Every once in a while, it’s a real treat to spoil oneself to a day at the races. Last Tuesday, HRH the Crown Prince of Bedford and I were gifted a visit to Huntingdon Racecourse as guests of the Jockey Club. What can I say, it’s not what you know it’s who you know. It’s been 22 years since I last went to Huntingdon Races – I can prove that as I still have the tag on my binoculars.
It’s definitely seen a lot of updating and investment over the interim years. In fact, Huntingdon Racecourse impresses with its smart buildings, clean environment, friendly staff and welcoming public spaces. Its prime purpose is, of course, to host a safe and enjoyable card of seven races, for you to experience the whoosh of the horses flying past and hurling your hats in the air when you win a fortune. But there’s more to it than that. For example, the racecourse has partnered with the charity Creating Nature’s Corridor, which has planted 9,600 trees on the site, and structured 1.5 km of new hedgerow and new wet woodland, forming a genuine nature corridor linking one part of the grounds to another, like a green zebra crossing for wildlife.
Whoosh as they fly by
Another initiative that the racecourse supports is Racing to School, an education charity that provides outdoor events for schools at racing venues, introducing them to the sport and also giving them an insight into equine care, breeding and even the possibility of becoming a jockey as a career. It was delightful to watch about twenty kids all lined up on the course, dressed in jockey silks, having a running race; all that they were missing were sheepskin nosebands! They were clearly having a terrific day, and I thought how much I would have loved that experience when I was at school.
In the paddock
It was a very informative day, with our host Dara full of knowledge about every aspect of racing. Did you know that climate change is having a severe effect on the sport? The warmer weather and lack of rain mean that the going stays hard when one might have expected it to go from good to soft. If you’ve noticed that recently races have fewer horses taking part, it’s because many horses today cannot thrive on the harder ground, so they are not being entered into the races. If you’re a climate change denier, tell that to the Jockey Club and watch their reaction.
Here come the jockeys
There’s no doubt in my mind that the safety, health and wellbeing of the horses is of prime importance at Huntingdon. They were all immaculately presented in the paddock; and it was fascinating to see them at the end of a race, with teams of grooms pouring loads of water over them to cool them down after their exertion. This was the first time I’ve ever been authorised to stand in the middle of the paddock to get a really close look at the horses and it’s a memory I’ll treasure for a long time! Dara’s advice on picking a horse was to look for one who’s alert but relaxed and not tense. You can have that one for free.
Peterborough Chase Restaurant
Aside from the horses and the races, there are of course many food and drink outlets. As guests of the Jockey Club, we enjoyed the hospitality of the winners’ restaurant which was a complete treat; a delicious boeuf bourguignon and a Mâcon Lugny to die for. Otherwise, the elegant top floor Peterborough Chase Restaurant offers a fantastic meal and views of the course, and you don’t even have to get out of your chair to place a bet.
You can take your dog too!
As for my own day at the racing, I allowed myself a £10 bet per race, so even if I did abysmally, I would limit my loss to £70. As it turned out, we were enjoying the boeuf bourguignon during the third race, so I only bet on six races. There was a horse called Lennie Godber whom I backed, because everyone likes Porridge. He did rubbish. In another race, there was a huge horse whom we all admired in the paddock, Catchim, but he was an absolute giant carrying a load of weight and thought, surely, he couldn’t manage the win, so we backed other horses. He did much better than they did.
Watch them go!
Fortunately, I had one winner, a horse called Forget the Way, who fortunately didn’t, and accredited himself superbly. We decided to bet on the final race without having looked at the horses and just choose on a whim. There was a rank outsider, Laysoft, on at 66-1 and I was very tempted. But instead, I backed Crystal Jet, the 2-1 favourite. Laysoft sailed home, having improved his price to 28-1. Crystal Jet came third, and I went home £31.25 down instead of over £600 up! Always, ALWAYS, trust your initial instinct!
Greys never win
A tremendous day, and many thanks to the Jockey Club for the kind hospitality. The next meeting at Huntingdon will be on 22nd November, but the big day coming up will be on December 7th for the Peterborough Chase. It’s going to be a massive event! All the details about future race meetings at Huntingdon can be found here.