PART II
DIARY – AINTREE FESTIVAL
LADIES’ DAY
FRIDAY 05 APRIL 2013
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A well-deserved drink for Walkon having finished 2nd in the Topham Chase Handicap Click here to read my Ladies’ Day Diary Part I It
was soon time for the fourth race of the day; the Topham
Chase which is run over the Grand National fences. The start of the race was at the far end of
the home straight, with 2 fences to jump before The Chair. The
favourite for this race was There’s No Panic, trained by Paul Nicholls and
ridden by Ruby Walsh. Always Waining had won this race for the past three years, but
this year the horse would instead run in tomorrow’s Grand National. Two greys in the race, my
beloved Walkon trained by Alan King and ridden by Wayne Hutchinson in the
absence of the injured (and also beloved by me) Choc Thornton, and Arctic
Ben. The horses had reached the
starting area, taken a look at the first obstacle, and had their girths
checked prior to the race. The runners were taking a
clockwise turn but a number pulled away to begin their walk up to the tape,
the remainder halted their turn to join them; surprising really as the
assistants had barely completed the checking of the stragglers’ girths. However, Brian Harding aboard Billy Cuckoo
and Ruby Walsh aboard There’s No Panic had decided it wasn’t a ‘goer’ and made no attempt to follow
the majority as they sped towards the tape.
Tom O’Brien also realised it was going to be a false start and steered
Gus Macrae away from the others and prevented his mount from crossing the
line. The yellow flag denoting a false
start was waved by a steward standing in front of the first fence and the
infringing jockeys directed their mounts around the first fence before they
were able to pull up; Jamsie Hall went the furthest distance, his jockey
meandering across the course in an effort to stop his mount. The runners returned to the
start, lined up again ... but got too close once more, with a couple of
horses ducking under the tape. Back to
square one. They then lined up for a third
time; but the runners to the inside got a flyer, with a number to the outside
of the track not happy. On this
occasion, Gus Macrae didn’t even have time to turn around to face in the
right direction before the jockeys had decided to set off!
They
lined up for a fourth time ... and then they were finally off! Hooray. Heading
to the first, prominent were Reynard, Hector’s Choice, Montoya’s Son, Dunowen Point, Fistral Beach,
Gullible Gordon, Sizing Santiago, Pacha Du Polder,
Little Josh and Arctic Ben; Mister First was ... last! Hector’s Choice dived through the first fence
but survived. Having
cleared the second fence, the field galloped towards the Chair; Montoya’s Son
and Dunowen Point now disputing the lead. Chance Du Roy, Gonebeyondrecall
and State Benefit all made errors at the fence. The runners then cleared the water-jump and
I was relieved to see that Walkon appeared to be
enjoying himself and was travelling happily in mid-field. The
horses then set off into the country for the one and only time, crossing the Melling Road and heading for the line of six fences which
culminate with Becher’s Brook. Montoya’s Son led the way, from Dunowen Point, Sizing Santiago, Gullible Gordon, Pacha Du Polder, Fistral Beach,
Giorgio Quercus, Little Josh, Regal D’Estruval, Tranquil Sea, Billy Cuckoo, Arctic Ben,
Hector’s Choice, Walkon, Last Time D’Albain, Tartak, Triolo D’Alene, Lambro, Jamsie Hall, Bennys Mist, Criqtonic, Reynard, Dashing George, Gus Macrae, Gonebeyondrecall,
There’s No Panic, Mister First, State Benefit and Chance Du Roy. The
runners cleared the first of these safely.
