huntingdon tonight

Just got in. Stayed for 4 races then pulled down and home. Poor business for the books. Not exactly excited about Doncaster tomorrow in the rain either :(

Major disappointment they omitted the open ditch by the stands and also no big screen. There was a big crowd & they could see f all. All the newcomers got was Tommo plugging the T0te. Surely we are all missing an opportunity here? These days should be spectacular with a ton of freebies surely? Get them hooked then give them vouchers for money off other meetings?

Why not offer PROPER ew terms instead of thieving from the ill informed new punter , that way they might come back ;)

Just a thought but no doubt it will be someone else'sfualt eh

Proper EW terms all night & betting to 105% avg on win book. Plenty available above the show on here and all bets accomodated without any fuss (or commission). What more do you want?

No big screen is frankly the most shocking of ommisions.

Major disappointment they omitted the open ditch by the stands


Agree. That was ridiculous. Huntingdon was the first course I ever went to when a teenager and the sight of them streaming over the fence in front of us was memorable.

It felt like they didnt want the night to be a success tbh. However, there was a large crowd & most were definately newcomers. Shame they did their best not to wow them.

just looked at the results,can i borrow that crystal ball sometime wasnot?

I've been to Huntingdon a few times as it's nearby, and they never seem to have a big screen - is this always the case? The stands view is OK but they could really do with the TV pictures for the far side. Maybe racing for change could pay for the screens?

ribero1 - look at the t0te returns. That tells the true story.

i dont understand decimal odds wasnot.

And where were the carrier bags with freebies in? And what about some guided tours or presentations explaining what was going on? It was just like any other meeting except for Tommo promoting the t0te.

is thompson the totes new pr man or whatever they like to call him wasnot, been away for a few days and lost touch somewhat!

there was decent prizes on offer bet on t.ote put ya losing slip in and you get a free draw.....why would they want to bet wuth you boys ?.....eh why ?.the punters are paying 30 odd %deductions every race you just said you bet to 5% wasnot but what does your union do about it .........nothing ...the t.ote get off there butts give thommo a few grand and he loves it ,the punters love it the track loves it ..wheres does it leave you boys ............ill tell ya where ..............individually going ya own way ........can u imagine paying thommo money to promote your boys for the night .......23 books ..........what would the guy want 500....1000....would 23 of ya agree or even stay together and think it would be a good idea ........got a feeling i dont think it would work .....so ya just let the t.ote walk all over ya.you all go back to normal ........you have to stick together and promote ya own buisness ,give them something for nothing....thats why they turn up something for nothing ,thats the nature of the beast .............question ,where do ya see yaself going from hear?.........future cant be that bad according to yoyo yesterday ,turn over ..up.......profit..up.....attendances ..up.............maybe you dont need to stick together maybe you dont need thommo.........wasnot how do you see the future ,i ask you ,your sensible ,please reply

Johnny - you cant get any 2 bookmakers to agree on anything let alone 23.

New punters usually start on ther t0te as it is less intimidating than the betting ring. A good % then realise it is in many cases poor value with their high takeouts & they also fancy a go at the exciting world of the betting ring so they progress on to us.

I dont bet at many tracks that yoyo does, my tracks are mostly down a little, which I have put down to the economic climate more than anything else.

so its no big deal then all this racing for change its made no difference to the ring then ?

Johnny - It could make a big difference 12 months from now if handled correctly. I agree that we dont do enough collectively to promote our businesses. Most of them are too busy trying to get one over on each other.

What did you all expect? Hods full?

Not at all dpf. What I didnt expect was that all the regular punters would stay away and there would be nothing BUT newcomers.

as most unions have what they call subs i.e. subscriptions ,does your people have the same sort of syatem where collectively over a period of a year uou could have a promotional day at say ...folkestone in the south....nottingahm in the midlands ...donacaster in the north in 2011........then in 2012 windsor in the south ....warwick in the midlands ....redacar in the north ........then in 2013 along the same lines ,so the idea goes round where evryone one of you benefits from it .....take the money from the subscription pot and promote your day that benefits you ..not the tot.e or anyone else just your own people .give them something for nothing give thommo a fee to promote your buisness ,im sure the tracks would welcome your enterprise ,havent you got any of your own people working on things such as what ive suggested ..........or am i talking ppie in the sky ,surely in this day and age when you working 2 feet away from each other your miles away in unity strength and intelligence

Johnny - sounds a good idea to me. Currently we are involved in negotiations with the racecourses over fees and rights to stand etc but once that is put to bed I'd be all for it (apart from the Tommo bit). We do have trade associations but currently the subs only cover the costs of running it.

knot in wood 29 Apr 22:10
is thompson the totes new pr man or whatever they like to call him wasnot, been away for a few days and lost touch somewhat!


Come on mate you know thommo will do anything for a few quid, he makes himself look a right t1t everyday because of money.

johnny
I'm not sure how it works but some of the books at Musselburgh(or did pay)a voluntary contribution which went towards the free admission day I believe.
At Kelso they contribute so that they can provide transport for pensioners from Edingburgh one day a year.
Fair enough only a small contribution but at least it's something.
What thanks do the books get?Probably none.

hes good for buisness the punters like him so do i

allpoints i take on board what youve said ,ive just turned pensioner me self ,funny when you arrive at that ...stepping stone in life you tend to look around more and see whats in it for me ,whereas before i didnt ,and it does s eem strange how little courses do for pensioners maybe ill write and suggest to my local gaffs a few ideas .its good to know you vared about people in your neck of the woods .......but to get people in nowadyas they want ....gimmicks ....again something for nothing ....enetertaining ....its proved it this week .....ok they didnt bet ..other than ascot with decimal odds ....the tracks didnt try to promote YOU...they were trying to promote thereselves

tommorrow guys ........................