For as long as we've known Charlie Stanley-Evans, sales director at Haynes Hanson & Clark (HHC) we have been fortunate to be invited to their annual champagne reception in the Fred Winter suite, a facility in the impressive Berkshire Stand at Newbury racecourse which is large enough to accommodate up to 300 of their guests. My company buys its wine from HHC for hospitality events we run at Twickenham, Lord's and we've placed a big order for their fantastic Pierre Vaudon NV Brut champagne for a big concert at the Chelsea Old Church we are organising on 30th September on behalf of the Orchestra of St. John's. As Nick Clark, the HHC Managing Director points out in the video interview, sponsoring an important race at Newbury and inviting guests to reward their loyalty over a few glasses is a crucial element to their annual marketing and customer relationship management.
We set off from Kencot at just after 12.30 and arrived literally as the horses were pulling up at the end of the opening 6F sprint which went off at 1.30. Ned was experiencing his second day's racig inside a week; he's definitely starting to get the hang of it as, once again, he took the whole occasion in his stride and we were able to stay for 4 races which gave us plenty of time to catch up with some old pals and enjoy the build up to the 30th running of the HHC Conditions Stakes which was off at 3.45. Rachel and I took it in turns to look after Ned so that we could enjoy the HHC hospitality up in the suite - as usual, the service and quality of their wines was excelllent.
In the second race I backed Dazzling Diamond £5 each way at 14-1 with Sunderlands down on the rails. We didn't win anything at Donacaster and the losing streak, sadly, continued as the horse wasn't placed. Up in the box I was chatting to Simon Seddon-Brown, an old friend, who confidently told me that a horse called Delegator would win the 2.35. Off I trooped to the Tote and put £10 on to win. Well, blow me down, Simon was bang on the money and the horse won at 3-1, netting me a profit of £30. I offered to buy him a drink but there was free champagne so, we laughed and agreed "another time"!
I had agreed to interview Nick Clark immediately after the 2.35 and once I had done this I went down to the paddock to meet up with Rachel and take over Ned responsibilities. I didn't back anything in the Arc Trial at 3.10 but Rach staked £5 e/w on Campanologist who came 3rd with the Tote paying a dividend of £1.50 for the place - so we actually ended up losing £2.50....but it could have been a lot worse. The Godolphin horses are running particularly well at the moment but no Frankie Dettori this year, Ted Durcan was the jockey for the Godolphin Royal Blue at this meeting.
In the HHC Conditions Stakes at 3.45 I staked £5 e/w again with the Tote, as there was a kiosk just outside the box, on Cloud Rock. I watched the race on TV in the box whilst chatting to Ian Renton, Racing Director of Arena Leisure, also a guest of HHC so I was able to talk about my role as a Voice of the Races and tell him how good the hospitality facilities had been up at Doncaster. He told me that the 4-day St. Leger Festival had been a great success for his business and was positively beaming.
Cloud Rock ran a pretty good race but finished outside the places. Perhaps this colt will come on for the run...I suspect so. I headed to the winners enclosure and took some photos of Nick presenting a lovely magnum of wine to the co-owner of Moriarty, Michael Pescod. This horse is trained by Richard Hannon who is having a fantastic season.
We stuck to the plan of leaving the races at 4pm and made it home in time for Ned's 5 o'clock feed.
Another fantastic day's racing was enjoyed by all.
Financial position on the day: £7.50 profit
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