Fistral Beach, the grey Arctic Ben and Last
Time D’Albain all made errors at the next; the
latter’s jockey, Bryan Cooper, briefly losing an iron. Cutting out the running as they headed to
the open-ditch were, to the inside, Dunowen Point with
jockey Jason Maguire sporting the well-known yellow, blue and grey Leslie
colours, to his outside the Peter Bowen-trained Gullible Gordon ridden by
Jamie Moore, to his right was another Peter Bowen-trained runner, Sizing
Santiago, ridden by Brian Hughes, and wider still Regal D’Estruval
piloted by Liam Treadwell. The
first casualty was Tartak who fell at the next
fence; front ranked Regal D’Estruval departed at
the following one, his jockey Liam Treadwell picking up an injury as a
result. Little Josh had progressed
through the field to dispute the lead with Dunowen
Point as the runners headed to Becher’s Brook. Dashing George, who had been travelling in
rear, was behind when pulled up before the fence. All the remaining 26 runners cleared it
safely; modifications having left the fence a shadow of its former self. There’s No Panic made an error in
rear. Walkon had progressed
into fifth or sixth position as they travelled towards the Foinavon fence.
Again all the runners cleared this fence safely. Dunowen Point led
over the Canal Turn from Little Josh, Gullible Gordon, Sizing Santiago,
Montoya’s Son and Walkon; Fistral
Beach and Reynard made errors here. Having jumped Valentine’s, Billy Cuckoo
was pulled up when in last position. Dunowen Point led over
the next, from Little Josh, Gullible Gordon and Sizing Santiago; Walkon was travelling behind Sam Twiston-Davies’
mount and, having made notable progress with a clear run up the inside,
especially at the Canal Turn, Barry Geraghty’s
mount Triolo D’Alene was now tracking the
leaders. Around three from the back,
Mister First unseated his rider at this fence. The
next fence was the final open-ditch.
Little Josh put in an extra stride before the fence, ploughed through
it and fell. David Bass was unseated
as Giorgio Quercus sided-stepped to avoid the
faller; further back in the field Ruby Walsh was unseated when There’s No
Panic had nowhere to go as Little Josh struggled to regain his feet. To the inside of the track, State Benefit
ridden by Andrew Tinkler fell independently. Two Nicky Henderson runners had departed at
this obstacle. The
remaining horses cleared the next without serious incident, although Jamsie Hall made an error when tailed off in rear. Also out the back were Gonebeyondrecall
and Chance Du Roy. Returning across
the Melling Road, Dunowen
Point continued at the head of affairs, from Gullible Gordon, Sizing
Santiago, Triolo D’Alene and Walkon. Also making up ground on the wide outside
as they headed towards two out was Last Time D’Albain. The tailed-off Bennys
Mist was pulled up here. Barry
Geraghty angled out around Dunowen
Point prior to jumping the second last and was upsides as they cleared it;
they headed toward the final fence which they jumped in unison. Last Time D’Albain
cleared it in third position with Walkon
fourth. The leaders headed towards the
elbow, Barry driving his mount into the lead.
As they passed to the outside of the Chair, Walkon
began to stay on, closing on the leader ... but he’d run out of time; Triolo D’Alene won by ¾ of a length at the line. Last
Time D’Albain completed in 3rd, with long-time
leader Dunowen Point in 4th and Gullible Gordon
5th. I
was so proud of Walkon, he’d run fantastically but
had to settle for second yet again.
He’d been beaten by Al Ferof in the Paddy
Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham, then by Unioniste in
the big December Handicap Chase at Cheltenham and now by Triolo
D’Alene in the Topham. Hopefully his time will come, as he
certainly deserves a big win for all his game efforts this season and in past
seasons too.
And
those which did not finish:
NEWS FROM THE STEWARDS ROOM: The Stewards considered the apparent improvement in
form of the winner, TRIOLO D’ALENE (FR), ridden by Barry Geraghty
and trained by Nicky Henderson, compared with its previous run at Sandown on
5 January 2013, where the gelding finished eighth beaten 64 lengths over 3
miles 1 furlong on soft ground with heavy patches. They noted the trainer’s
explanation that the gelding has been working better at home of late and
appreciated the better ground today. They ordered TRIOLO D’ALENE (FR) to be
routine tested. Walkon’s
owners, the McNeill Family, made a big fuss of their horse; he deserved it. When interviewed on TV, Nicky Henderson revealed
that Triolo D’Alene had pulled off a shoe overnight
whilst in his stable the previous weekend and had subsequently trodden on it;
it had then been touch and go as to whether the horse would be sound and make
it to Aintree at all. Alan King had one runner in the next event, Uxizandre. The
favourite for this race was At Fishers Cross at 11-8, having won the Albert
Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at this year’s Cheltenham Festival. I returned to the Earl of Derby Terrace enclosure
ahead of this race; but stood behind the gate once it had been closed, rather
than venture back to the terrace steps. The
start of this race was half way down the home straight, with just over 2
circuits to travel.
