attendance doesnt look very high at chester today

A little bit on from there - roughly 75 yards before the furlong marker.

Ok I watched the first race by the bend and noticed a lot of security watching me I think they thought it odd someone watching a race on a racecourse

Jimnast that is a damning observation on British Racing but so true. I find only the northern rural courses worth patronising these days, apart from Aintree and Doncaster who have lost the plot , thinking they are more important than they are. Doncaster £8 to park on St Leger day, which is twice the price I pay for admission as a senior at Pontefract !

Teach the greed merchants a lesson and don’t attend,job done,after all they’ve been p!ssing on the fodder for years..

£8 to park,,,you must be mental…..imv

..... £10 to park Chester !

Brians

And I forgot to mention a betting exchange allowing people to lay fatally injured horses

Agree Doncaster completely lost the plot

£10 + all the add on including punting cash……£250 in the hip minimum ffs

Heard this a million times…..”away and get fkn raffled” superb answer for the leech…..imv

Good post brians 23:56 

jimnast 07:09 

Chester cant say it, but its obvious with their pricing they only want a  " more respectable " type.

  As they say in Scotland I fear their business model is " Hanging on a Shoogly peg ".

..... Jimnast must feel 2 stone lighter after that massive letting go ( 7-09 )

Some very valid points in all honesty.

Yes, some excellent posts on this thread and a bit like the old days on here.

Teach the greed merchants a lesson and don’t attend,job done, Bingo!   Vote with your wallet dont attend expensive race courses.

£10 to PARK this has got to STOP. Surely we should all boycott racecourses that do this, regardless if we drive there or not?

Agree with everything said as these racecourses seem to have created their own long term covid recovery charge , very difficult to persuade any newcomer to go racing these days with any justification.

Attending some racecourses may still be attractive but attending the likes of Chester seems now to be bordering on the idiotic when you consider the full package on offer.


Downward spiral doesn't even come close.

The greatest years of horseracing were undoubtedly post war through to around the mid 90s - its been steadily going downhill ever since imo. At least the older ones of us got to see a fair bit of it before it went!
Thats 50 good years followed by 30 of decline - where will it be in another 30? Gone imo.

Chester city centre seems quiet right now.....I'm in the Leopard...

The fodder have no one to blame except themselves…..imo…..

I was at Perth recently £11.80 for a burger and soft drink…….no ta I will wait until dinner time at home…..

Lots of cars with people eating lunch before entering……

If people are prepared to pay it then they will carry on charging it.

Just checked the dress code for tatts for this meet:

Well tailored suit/blazer with smart trousers,a collared shirt and tie.

This is clearly pure snobbery on the part of those that run the course.

How dare they dictate what people who have paid £43/48 to gey in must

wear!

Besides,who decides what is 'well tailored'or what is 'smart'?

Surely that is a matter of opinion.

What we see here is another example of those in power being completely

out of touch with the majority.

Chester city centre seems quiet right now.....I'm in the Leopard...

Skip, the Bar 15 was always mobbed on Racedays, went past earlier and not one soul outside. !!

Some great but depressing posts on here. In these woke days of ultra civil rights how can you get away with telling people how to dress. Not seen Sunak recently with a tie so even the Prime Minister wouldn't get in!
So pleased most people agree with me. Trouble is boycotting will put prices up even more as they struggle to recoup losses and then we lose beautiful racecourses. Catch 22.
God bless  the racecourse managements who still care about their customers.

What if you dont want to wear a jacket on a fairly hot day. ? Excuse my ignorance is this for the Paddock area.?

Tatts,Glasgow.

maybe the days of people using their works holiday entitlement to attend so called midweek festival meetings, chester,york,goodwood etc are behind us,go racing big sat meeting and have your 5 weeks holiday entitlement to take the kids to spain for same price as going midweek festival racing

Some courses which do still offer a free bus from the train station: Exeter; Taunton; Wincanton (from Templecombe, though I prefer to cycle from Cary station); Salisbury; Goodwood; Brighton.

Plumpton, Sandown, Ascot, Newbury, Lingfield and Kempton don't need one, of course. And it might be a mile from the station to the course at Newton Abbot, but the sun is always shining, and there's blackberries and haw berries to pick in the way.

Maybe the cancelling of free buses is more a Northern thing?

