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.