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 3rd but the dividend wasn’t great. In the 4th 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 4th 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment