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.