Excellent post by T.K.

I just love watching racing live, nothing beats it and I'll be still going in my dotage.
My first racing memory is Derby Day 1974 when Snow Knight won and I was hooked from that day onwards.

I'm 60 on Tuesday 8th September so I will be in Spain for the that but back for Epsom on the 10th for a family and friends get together. No better way to celebrate.

Well said the knight.

I’m off to haydock tomorrow not my type of card but I’ll still be out and about watching live sport and you always get a laugh with the racecourse regulars

Previously loved Kelso Jimnast but they started to take the urine with the track to track bus from Tweedbank station.

In 2019 it was £6 return. It's now £16 return which is almost the same as an early bird ticket for most fixtures outside of the weekend.

That’s a shame shrewd we do seem to live in an age when everyone wants to much and can’t help themselves,eventually like yourself people will decide enough is enough.

Catterick put on a free bus from Richmond and gowran park from Kilkenny I’m sure others do I know Ludlow use to but haven’t been on the train there for quite some time so can’t be sure.

That’s good the dealer I thought there would be more

Just back from Navan, was in Gowran yesterday and Rosscommon on Monday .heading to Kilbeggen tomorrow I have football on Friday . I love racing and simply cant get enough of it really..Have done all the U.K. tracks. Heading over to perth on Monday, so yes I guess I have the racing bug bigtime...

Like most punters swiftynifty its a case of win some lose some.Though the past 5 years have been good to me , I lost £200 today at Navan both my £100 bets were beaten.

Sandown and Ascot for me as a Londoner - mainly in the autumn/winter.

Will do Ascot for the beer festival in October and Sandown for Tingle Creek.  Then hopefully run down to Cheltenham for Trials Day as I have friends there.

I am so pleased that my post about going to the tracks met with agreement, and not some of the abuse which is sometimes, sadly, to be seen on here.

For the record, I will be at Southwell on Thursday evening, Haydock Friday afternoon and York on Sunday.

Next week, is a big one with Catterick or Leiceter on Tuesday, then Donny Thrusday and Friday. Have not yet decided whether to go Saturday or Sunday for the Leger weekend. Saturday will be packed out and uncomfortable if anything like last year, so I will probably miss it and do the quieter Sunday.

But the other consideration is that, at 66, I struggle to do more than four days back to back. Donny is only 15 miles from my house and so an easy one, but the Monday after Donny is Thirsk. so, if I were to do all 4 days of the Leger meeting, then the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the week after it would be 7 in a  row. Even though I am in pretty good shape for my age, that would be too tiring. Hence, will miss out the Saturday (probably!).

Now, why am I going into such detail? Well, it isn't to show off because a lot of the long-term and sensible posters on here will know what I am about and that I have no need to boast. No, it is a prelude to say that out of all the last 13 years and over 2000 meetings, guess how many track managements or memebers of the horse racing authorities have ever asked me my view on how they might imporve things? Most of you will say zero and be quite correct!!

Yet, I see examples every week where small things could be done a little better with the game - and my suggesitons here are not coming from someone who thinks the tracks can return to the good old days of strong betting rings, big punters and cigar smoke! No, however much I might want that (and I do) those days are very sadly gone forever.

But with better understanding of what primarily makes people lifetime fans of horse racing (which is betting on the bl**dy things) track attendances could be improved - espeically in midweek when they are now often poor.

However, with one or two notable exceptions, those who run the tracks - and even more so those who run racing itself - still think they are somehow above the public.

As an example, I was at Newanmrket on 4th July. A tidy drive for me to go to a meeting that was transferred from Haydock. Now, two things from there that showed how inept racing can be.

First, I got there at 12pm, expecting the gates to open at that time. But no, some bright spark had us all standing outside in the hot sun until 12:30pm - 1 hour before the first race. I emailed tham the next day and received a reply so stupid it made me shudder. Basically, the email appeared to say that they waited until 12:30 to save money on staff costs and, without the said savings, the meeting would not have been proftable. Now, it was a lovely quiet day there (as transferred meetings often seem to be) but if they are running a meeting with figures so close to the bone that they had to make the savings they said they had to, then they should not have been running it at all!

The second thing was the photo-finish on the second race.

Many will recall that the horse that led iside the final furlong looked certain to have won. But the photo took ages and we ended up with it having only won by a nose. From the arguments that followed, it transpirted that the judge has access to an image on his computer that is incredibly, incredibly senstiive. So sensitive that even sending it to another computer for public broadcast would see it lose a tiny bit of clarity.

But on the image the public did see, it looked like a certain dead-heat. However, the judge's image is even sharper, which is why we got the result as given.

Fair enough, and I get that the best image would apparently not work as well if electronically transferred. But why the bl**dy hell, if the latter is true, is the judge using one image and the public being shown another? Either we all see the same image or we rely upon the judge's superior one without having to see one ourselves. What it felt like was some clever new technology being brought into use without anyone having thought through  all of the consequences. Perhaps I am wrong here, but my reply from the BHA over this is still awaited.

Two examples where the HQ of racing itself made themselves look a bit daft. Believe me, it happens a good few times every week.

And with that rant, I shall close and go the bed. I still love racing with all my heart - and I do scrape a profit at it - but I sometimes wonder just why and how!!!

(I hope some people have found this post intereting. But for anyone who hasn't, no abuse please. If it does not interest you then just quietly move on.)

And with that rant, I shall close and go the bed.
I have read shorter novels. You got a lot off the chest there.

Used to feel a different world jimnast until the eruption started…..why they thought disco music would go well with the sport of kings is anyone’s guess tbh…..

Like supermarket shopping blaring out squawk while looking for good produce…..

Thing not think.

Going to Haydock on Sat. but looking at the very small field for the G1 sprint might change my mind! Very, very poor turnout.

differentdrum will be furious about all the positivity on this thread!

Plenty of positivity going racing brandy…..