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.