And
then they were off. The runners were
led away by Gevrey Chambertin,
from Master Of The Sea, Yesyoucan, Road To Riches,
At Fishers Cross, Just A Par and Uxizandre; Buachaill Alainn and Kris Cross
brought up the rear. The
runners cleared the first flight and headed past the winning post with two
complete circuits to go; the David Pipe trained runner with three lengths
advantage over the field. The horses
travelled around the grandstand turn and out into the country, the pace a
steady one. Yesyoucan,
on the inside of the field, was a little keen as they cleared the three
flights in the back straight. There
was no change at the head of affairs as the horses headed into the far turn; Buachaill Alainn and Kris Cross
continued to bring up the rear. Into
the home straight for the penultimate time, Gevrey Chambertin led, from Yesyoucan,
At Fishers Cross, Road To Riches, Uxizandre, Master
Of The Sea, Buachaill Alainn,
Just A Par and Kris Cross. The
runners cleared the three flights without problem, although Master Of The Sea
was a little bit awkward at the third in the line; Kris Cross wasn’t
travelling particularly well in rear.
The field passed the winning post and travelled around the grandstand
bend before heading off into the country for the final time. Gevrey Chambertin still led as they cleared the three flights in
the back straight; Road To Riches travelled at this girth; At Fishers Cross
had made progress and travelled easily to the outside of the runners. Kris Cross was becoming detached, ahead of
him Just A Par wasn’t fluent four out. Heading into the far turn, Buachaill Alainn was beginning
to struggle too; but the jockeys aboard the latter two continued to work hard
to keep their mounts in touch with the body of the field. Travelling
around the final turn and into the home straight, At Fishers Cross was now
upsides the long-time leader. Master
Of The Sea was disputing third with Road To Riches, the latter now being
pushed along. Yesyoucan
was being ridden, behind him Wayne Hutchinson was pushing his mount along
too. Having
cleared three out, AP McCoy cruised into the lead, Gevrey
Chambertin now fading as Master Of The Sea took
second position. Staying on were Buachaill Alainn and Just A
Par; having looked in trouble before the far turn, they were now in fourth
and fifth. The
runners jumped two out; At Fishers Cross continued to put daylight between
him and his nearest rivals, Uxizandre had jumped
out to his left as he crossed this flight.
The leader cleared the last and AP McCoy pushed him out to win by an
easy 8 lengths at the line. Buachaill Alainn and Just A Par
battled it out for second on the run-in, the latter prevailing. Master
Of The Sea completed in 4th, with Uxizandre
5th. Gevrey Chambertin finished in 6th, Yesyoucan
7th and Road To Riches 8th; Kris Cross had been pulled up before 3 out.
Once again I returned to the Winners’ Enclosure
to see the placed horses arrive back. Ahead of the next race I set off to find a good
vantage point close to the horse-walk exit point; I was rewarded with an
excellent view, and photo opportunity, as the two Alan King runners were led
out to the course. These runners were Meister Eckhart who’d finished
second to stable-companion Medinas in the
Cheltenham Festival’s Coral Cup and Manyriverstocross
who’d finished 3rd in the County Hurdle.
Super-sub Wayne Hutchinson had chosen to ride the latter, with Aidan
Coleman reunited with the former.
