badge and race card from the Owners & Trainers entrance and then headed into the heart of things. On my way in I was given a copy of Inside Track (a really useful guide to the layout of the facilities packed with all sorts of other handy tips designed to try and improve the racing experience for infrequent visitors) by a friendly member of staff. I now felt as though I could navigate my way around the facilities in total confidence. Before the racing I visited the paddock to see the Vine & Craven foxhounds, look at the Fullers Dray (great experiential brand activation given the brewer’s sponsorship of the Berkshire Novices Steeple Chase on today’s card) and listen to Mick Fitzgerald’s tips in his interview with Philip Brannan (not that these helped very much, sometimes I think there are too many opinions out there, no matter how well qualified they are, and you just have to go with your own instincts.....!).

As I left the paddock area and headed towards Dubai Duty Free Grandstand I spotted Freddie Tulloch at the very impressive looking Outside Chance bar. I have got to know Freddie quite well over the last few years as we are in very similar businesses and I am confident that the Outside Chance bar will become a key part of the race day and race night experience at Newbury over the coming years. It is a joint venture between Freddie and the Outside Chance pub in Manton near Marlborough designed to give the younger, cooler racing enthusiasts a home from home really – comfortable, warm, trendy environment serving up good food, wine, beers and coffees all day where you can place bets and then it turns into a bar / club after racing. I think this is exactly the sort of initiative racing needs to develop in order to break into the younger, funkier crowds without having to rely on concerts which seem to polarise the more traditional race goers on race days. So well done Freddie and well done Newbury for sharing the vision – good on you both and I hope it proved to be a success.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the racing from as many different vantage points as I could get to without encroaching on any hospitality or restaurant viewing areas. I guess it was the type of day out that the majority of Newbury’s many thousands of fans experience each time they go racing. This was what I was trying to get a feel for....what’s it like for the everyday fan? I watched from the Grandstand and its enclosure and I watched from the Premier enclosure too where I met up with Graham and Penelope Stewart for the long distance staying hurdle at 1.35pm at their usual viewing position at the foot of the Hampshire Stand. Of all the vantage points I think the one I prefer the best is from the extreme right hand side of the Berkshire Stand looking down the entire length of the course which also has good views of the water jump and the sharp right handed turn which the runners take as they head out on another circuit. I had an excellent pork roll from the Celtic Pie Company situated on the first floor of the Grandstand with a pint of Guinness from the ground floor bar in amongst the Tote booths, racing newspapers and TV screens. A lot of people seem to just base themselves here and I can quite see why as they have all the facilities on the doorstep of the course including easy access to the concourse bookmakers.

On the betting front I had a mixed day. Not much to report other than a £2 Tote reverse exacta on Dolatulo and Smad Place in the first which paid out 13.4 to a unit stake with the favourite being convincingly turned over by the in-form Alan King/Wayne Hutchinson connections. I sat out the second (work call which I had to take) and in the third I backed Mostly Bob £2.50 each way. The horse came 3^rd but the dividend wasn’t great. In the 4^th I did another reverse exacta on the short priced favourites (both of whom crashed out of the race) leaving my each way saver On Borrowed Wings to claw back the stake. I left after the 4^th race in order to get back to the office to round a few things off for the week and prepare for another Altis event at Twickenham (England v S. Africa) the following day. Leaving early on a Friday isn’t a bad idea either if you need to beat the traffic because the A34 for all its positives can snarl up late on a Friday afternoon. On a final note I heard on the radio driving home that AP McCoy rode a double to round off a good day in the end for the Nicky Henderson team which will have meant quite a few happy punters will have collected some early Christmas money!! Sadly not me though.

Wincanton Races via Yapp Brothers Wine Merchants in Mere with pals from the Marquis of Westminster Pub in Pimlico, Thursday 19th November 2010

An inauspicious start to the day when I discovered a flat tyre on the Volvo just before setting off to the West Country for a day out with the lads from the Marquis. Perhaps it was an omen to go steady on the wagers at Wincanton but it did mean I was going to get to Mere, where I was meeting the minibus making its way to Somerset from central London, later than the scheduled 11.30am. I hurtled down the A303 via Marlborough in my wife's Polo and got to Yapp Brothers Wine Merchants just after midday. The gang from the Marquis including one of my oldest mates, Chris Hayes, the landlord arrived 10 minutes before me so they were already sipping on something sparkling when I met them in the shop. Tom Ashworth, another old mate, happens to run the family wine business with his stepbrother Jason Yapp and they supply the Marquis along with several other high profile trade customers in London like Le Gavroche. It struck me to be a smart move to combine a pub trip from the Marquis with a tasting tour at Yapp Brothers and a day's racing at Wincanton especially as I could dump the car and hop on the minibus thereby clearing the way for a few pints at the course (I didn't need to drive home later as I was staying locally in the Deverill valley with a great pal and he had akindly agreed to pick me up from Yapp's later......dangerous). Tom gave us a splendid tour of his premises as you can see from the photos and video clip.

On arrival at the course we met up with Hannah Walker, press & PR supremo at Wincanton, and she immediately took us to box #5 which had been organised for us in the Hatherleigh Suites. The boxes are comforatble, modern and well equipped. Importantly they also have the best views of the course and the surrounding countryside which is some of the most breathtaking in the land. The boys were all incredibly happy and thrilled to have a base from which they could explore the rest of the course as the day progressed. The Chairman of the course, Mark Woodhouse, very generously had a case of the finest bottled Badger Beers sent up to the box to put the icing on the cake really. I savoured a bottle of Poachers Choice whilst the others got stuck into the Tangled Foot and Fursty Ferret - all wonderful brands and thank you again Mark.

There is a Badger Beer theme running through the heart of Wincanton Races and the positioning of their brand is absolutely spot on - Badger Beer Raceday, the Badger Beer Bar & Stand, wide distribution of the product in all the bars, restaurants and suites - it's one of Dorset's oldest businesses, founded in 1777. You can imagine how the group from the Marquis got stuck into their beers.....

We all had a fairly disastrous time on the betting front as most of us had decided to follow David Mitchell''s tips which Chris had asked him to give us earlier in the week. Mitch writes for the Mirror, drinks at the Marquis and is a top bloke but why he wasn't able to pick out Buck Magic in the 3rd race I'll never know...! But Will somehow managed to slip a tenner on Buck Magic each way and, having been fortunate enough to be taken up to the start of the hurdle race (2.20) by Hannah to see what happens close up just before the off (see my video clip), we returned to the crossing point not far from the winning post to witness Buck Magic pipping Vico in the final strides. Vico was Paul Nicholls only runner at Wincanton that day and this is a course where he has traditionally farmed multiple winners.....so whilst we all backed Vico it was down to Will to pick up his spoils, all £497, from the Tote operator located just along the corridor from our box (again see video). This result certainly lifted the mood even further as you can probably imagine.

All that Badger was starting to penetrate my veins so I had a cheeky cheese burger just after the 3rd race which was simply delicious - I can recommend the burger concession at Wincanton very highly - and it didn't surprise me to see they were doing a very brisk trade. I could have had another but I needed to get back to the box to meet up with Jane Southall an old racing pal of mine who lives nearby and is a regular Wincanton racegoer. Jane runs her own business aptly called the Racing Host. She is excellent with customers and, like Mitch, knows her racing having been an amateur jockey and a trainer. She also owns horses and has been a long standing supporter of Richard Rowe down the years. She mentioned her latest horse in training with Richard called Near the Water who runs at Lingfield on Tuesday, 23rd November. When you're luck's out Jane is a good person to seek a remedy.....she very cleverly picked out the winner of the penultimate race I'm a Legend (turning over Mitch's selection in a photo finish) and a decent priced 2nd in the last called J'Adhere to allow for some damage limitation. Thank you Jane.