Bath, Fontwell and Chepstow put on buses, but charge you for them (six pounds return in the case of Bath). But they're all Arena courses, so naturally they hate racegoers.

Cheltenham charges for the bus as well, but that's down to Willie Mullins stealing all the prize money.

Love catching the bus from Ludlow station great service...

Thanks screaming I should have remembered goodwood as I’ve used it ,you can add uttoxeter to the list that don’t need the service.

Chester much busier yesterday as was the architect where many chose to leave the course early and relax in comfort nipping out to watch the racing from the wall.

One thing I did notice yesterday was how busy the walls were .....Nice to see..

Incidentally definitely no dress code in the tatts......

Yes Lou very busy

Thanks for clarifying that skip,  I didnt think it would apply for Tatts.

What hap to all Marwans gabrials, did he take emm with him?


Alwsys thort Chester coukd have  Gabrial race day.

..... Chapman is supposed to be up on the walls later, should be fun.

Been up the wall for years

According to the official course website, it appears they've eased the dress code for Tatts but ONLY for the fixtures outside of the May meeting.

If you're joining us for the Boodles May Festival please wear:

A well tailored suit/ blazer with smart trousers.

A collared shirt and tie.

breadnbutter10 May 24 09:41Joined: 29 Aug 06 | Topic/replies: 11,757 | Blogger: breadnbutter's blog
What hap to all Marwans gabrials, did he take emm with him?

The "good doctor" went busto/bankrupt in 2022.

... So if I wish to attend and also want to see the horses in the paddock I have to abide with that dress code ?? All very strange and makes no sense.

Am guessing once inside many remove the ties/ jackets, difficult to enforce if large numbers do so. I can say with certainty that in the 70's, 80's,90's there was definitely no Tatts dress code.

Listened to the interview (from the wall) with the track head honcho pre racing yesterday as to why they’re proud to have a dress code. It was utter piffle and belonged to a bygone day. I did the Wall/Architect thing (4g fine there and wi-fi decent in the pub) and would do the same again in similar weather.

As an aside, York get pretty much everything right and surprised they haven’t canned the County Stand dress code. Surely has more downside than up.

Kelso tother day, one price (21) all areas, no dress code.

Free parking.

Value imo, Perth next Thursday, early bird a tenner, 15 on day.

Worried about Musselburgh as same mob as Chester in charge, some odd pricing, starting to frisk people in case they have a mars bar or packet of crisps on emm, crazy.

*Perth a tenner Wed night, Thurs ladies day 40 quid

Track looked very sparse from the final bend to the winning line, probably more people on the walls.

Seems you can drink as much as you like oncogene but can bring your own drink on " safety grounds "

* ON COURSE

* CANT ...
FFS.

Outside of the May meeting training shoes are still a no no in Tatts, though they allow ' smart' jeans, meaning it's the interpretation of the gateman who you come up against.

Though I don't have any qualms about the metal detector wand which safeguard against retards with knives,  I would bet that if Chester could get hold of a detector for picking up butties shoved down your undercrackers, they'd jump at the opportunity.

It's for old codgers with hip flasks

Oh dear, hadn't though about that. That is really mean.

Gave up bothering to go racing a long while ago - not at all worth it on any level really.

Poorer viewing of the 'race' (snippet of it you manage to see)

Ridiculous costs all round - losing before you even place a bet

Rubbish prices, when you can instead click a button at home and get much greater value instantly

Try to buy drinks/food and spend 20 minutes breathing in armpit sweat to pay a small mortgage for a round or stale food.


No ta.

Not attended a meeting for around 4yrs now despite having three fairly local tracks at Aintree , Haydock and Chester.

For 25 consecutive years i attended numerous tracks around the country via hospitality only so reckon i must have been somewhat spoiled as my first visit as a paying customer following that spell was an eyeopener indeed.

In the habit now of not even contemplating a racecourse visit and even turn down a few hospitality offers from old contacts which probably means my come racing days are over.

Delighted i attended all those yesteryears though as some of the memories will never be forgotten. 

All good things come to an end i guess.

£23 into Tatts at York next Thursday (Dante day)for me, seems good value. I hope to be there.

Louise Stewart in charge at Chester when challenged by Ed Chaberlain about being too dear and value for money actually replied " well I heard on TV this morning that we are coming out of recession ". !!

call me old fashioned but what has that got to do with anything.?

                      Louise Stewart.