Meister Eckhart was the favourite for this race, at odds of 15-2. Manyriverstocross
was a 10-1 shot. The
starting gate for this event was part way down the back straight, with one
and three quarter circuits to travel. The
jockeys appeared eager to be off, forming into a ‘pack’ quite early; they trotted away from the start, turned through
the gap in the guiding rails between the chase to the hurdles course and
trotted back up towards the tape ... then trotted away again. They turned through the same gap once more,
and trotted back towards the tape, passing to the outside of the initial
flight in the back straight as the first obstacle was the following
hurdle.
Then
they were off. The flashy chestnut,
Broadway Buffalo, led them away; almost upsides were Cotton Mill and the
first-time blinkered Saddler’s Risk.
These were followed by General Miller, Funny Star, one of the greys Barbatos, Get Me Out Of Here, Meister Eckhart, Grandads Horse, the other grey Native Gallery (who had accompanied
Looks Like Slim on a racecourse gallop at Kempton Park, Choc aboard the
latter), Punjabi, Minella Forfitness,
Clerk’s Choice, Khyber Kim, Hazy Tom, Bar De Ligne,
Peckhamecho, Simply Ned, Manyriverstocross, Salubrious and St Devote. Peckhamecho made an error at the second flight. The
runners galloped around the far turn and set off down the home straight for
the first occasion. At the rear of the
field, St Devote was less than fluent at the third hurdle. One of the competitors, probably Grandads Horse in mid-pack, hit the next; the orange
protector strip flying back through the field to land on the turf a few yards
after the obstacle. Heading over the
next flight and down towards the lollipop with one circuit to go, Broadway
Buffalo continued to cut out the running from Cotton Mill, Saddler’s Risk,
General Miller and Punjabi. The
field travelled around the grandstand turn; at the rear were Simply Ned,
Native Gallery and Peckhamecho. There was no change at the head of affairs
as the horses cleared the first in the back straight; where Rebecca Curtis’
runner was a little slow. Having
jumped the next, Barbatos was now prominent just to
the outside of the leaders. Hazy Tom
had dropped to the back of the field quickly and would be pulled up after the
next; he’d broken a blood vessel.
Native Gallery was at the back of the main pack, along with Khyber
Kim. Heading
into the far turn, Broadway Buffalo continued to lead; Cotton Mill travelling
to the outside at his girth. They held
a two lengths advantage over the pack.
By the time they began the turn into the home straight, Funny Star had
begun to tail off, Kyber Kim was struggling, so was
Simply Ned; at the rear of the main group were Grandads
Horse, Peckhamecho, Native Gallery and Saddler’s
Risk. Manyriverstocross
was making stealthy progress through the field. The
David Pipe-trained runner was still narrowly ahead over the third last;
Cotton Mill was now being ridden along by Denis O’Regan;
Meister Eckhart to their inside took a narrow lead as they approached two
out. But Minella
Forfitness was just cruising to the stand-side,
Clerk’s Choice travelling almost as well just behind him, as was
Salubrious. Unfortunately
Manyriverstocross’ challenge was interrupted when
he encountered traffic problems after two out; firstly as Broadway Buffalo
began to fade, then Wayne had to angle him off Cotton Mill’s quarters and
finally Salubrious wandered across in front of him too! Heading
to the final flight, Meister Eckhart and Minella Forfitness were battling for the lead; the latter
marginally ahead as they cleared it; Clerk’s Choice was a couple lengths
behind, with Salubrious in 4th. On the
run-in Minella Forfitness
asserted and went on to win by 1½ lengths from Clerk’s Choice, Master Eckhart
finished 3rd and Manyriverstocross collared
Salubrious to claim 4th. Peckhamecho stayed on to complete in 6th. Nicky
Henderson’s fourth winner of the day!
Ear plugs had been worn by the winner.
NEWS FROM
THE STEWARDS ROOM: WHY THEY RAN BADLY Paul Nicholls, the trainer of FUNNY STAR (FR), which
was pulled up, reported that the gelding had a breathing problem. I set off at a brisk walk to find a vantage point
on the steppings below the Weighing Room to see the
horses arrive back in the Winners’ Enclosure.