We had a couple more beers after racing in the Stalybridge Bar and then the inevitable pub stop-off at the White Lion in Bourton on the way back to Mere where we had two more pints of Otter, I'm serious, we moved on from Badger to Otter (sorry Mark, but we couldn't resist giving it a go whilst on our West country Odyssey).

My host and fellow Altis director, Piers Lawson, then very kindly picked me up from Yapp Brothers and took me to his local called the Red Lion in Kilmington. A further two pints of Butts Jester and a packet of Mr. Porky scratchings certainly didn't spoil our appetite as we managed to have supper when we got back to Drove End whcih consisted of a delicious lamb and lentil casserole combined with a Yapp house red. I had to be in Shaftesbury for a 9am meeting with Major Events International the following morning but somehow I made it......

What a day. WELL DONE WINKY. You deserve to do well as a racecourse because you've got a great venue, fantastic set of facilities and real professionals running the show.

Warwick Races, Wednesday 17th November 2010 with my friends Zed, Suzy & Johnny

Strangely I had never been racing at Warwick before and yet it’s only an hour’s drive from home so there are no excuses for the future. I chose the scenic route via Stow and Moreton-in-Marsh which allowed me to take in and admire the last vestiges of the Autumn tree line near Batsford.....I love this country. Arrived at 11.30am to be met at the rather underwhelming Paddock Entrance by Geoff Lines who was filming the Weighed In programme for the internet sports broadcaster www.soccerx.co.uk. I knew that I had a good face for radio and that I was going to be interviewed about my work as a Voice of the Races but I wasn’t expecting the request by Geoff to perform some Strictly Come Dancing steps with the presenter Jane Edsom......I am not a great mover as my wife (and, no doubt, the film) will testify!

Meanwhile Zed & Suzy arrived and after a briefing with the film crew about the order of things for the day we headed for a drink at the Westgate Bar. The bars at Warwick are all really friendly, warm and welcoming with a good atmosphere it must be said. The staff certainly know how to pour a good Guinness. During the course of the afternoon we managed to check them all out and they got top marks except for the Dukes Bar which, rather oddly, didn’t have any beer due to “pressure” issues. Not to matter there are three bars side by side in the main stand so they will not have lost any sales.

We all backed Salpierre who put an end to AP’s mini drought as he darted up the straight to victory in the first race and as this was the first leg of my charity each way double for Weighed In all our hopes were then pinned on Quipe Me Posted in the second. Quipe Me Posted ran a good race but the Twiston-Davies good thing Flemish Invader  was just too strong up the hill and we settled for 3^rd place meaning the charity is a bit better off as a result which pleased me and Geoff no end. After another round of interviews Geoff introduced us to Georgie who then took us to the Directors Box to have some lunch. This was a real treat and a pleasant surprise which we were certainly not expecting. Our thanks go to Warwick’s MD Huw Williams, the Chairman Stephen Allday and Georgie who escorted us from the “studio” to the box and made us all feel incredibly welcome. The catering was first class, big pork chops, lovely fresh vegetables, a creamy lemon tart and some very quaffable wines. We skipped cheese as the racing was just too good and my guests all wanted to smoke!

After a couple more post lunch beers and cheeky each way bets on some outsiders, including the Queen’s runner Morcambe in the 3^rd who ran in snatches and didn’t get the trip in my eyes, Suzy went for some retail therapy and bought a lovely furry, rabbit scarf with Zed’s winnings from the first! If you look closely at one of the photos you can spot the item.

We all decided to head off after the penultimate race whilst it was still light and before the rain got any heavier. It was a day for favourite backers but some of the odds were too short for our wallets but herein lies a thought....in the 6^th race which had 5 runners we backed every horse other than the favourite including Johnny who up until this point had been happy to resist the temptation to bet. Guess what – yes, you guessed it – Ukrainian Star, the favourite, won in good style at a short price and we were left thinking, if only we’d clubbed together and lumped on.....!!!

Our thanks to Geoff and Jane from Weighed In for making the day one to remember and to Warwick’s management for laying on a cracking mid week winter jumps fixture and for generously giving us lunch in the Directors Box.