   

* Chamberlin

In charge at Chester , head in the sand just full of s..t, can’t even answer why it’s expensive to go to Chester, hope it’s the last time we see her sort on the tv

Shocking interview on her part to be honest, not done her credibility much good.

Unfortunately racing is full of people who get the big jobs who come from outside racing mess things up them move on to another industry then f..k that job up to ,incredibly they get good salary’s for there mistakes.

And...here is a little tale about quite a number of racedays at a certain grade 1 Northern track.

Outside of the bigger days and weekends, it is all one enclosure there now. IE, all grandstand with no 'County Stand' pricing.

Yet, the track is so horribly disorganised, they often start off charging people (at the little desk in the grandstand next to the County Stand) for an upgrade fee to move to the County Stand from the Grandstand!

Then, after an initial hour or so they cotton on to how it is all one stand and close the desk! But, what they don't do (of course) is tell people who have already paid for the transfer that the are due a refund.

And, as you might guess given the idiot nature of the masses nowadays, almost nobody realises and they just go on happily wearing their County Stand 'swing badge' without working out they have paid for a transfer for nothing. If Trading Standards for the area ever come to appreciate what is happening someone at the track will surely be in bother.

Now, I know that sounds too daft to be true but I can assure you it is. I have seen it on a number of occasions over the past three or so years there.

So disorganised there that some staff setup to take money for transfers while others set it up all to be one enclosure. I would like to know what they do with the money when they 'tally-up' at the end of the day! Truly desperate times.

However, I am just back from Market Rasen today. All one enclosure, reasonable crowd with no drunks, no over the top security and good weather. Shame about the injured jockey and the deceased horse but a nice day - so perhaps all is not lost yet!

Lastly....I use my mobile phone at the tracks to play on the exchanges. But if the track has no Wi-FI, or blocks it, it must be remembered that you can use G4S instead (indeed, I use that more than the tracks Wi-Fi). No track can do anything to block G4S, as it is nothing to do with their networking setup. But Wi-Fi wil be running off a router at the track The only drawback with G4S is if you are at a track with a weak signal, or if the networks are very busy generally, then it can be pretty slow.

The  Knight, what is G4S please?  When I searched it just said it's a Security company.

Glasgow , did Louise say something like 'you don't come to worry about the purse strings' , i only caught a bit of it.

The prices are bad enough, but it makes one wonder why anybody goes to these early flat meetings just to throw their money away on horses they know little about.

It's the same story year after year. Brilliant 2yo that haven't trained on, and horses that sprout wings after given a kindly introduction to racing with no form the year before.

And as one set of losers pack it in, they're replaced by another set of wide eyed and helpless optimists who don't know what they're betting on.

That's precisely why serious punters do go to these meetings in the spring. It gives you a huge edge.

How the horses look; how they look compared to other horses in the race; how they walk, from front, side-on and behind; how they behave when mounted; how they go down to the start.

You can't get any of that off the telly.

...... Maybe someone should tell Ken.

With everything that has been said here is why I go pointing. Much better than going to most of these courses under rules. 

Nice friendly crowd,  take a picnic should you fancy one, out the boot of the car in between watching the races.
Good pricing getting in, beer tent with no queuing , food vans with punter friendly prices, hog roast etc.
No Stazi security searching you on the way in, in fact bringing your own food and booze positively welcomed.
No pissed up corporates , lots of knowledgeable people , friendly crowds who just strike up conversation with the person standing next to them.
Great fun and atmosphere - go and visit your local point to point and enjoy going racing again !!
I’ll see you at Kingston Blount this Sunday :)

I would love to go to my local point to point ...but sadly all tracks I loved have closed down ALPRAHAM, EATON HALL ,WESTON PARK ,FLAGG MOOR and WHITTINGTON.... North western pointing non existent now...

How the horses look

Nick Mordin wrote a book called The Winning Look.

It's still in print.

oneten ...interesting post. i can see your good intentions . but ...who wants to pay £ 30 for a car when there are 3 runners a race and its a bouncy castle on the home straight !...not many pointers around since the hunting ban . tabley soon . lovely but not cheap ! good luck .

Part two off how racing has change

The totally incompetent bha have now almost accepted that premierisation was a pointless idea just as mo#t had predicted jcr already going back on there promises by pulling 5 or there fixtures whilst the smaller courses count the cost,today I read the bha have come up with an even more ridiculous idea for 2026,it’s clear those in charge at the bha are only interested in salaries not the long term future of racing .