Before the next event I returned to the
course-side rails within the Earl of Derby Terrace prior to the runners exiting
onto the track. Alan King had two runners in the final race of
the day, Our Pollyanna (sporting the Medermit
colours) ridden by Barry Geraghty and The Pirate’s
Queen ridden by Wayne Hutchinson. The
latter was the favourite, having finished 2nd in a Kempton Park bumper, six
lengths behind a Nicky Henderson hotpot called West Wizard. There were 16 mares and
3 fillies (Giveagirlachance, Kayfleur
and The Pirate’s Queen) taking part; thoroughbreds remain fillies until they
are 5 years old, as opposed to other horses and ponies where they are classed
as mares when they turn 4. I guess
it’s because all thoroughbreds ‘celebrate’
their birthday on 01 January each year.
The starting gate for this race was in the far
corner of the track.
The
horses exited from the holding pen and then they were off. The runners headed along the top of the
track, negotiated their first bend and turned into the home straight for the initial
time. In the front rank were Our
Pollyanna, Molly’s A Diva and Supreme Present; these were followed by Brijomi Queen, Abigail Lynch, Carole’s Spirit, Free
Thinking, Cailin Annamh,
Celestial Island, Giveagirlachance, The Pirate’s
Queen, Keshi Pearl, Kayfleur,
Rathvawn Belle, Be My Present, Nouveau Moulin, Centasia, Legacy Gold and Taradrewe. Having
completed their run down the home straight on the first occasion, the runners
headed past the lollipop and around the grandstand turn. There was no change at the head of affairs,
with Molly’s A Diva leading from Our Pollyanna and Supreme Present; Legacy
Gold was at the rear of the field. Heading
into the back straight, Nick Schofield’s mount continued to lead, Alan King’s
second string disputed second with Supreme Present; Kayfleur
was clearly visible on the outside of the pack, The Pirate’s Queen covered up
to the inside in mid-field, travelling behind the Waley-Cohen
representative, Free Thinking. Legacy
Gold began to progress on the outside of the runners, as Taradrewe
dropped to the back of the field. Molly’s
A Diva remained ahead as the runners negotiated the top turn and entered the
home straight for the final time; Supreme Present received a couple of
backhanders as they began the spread out across the course to make their
challengers. Abigail Lynch had already
tailed off by this stage. With
a sweeping run around the outside of the field, and heading down the
stand-side of the racecourse, was one of the Irish raiders, Legacy Gold; she
took the lead soon after passing between the wings of the absent third last
flight and well over two furlongs out.
AP McCoy’s mount, Cailin Annamh,
followed the leader through to take second, with Carole’s Spirit upsides
her. Fighting it out for the minor
places at this stage were Centasia, Giveagirlachance, The Pirate’s Queen, Kayfleur
and Taradrewe.
Mr
Steven Crawford’s mount stayed on strongly and forged clear to win by 4
lengths at the line from Cailin Annamh. Carole’s Spirit just held on to 3rd from Centasia. The
Pirate’s Queen was 6 lengths back in 5th, Kayfleur
6th and Taradrewe 7th. Of
the early pacesetters, Molly’s A Diva completed in 13th, Our Pollyanna in
16th position and Supreme Present 17th.
NEWS FROM
THE STEWARDS ROOM: The Stewards held an enquiry following a report
from the Sampling Officer that Robbie Power had provided a breath sample
which was found to contain alcohol in a concentration above the threshold
level for breath samples. They interviewed the rider, the Clerk of the Scales
and the Sampling Officer. Having heard their evidence the Stewards found the
rider in breach of Rule (D)65 and referred the matter to the British
Horseracing Authority. Under Rule (D)66 the Stewards suspended Power from
riding for the rest of the day. WHY THEY RAN BADLY Andrew Tinkler, the rider of
ABIGAIL LYNCH (IRE), unplaced, reported that the mare stopped quickly. I
returned to the steppings above the Winners’
Enclosure for the final time today to see the placed runners arrive back. The horses having been unsaddled and the prizes
presented, it was time for me to leave.
