DIARY – TOWCESTER – WEDNESDAY 08 OCTOBER 2008
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Another day out at the races.
It became apparent by lunchtime Tuesday that Choc would be riding at Towcester. Earlier
in the week he’d been double-booked to ride at Exeter too, where he had a ride
on Extra Bold (aka Theo) for Richard Lee.
However, Berkeley Castle was entered for the 2nd race at Towcester, trained by Alan King, so it was off to
Northamptonshire, where he eventually had three rides. The weather was foul at the beginning of the week, so I thought
Wednesday would be the same. I had no
intention of going to the races when I left work on Tuesday evening, but it
somehow remained in the back of my mind and, by the time I woke up on
Wednesday, to a bright and sunny morning, my heart was set on a visit to Towcester. I normally walk the mile to work, but this day I drove so that I
could park my car nearby and then drive straight to Towcester. I had lots of leave to take before the end
of the year, so upon arriving at work I asked my Manager if I could take the
afternoon as holiday. The answer was
affirmative, so I left just after 12:30, and took a route north, joining the
M1 at Luton, drove to junction 15A and then west to join the A5 just north of
Towcester. There was a lot of ‘lorry’ traffic on
the motorway but I didn’t hit any serious holdups until Towcester
itself, mainly caused by traffic lights at a crossroads in the town
centre. I was following closely behind
Donald McCain Junior’s horsebox through the town. It was around 14:00 by the time I reached
the lane leading down to the car park, and there was a queue of traffic from
the entrance tailed back onto the A5. I’m sure that the course wasn’t expecting so many visitors, as
we were instructed to park on the sloping outskirts of the field. Once I’d parked my Fiesta, I changed out of
my trainers and into my blue wedge shoes.
Being the first time I’d worn these shoes since my minor foot
operation, I felt a dull ache along my instep as I made my way to the
entrance, but luckily this soon disappeared. Towcester
is unique in that it doesn’t charge an entry fee, so my only outlay was a
race-card to add to my ever growing
collection. As I exited the entrance
marquee I noticed that the horses entered in first race, the 14:30, were already going down the chute to the
racecourse, so I made my way down to the rails to watch. Luckily Choc’s first ride was in the second race. The grandstands
at Towcester are built in an attractive art deco
style. The Weighing Room, however, is
more in the style of a public toilet!
The course was up for sale. There was a screen to watch, as the first
part of the back straight is out of view.
The course is far from flat, and the home straight rises sharply to
the winning post. It is impossible to
ascertain this on TV. The first race was a Selling Hurdle, and it was won by Anglicisme. The
horses made their way back to the Winners Enclosure, which forms part of the
Parade Ring. Once all the horses bar
the winner had left the enclosure, the auction commenced. The winner was sold for £8,200,
none of the other runners were claimed.
As I listened to the auctioneer, it occurred to me that his voice
sounded familiar – it was Robert Bellamy who appears as the compere on the video of Choc’s
2008 haircut which took place at the Plough Inn at Ford, and I’ve watched
that video so many times! Robert is
the Clerk of the Course at Towcester. I noticed that Robert Cooper and Mick
Fitzgerald were on hand for Attheraces today. As the time for the second race approached, I waited at the side
of the Parade Ring for Choc to appear with the other jockeys. However, as the auction had taken longer
than expected, there were only a couple of horses in the Parade Ring when the
announcement came for the jockeys to mount.
This was soon rectified and the jockeys set off to the start for this
hurdle race. Choc’s
mount in this race was Berkeley Castle, a pretty bay animal, trained by Alan
King. Berkeley Castle travelled well and came into the home straight just
ahead of the field, but he faded into 6th as the field approached the rising
ground and winning post. The victor
was Shore Thing, ridden by Dominic Elsworth. Again I walked back to the Parade Ring
despite Choc having been unplaced, so he would have unsaddled in the
Pre-Parade Ring area before returning to the Weighing Room. The third race was a Steeplechase, but Choc wasn’t riding in
it. As the jockeys entered the Parade
Ring I noticed Andrew Thornton was riding in the race, finally returning to
the saddle after his serious injury. The winner of the race was Blunham Hill, a chestnut gelding, ridden by Aidan
Coleman. Soon it was time for the 4th race. One horse, Great Tsar, was very full of
itself, bucking and kicking out, hitting the plastic rails around the Parade
Ring at one point. A second handler
came to help the stable girl lead the horse and it soon calmed down. Choc was riding Chunky’s
Choice in this race, an animal who had failed to distinguish itself in its
previous six starts. When he entered the Parade Ring he had a problem
locating the horse’s connections. Choc
left the Parade Ring first to make his way to the start. Once they were running he took up his customary
position on the rails, near the leaders.
Unfortunately the horse gradually lost ground on its competitors
throughout the race and eventually finished 15th. The infamous Transvestite,
who I’d seen at Fontwell and at Market Rasen, finished 5th.
Great Tsar, despite expending so much energy in the Parade Ring,
finished 4th. The race was won by
Black Cloud, ridden by Andrew Thornton – a winner on his first day back. The 5th race was a Beginners’ Steeplechase. Number 10, Pagan Sword, was a little frisky
in the paddock. When the jockey mounted he spoke to the horse in an amusing
manner. The jockey was quite cute and had an Irish accent – I later
discovered it was Sean Quinlan – who my friend, Lesley, thinks is cute! The race was won by Ingratitude ridden by
Barry Geraghty.
Barry has taken over as one of the retained riders for Nicky
Henderson’s yard since Mick Fitzgerald was forced to retire through
injury. It was also his first ever
ride at Towcester.
Then it was time for the last race of the day, a National Hunt
Hurdle race. Choc’s
ride in this race was Arctic Shadow trained by Robin Dickin. Choc came into the Parade Ring and, when it
was time to mount, he came across and stood just in front of me waiting for
his horse to appear along the path. He was legged up and, whilst he walked
down the chute, I went over to the course-side rails to watch him head past
me to the start. Unfortunately I failed miserably in my attempt to take a
photo as he cantered by – he moved too fast! There was a short delay whilst it was decided whether the
runners should jump both or either of the hurdles in the home straight. The sun was shining brightly and some of
the jockeys had remarked that the sun was getting in their eyes. It was decided that it was safe to jump
both of the flights and, in the event, the sun went behind a cloud so it was
okay anyway. Choc travelled on the outside towards the back of the field, but
stayed on to finish 4th. Finally a visit to the Winners’ Enclosure, even if
it was only in fourth place spot. The
race was won by Native City ridden by Noel Fehily.
I went around to see Choc come back, and took a
couple of photos. He unsaddled, spoke
to the connections, and returned to the Weighing Room. He had to request that
a queue for the bookmakers move aside to let him through. I noticed William Kennedy, who had given
Choc his 2008 haircut, was placed third. Racing and opportunities to see Choc over, I headed for the car
park to join the queue to drive out onto the A5. I decided to take the scenic
route home, so turned south towards Hertfordshire. The journey went well
except for a long queue at a roundabout just south of Milton Keynes. I reached home at 18:40, just as it was getting dark. Time for dinner and a bath, then write this
diary! It was 23:30 when I finally
went to bed. My next meeting?
Huntingdon on 14 October. |