We have the gambling commission arguably even more incompetent than the bha who themselves should have to be asked for affordability checks as many still work from home due to the pandemic leaving there plush offices in Birmingham empty most of the time should the tax payer be funding this outfit

Online /high street bookmakers obviously we all know about the ridiculous restrictions many face but what a result they got during the pandemic there former employee gave them the right to temporarily return there own sp which they quickly got the taste for and have been allowed to keep the privilege of making up there own sp,what a turn around punters with a good record in the past were told sp only especially the last leg of a multiple bet now you have to take the price .we didn’t always realise it but we miss Big Mac



The racecourses many are cashless there’s no option when will they realise a day at the races for many is a day they like to spend cash they don’t want there banks and credit card people to know they like a days at the races a bet and a few drinks many like to keep that private ,it’s something that is without doubt affecting attendance and will continue to do as more turn up and find out,we have a situation where arc want to race behind closed doors in the winter rather than trying to get people through the gates something they already done over the last few months at Southwell they even staged the winter derby in front of nobody rather than letting race goers see the race at lingfield,what would Stan Clark have thought about all that ?you have haydock who find any excuse not to open the family enclosure so they can charge extra for families to mingle with the United and Liverpool supporters on summer Saturdays,you have Salisbury who stop you walking over the course with an ice cream ,as we all know and I mean all rational people we have an over crowded fixture list yet last bank holiday Monday when people can go or watch on tv we had utter garbage,we have unnecessary watering and false going reports and have done for a long time now yet never any explanations as to why.

We have the racing press who only want to compare every leading two year old with frankel which is pointless ,rather than doing some digging and asking questions about those running the game,the online bookmaking industry and why some trainers don’t seem to keen on running there horses,


On a plus side many of the small racecourses are a pleasure to attend ,York is upon us and it’s now only 37 days to the greatest event on the planet.

jimnast , if york can't get our enthusiasm back and put a spring in our step then we are doomed !so looking forward to wednesday even with the potential yorkshire downpours to soak us in the taxi rank . ayala champagne for the wife at a reasonable price , spectacular views from the annual members seats , nice pubs in the city and meeting those ive not seen since last october . oh and the racing is pretty good too .

racing is a mess compared to what it used to be as in most things in life.(and this is not a grumpy old man rant)

most  of the big tracks are now publicity oriented and profit driven and run by people who regard it as a profit making business,

my local track chester is a prime example. i used to go there in the 80s and 90s and it was great -all about the racing , finding a few winners and enjoying yourself. last time i went it was full off idiots deressed up to the nine pins- drunk and not giving a monkey about the racing. like an open air night club . Awful . I dont go anymore,

Racing has been turned into an entertainment business just like most things today,not  cheap, shallow and lacking substance.

i know only frequent the less renown racecourse where the old paths are still in evidence.

but hey ho we live in a changing world and my children and grand children will view the world and horse racing very differrently.

we have been very lucky to enjoy probably the golden era of horse racing

A lot of people on twitter saying,horse racing isn’t a sport,after itv won bafta.

There’s no reason why great racing can’t be wrapped up in day out entertainment,there isn’t enough racing purists to fund the sport,plus got to attract new fans by giving them a taste first.

There’s enough room at tracks to accommodate parties and race fans.

york dante meeting probably is the best meeting of the year

May 12, 2024 -- 9:09PM, elisjohn wrote:

york dante meeting probably is the best meeting of the year

I agree better than Ascot for me.

Horse Racing should be about the horse. Sadly the greedy in Racing have made it only about profits to shareholders. The future of the sport is in doubt and I expect most tracks will soon have houses on them.

Does anyone remember what horse racing was like when Frankel was around? That Era for me ALL about the horse, and how amazing these animals are. Horse racing was celebrated, and it wasn't about getting pissed at the track and not even caring about horses.

What an earth have they done? To the sport we love

York is upon us, and it’s now only 37 days to the greatest event on the planet.? And which meeting are you referring to?

Royal ascot trident

Skiptoo thats a shame. I didnt know all those tracks had gone. 
We are fortunate enough in the west midlands area where its currently flourishing . 
We get good crowds a runners from all over the country.  Last meeting we had a winner from cornwall and yesterday Tim Vaughan came up from Glamorgan with his son Ed and had a couple of runners.

