Saturday March 4th 1978 - Haydock Park

When Haydock was a truly awe inspiring venue. You took these cards for granted. Rummy’s last race. Rambling Jack had the race won coming to the last, Ron Barry sat still and let him pop,he just folded on landing. And how strong the juvenile events were back then - two future Schweppes winners in the Victor Ludorum.

Good morning verbotene

It was the victor ludoram that caught my eye with bootlaces I have to be honest which was the other winner ?

Regarding haydock national hunt the midweek fixtures were as good as most Saturday fixtures nowadays around the country,we would often see the likes of wayward lad,silver buck,suny bay and even see you then plus many others .

Also n the Victor ludoram,two riders who hugely contributed to the history of the Cheltenham festival and national hunt racing.

Hi Jimnast,yes re Victor Ludorum,one of my favourite horses of the time Within the Law,can't remember what happened to him that day and strange Jonjo not jocked up on him too,he would have won the rearranged Triumph hurdle,he was the only horse finishing and got brought down at the last and they walked up the hill with Connaught Ranger the victor,Within the Law won next years Schweppes beating stable companion and favourite Major Thompson.

Good morning ribero

Whilst I didn’t remember which the other one was if I had to have guessed it would have been within the law.

What are Thursdays prospects?

Definitely on,I was at Thirsk last Friday and asked Jonjo about Thursday and while he acknowledged how incredibly wet it's been he didn't envisage any problems,off to Catterick tomorrow for a day out.

Enjoy catterick card permitting I’ll see you Thursday.

Some good one's on that card. King Or Country was a favourite of mine. Think he may have won a Mildmay Of Flete. He certainly won some good races. Ballet Lord another favourite. Remember others from the stable such as Cancello, and Richdee.

I remember Bootlaces winning the Schweppes at 20/1.

17 in the seller! Can you imagine the shenanigins  going on with the second half of the field there. Hardly any cameras. You could have got off and walked the middle mile and nobody would have spotted it! 7lb drop in the weights, decent claimer and bosh........ next time out , handicap on the snaff.

I think you will know the winning owner of the V. Ludorom  Ribero. Jimmy Latham used to be
in with Alec Denby for years eventually buying pitches when they became available. Hope he is still with us, real gent.

I wondered when I saw the name,Yes Jimmy still betting,has plenty of pitches.

Master Milan ( unplaced in the opener) became famous for a building up a sequence when switching to fences. Two seasons later, he had a run of races when he fell ( not unseats) seven times in a row ! I seem to recall Arthur Stephenson declaring something similar to , “ He's going  to have to learn the hard way. ".  Can you  imagine the ructions this would cause nowadays!

verbotene liebe- Lots of good names on that card, some I remember well others I needed reminding of. Looks like Mr Henderson on Accelerate for Fred Winter. Never been to Haydock NH meeting although I've been twice to a Flat Saturday meeting.I won't be returning any time soon as I've never seen so many drunks at a meeting before in my life. Waiting for the traffic to clear in the car park was entertaining though, watching lots of fighting going on and arrests (both sexes). After my latest visit I wrote to Haydock and complained as between my wife and myself we had paid a fair few quid (well over 100) for lunch and a table for the day, ruined by the drunks. That was 10 years ago. I await a reply. The year before we were at Ascot ( £350 for lunch/afternoon tea/free bar all day, and entry.We were treated like royalty). Didn't see anyone with too much to drink.
Does anyone know the Lewis Carroll connection ?

Lewis Carroll grew up in a village called Daresbury, just south of Warrington, about 8 or 9 miles from the course.

Tommy those scenes you describe at haydock isn’t every summer Saturday but it’s certainly uncomfortable at times ,ironically jcr the custodians of British racing chose to close a perfectly good family enclosure on most summer Saturdays,expecting families with young children to mingle with those you described,

Attendance figures are plummeting at jcr racecourses it’s no coincidence they have a cashless policy which along with other poor decisions are a big contribution not just the economic crisis they like t blame.

When they ripped up the old famous steeplechase course with the drop fences and run in longer than anywhere bar the GN run in,  they were fully brazen faced about it. The statement was all about how times have changed and we need to have an eye on maintaining/ increasing revenue, thus the second flat course was to provide fresher ground for more flat meetings with an eye to the Friday night bring in the booze occasions.

Last went when Kauto beat Imperial Commander in what turned into a duel run almost in the dark. Generous sponsorship  still attracts some classy animals ( particularly jumpers) but not sure when I'll bother going again. First went the day when Floating Pound won the Embassy Final. That was a great series that worked well back in the day, for first and second season chasers and you had to finish first four in a qualifier. Would not work now - for starters, the Dublin Racing Festival would kill off any Irish interest.

Agree about the turn off of cold, cashless transactions. Also means they are able to build up profiles of you.

haydock ...train station miles away . no decent pub within a walk away , expensive, old fashioned grandstand with rubbish low level viewing , most  saturdays unpleasant , jumps course wrecked...i dont even bother going on the free rtv days now . only fun thing was kirkland's upbeat  advance going report when monsoon forecast !

Yes the train station Windsor I sometimes get the train there what a pain getting to and from the racecourse ,small courses like Ludlow and catterick put on courtesy buses but not haydock just can’t be bothered getting people to the racecourse

Hi Jimnast. I take your point re Summer Saturdays at Haydock. On our first visit we stayed in St Annes and drove to the course arriving at 12 noon. We struggled to find a seat and were amazed at how many people were already well into the drinking. We managed to share a table with another couple and were told by staff that even after we ordered lunch we would not be able to keep the table. We got round this problem by finding another table with the other couple and always making sure that there was one or two of us sitting holding the table from being occupied. This plan was being adopted by other couples as well. Not ideal but neccessary on a 7 race card. The problem was as I pointed out, that there were large groups of mainly men hogging the tables keeping people interested in the racing from obtaining comfortable seating/viewing. This is not uncommon in Scotland either. As an example my granddaughter in her mid twenties attends the Scottish Grand National every year. She goes with 4/5 female friends non with any interest in racing. They hire a cabin/house/pod with the hot tub for the weekend, usually near the course, and get dressed up for the occasion. Fair play to Ayr who encourage this glamour etc. W A Stephenson was still training when I was last at a Scottish National