I decided to nip to the loo before I caught the bus back to the car
park, just in case I was held up in traffic during my journey to the hotel. I was surprised that the toilet was
deserted, and that the floor wasn’t strewn with the usual rubbish as is the
normal state of affairs at the end of Ladies’ Day! Although I think many race-goers had
already departed due to the cold temperatures today. I then walked back to the gate and strode across
the home straight to reach the bus stop.
As always, there were plastic beer cups thrown on the grass, although
probably not as many as is usually the case at the end of the day! I always feel very sorry for the staff who
have to clear up everyone’s mess. One
full bus was just driving away from the stop, so the waiting bus was almost
empty and I readily got a seat for my return journey. Once the bus was almost full, the driver set off
in a clockwise direction along the roadway to the inside of the Mildmay park course track. Having alighted, I headed across the sand-covered
crossing point in the back straight, keeping to the right to avoid a vehicle returning
from the heliport area. I exited
through the awning-covered entrance/exit, before turning right and walking
down the roadway to reach the car park and collect my vehicle. Unlike when at home, when fatalities are reported
to the viewer on a timely basis, news of this nature is never officially
announced when actually at the racecourse; today was no different. However, I kind of knew that something had
occurred; firstly with an announcement for Nigel Twiston-Davies
or his representative to report to the Weighing Room; secondly with a further
announcement that the Stewards were inquiring into the running of the fourth race
but that it did not affect the result; and, finally, later in the afternoon when
I was standing on the steppings below the Weighing
Room, I overheard an unknown ‘media’
person mentioning during a mobile telephone conversation that an RSPCA
representative was being interviewed nearby.
Plus, on the observation front, I noticed that
Sam Twiston-Davies was looking a little sad when he
was led out of the walkway ahead of race 5 aboard Master Of The Sea. I was hoping that it would not be the
popular Little Josh who’d been lost; although any one of the horses will mean
something to someone and their loss will be sorely felt. I checked the twitter feed on my
smart-phone when I’d returned to my car; I was dismayed to discover that my
fear was true. Little Josh had
fractured his near-side shoulder when falling and had to be put to sleep. Upon watching the RUK recording at a later date,
it was clear that Sam’s mount had been injured; but the broadcast feed shown
on the large screen at the racecourse is shot from a different angle and
therefore I had been unaware. It was
also very clear that Ruby Walsh, who’d been brought down in the incident at
the 15th fence, was quickly on his feet, sprinting across the racecourse to
catch hold of the loose Little Josh with the hope of preventing further
injury. Sam was still prostrate on the
turf at this point. Unfortunately,
having been extensively assessed by the veterinary staff, the only action
possible was to humanely put the Nigel Twiston-Davies
runner to sleep. I also read on twitter about Ruby’s efforts in
this instance; he’s an excellent horseman in so many ways ... ‘Peter Perfect’ in fact. He’s your Pete Sampras or Roger Federer of the racing world, but I’m an Agassi and Choc
Thornton kind of girl. They have to
work hard, it’s sometimes emotional, but I find it very rewarding when they
win! As further evidence that many had left the
racecourse early, having reached the driveway there was no queue in sight;
just one, presumably drunken, idiot meandering along the left-most coned
lane. Fortunately he eventually moved
to the side and I was able to drive past, over the Anchor Bridge, and take a
left onto Aintree Lane (the stewards preventing a right-hand turn
anyway). The queue tailing back from
the Ormskirk Road traffic lights was probably the
shortest I’d ever known after Ladies’ Day; just two changes thereof before I
was able to turn right and head towards the signals outside Asda, which were also on red. I had ensured that I kept to the outside lane
along this stretch of the road, so that I was in the correct lane for the
M57. I was stopped by a red light at
the next set of traffic lights too, before turning right to approach yet
another set of traffic lights, also on red!