To be honest trident the era when frankel was around wasn’t much different from now really regarding been on a racecourse however the political side has changed an awful lot and all downhill,some of those in charge of racecourses and at the bha are only short term and in it for the money soon they will move on to another industry,then another clown will step in who will have no background in the roots of racing but will be well educated in that different world .

Windsor knot,
I couldnt disagree more strongly with your comment not cheap and 3 runner races.  I always think what a cheap day out it is with good racing to boot. With good size fields.

Yesterday for example the price is £13 per person if tickets are purchased before the day and children are free.  The car is free to stop people parking a mile away and clogging up the verges and walking in.

We had 6 races scheduled but ended up with 7 because we had to split one due to too many declarations for the safety factor.
5 runners
3 runners
5 runners
8 runners
8 runners
8 runners
5 runners

very respectable field sizes I think youll agree ?  Though normally we have larger fields but as the ground gets firmer and the season curtails then field are as yesterday. Though Alan Hill has done a tremendous job watering the course.

Most races were very tight finishes and contested by decent horses .  The likes of Tigerbythetail, Gabrial the great etc and not a bouncy castle to be seen on the home straight, though having one at the back of the trade stands is a good idea as it helps the next generation enjoy going racing.  Its amazing what an ice cream and a bouncy castle does to keep little children happy (and they want to go racing again) and if they are happy then the adults enjoy going as its an easy day out for families, and not expensive.

record crowds at chester may meeting  according to the lady on itv so unless there were 60,000 on fri,the openning poster needs his eyes checking , 3 pages moaning about chester,s attendance and not one mentioning the record crowds over the  3 days

What do expect her to say, no way they were record crowds.

oneten...that is a fair enough response to my rather flippant post . i actually enjoy a bit of ptp and it sounds as though yours is a good one . my local is tabley, cheshire . nice spot but small pool of horses can lead to tedious long odds on shots and small fields . and they charge a whopping £80 ( i'm not kidding ) for a trackside reserved car space .
incidentally i was at chester last week . no way were there record crowds in the stands but i presume every hospitality bolthole was packed out . which, frankly, seems all they care about .

Windsor, I meant to ask you what area of the country you are in so I’m pleased you cleared that up.
That’s a shame to hear your area is not as enjoyable as ours down here. I always assumed it’s the same all over the country.
We must be fortunate here.

  That’s scandalous charging £60 for a trackside car spot...  not surprising people don’t go if it’s that expensive 
It sounds like your grumble re corporate hospitality at Chester is exactly why I go pointing . I want to go and enjoy the racing and not have all these corporate idiots / drunken louts on the lash and as pointing isn’t glamorous they aren’t attracted to it, Thank goodness.
Though we seem to do ok in the celeb department as we had ginger spice and her husband at the last one and their horse won.

I guess standing in a sometimes muddy field isn’t glamorous so it wheedles out the numpties hence there is a nice crowd.

During the noughties Tatts tickets sold out three weeks before, for all three days. Can be bought on the day now. No way they are getting record crowds. They are just inventing falsehoods. Not sure how long this supremo will last - the former CEO Richard Thomas was sacked in controversial circumstances.

Chester Racecourse says its former chief executive spent more than £180,000 of the firm’s money on his own “personal projects” before he was sacked.

The company said the "very unsavoury and unwelcome turn of events" meant it had racked up "exceptional losses" of more than £280,000 as a result of the spending by Richard Thomas, and subsequent legal costs.

How much time did mr Thomas do ?

Think it was sorted out ‘ in house'.

Well that’s all fine and dandy then

Could be carrying out menial chores to very,very slowly reduce the debt. Right now he may even be on track, tin of paint in one hand, paintbrush in other, giving the rails a coat.

"personal projects"

A curious character - had been in the Royal Marines.I thought he came across pretty glib sort in his many TV interviews when running Chester.

..... Post Office are hiring, with his CV he would fit in a treat.

Absolutely glasgow

York always gone Dante day for many years it’s a expensive day out but £40 in as against £75 ebor, the Dante is my favourite meeting and £ 75 for champers and £6 plus a pint £ 4 a coffee, need to be lucky to cover the day might even try the fish and chips guessing about £12plus

£12
Sounds like 6 chips!!!