Once they had changed to green, I drove another couple of hundred
yards before turning a sharp right and heading off the roundabout to travel
down the southeast bound carriageway of the M57. It’s a very oddly configured junction,
being a very large roundabout with intersecting roads! The A59 (Ormskirk
Road) continues through the junction; the M58 begins here too and heads
eastwards to the M6. I drove down the M57, leaving at its junction
with the A580 to drive in an easterly direction towards the M6. The A580 is a dual carriageway, very
straight, with just a couple of roundabouts but a number of 4-phase
traffic-light controlled junctions along its stretch between the M57 and Golborne; the latter is a short distance east of the M6;
my route taking me close to Haydock Park racecourse
on the way. My first preference for accommodation is Premier
Inn; rather than Travelodge. Last year
I had to settle for the latter, although I think I’ve sussed the fact that
Premier Inn doesn’t have rooms available to book in the Aintree area for the
Grand National period until later in the summer ... and after they’ve had an
opportunity to fix their room prices at a higher rate than usual for the
relevant days! Normally one can book
rooms at the hotel chain a year in advance, but not in this instance. Bearing this in mind, I delayed my booking and
managed to source a room in my preferred 2010 / 2011 Golborne
Premier Inn location once more, so would stay there again tonight. I arrived at the hotel at around 19:00, parking
in the rear car park; the Inn is situated on an industrial estate, and has an
adjacent Table Table pub/restaurant too. The first year I’d booked into this
location, I’d been situated on the first floor, immediately overlooking the
restaurant. In 2011 the rooms we’d
been allocated (I’d been accompanied to the fixture by my friend Lesley on
that occasion) had been located at the far end of the first floor corridor
overlooking the back of the hotel; which room would it be today I wondered? Having placed my coat and shoes in the boot of my
car, I dragged my trolley suitcase and carried my ‘food’ bag around to the Reception. I booked in, confirmed that I’d be eating
breakfast in the restaurant the following morning, paid my bill and was
handed my key. Room 52 – it was on the
second floor; I was relieved that I was travelling light this weekend. There is a lift but I have an aversion to
using them; I really wouldn’t want to get stuck inside one! Although the receptionist did suggest that
perhaps I should consider placing just my luggage in it, then climb the
stairs to collect them from the lift at the top. I made it up the four short flights of stairs and
through the fire-door out onto the corridor.
I walked down the hallway, through another fire-door and the room was
immediately on my right, overlooking the rear car park. Once inside, there was a double-bed and a
single occasional bed too, very useful to place my bags upon. I gazed out of the window to discover that
my car was parked immediately opposite. When I booked the room I’d made a restaurant reservation
for 20:00, so I had 50 minutes to kill before my evening meal. I switched on the TV to watch The One Show,
although the signal reception was a little poor. At 19:50 I set off to Table Table; I had to wait just a minute or two before a table
was ready for me. I ordered a J2O
(apple and mango flavour), a chicken, mushroom and ham pie, topped with
cheese and herb crumble, plus chips and peas.
As it turned out, I didn’t particularly enjoy the meal, so I rewarded
myself with a Rocky Road sundae for desert!
Having settled the bill, I returned to my
room. What to do now I wondered? I checked twitter to see if Choc had sent
any recent messages ... yes, a picture of a photograph from an article in FHM
magazine. The picture was of AP McCoy,
who was the subject of an article in their May issue but, also in the shot
was a naked rear view of Choc having a wee!
Nice arse! Very nice
arse!!! That cheered me up no end, and
other ladies had tweeted messages of admiration back to him too. Being 21:00, I tuned into Alan Carr’s Grand
National special on Channel 4; the programme included segments filmed at the
Cheltenham Festival on Gold Cup Day.
I’d seen Alan at Cheltenham too.
Being quite tired, I got ready for bed at around 21:30, dozing off to
sleep only to awake after Alan’s show had finished. I switched off the TV. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Click here for photos – Aintree Festival Ladies’ Day - Races
1 & 2 Click here for photos - Aintree Festival Ladies’ Day - Melling Chase Click here for photos - Aintree Festival Ladies’ Day - Topham Chase Click here for photos - Aintree Festival Ladies’ Day - Races
5, 6, 7 |
