The course is easy to find given you have deduced that the town is near King’s Lynn and are observant enough to catch sight of the signposts. From my own spectacular lack of any sense of direction I have calculated that the course is set to the east of the town of Fakenham but is not that far away (perhaps a mile or so) to prevent a nice stroll to the action. There were plenty who I passed doing just that. Many looking like they had either just done a shift at the pig farm, taking their bike for a walk like an Edwardian servant heading back for mothering Sunday or hardcore ramblers on the trail of a lesser spotted woodpecker. So the location was in keeping with the name of the course with no confusion once you had worked out yes indeed Norfolk has roads. To be fair pretty good ones at that
Trees in paddocks has been a penchant of this visit after the delights of Plumpton. Many don’t even bother, some have telegraph poles in them and others are planted saplings for future prizes. What did Fakenham do? Well I have to say as a starter that the paddock was a bit on the small side but as least even the plebs in the centre can get to more than half the paddock which is brilliant value. There were three trees of about a metre high. They were in pots and two of the fir / pine variety had some red tinsel on them for some obscure and probably a local pagan tradition thing going on. So no challenge to the might Plumpton here.
Catering for the course plebs was not bad really. There was a restaurant which was selling some decent scran mainly seafood from what I could see. However I availed myself of the Norfolk Produce snap wagon. I had a bacon roll. The bacon was thick cut, had the rind still on it, was coated in a black goo. The roll was soft and dry falling apart with little effort. The serving of bacon was very generous indeed for the £3.50 it cost and the meat was good quality. So mixed review there really but all in all tasty plus value. The lady serving had a bit of a problem with mental arithmetic and the pricing became a bit of a Dutch auction until after three efforts she alighted on the correct price to enable the transaction to be completed. Amusing as this happened concurrent to the auction for the winner of the seller. All in all no Homer grease level for poor quality nor cloche winner in the high value stakes.
Tea was taken at the butty bar and was hot, had fresh milk and was a reasonable taste. Downside was that the teabag had been left in and the cup was one of those soft polystyrene efforts which always feels like it is about to collapse leaving the contents in the consumer’s lap. The value at £1.30 was fair and thus not in the insect ridden Salisbury league.
The layout of facilities is nice and basic, we have a good value for money course enclosure with a beaten up but serviceable stand which is more than you can say for many similar spaces on tasty courses. The main grandstand seemed to have a reasonable if basic stand in fair repair. The members had the most up to date facility. There were a few more enclosures than you find on a more access all areas approach I have found at many tracks to date, but not in the same class as the pernickety efforts of Thirsk for example. Artefacts were nonexistent unless I missed one so we still have Goodwoods weird as feck head in the lead. Architecture: The one stand which stood out was the ‘new’ Price of Wales Grandstand. This looks like grand-design chic means Ikea flatpack mass marketing. It looked like it was built for racing in Bergen and the wooden cladding made me think that the flower-talker himself had a bit of a say in this. At least it was not another non descript concrete and steel standard issue structure much loved by middle of the league football clubs relocating to a local out of town shopping mall. But I have Ripons chalkboard ahead on points.
Prince of Wales Grnadstand
Entrance to the course was not that memorable both from an aesthetic and utilitarian perspective. So the dour York and the art deco Pontefract are still well clear on both ends of the scale.
Water features are often hard to find but today I managed to find one. The drainage ditch was very deep (which appears mainly to preserve the condition of the greens on the in-field golf course) provides a potential hazard for the unwary particularly if stumbling around drunk at the end of a winter’s card. It then flows into the pond and I assume this is drawn from to help watering. However I noted that the Environment Agency had withdrawn permission to water to get slower ground today so there must be an issue locally with aquifers and available water. The pond was in general a nice feature with the only distraction being the concrete housing for the high level outlet valve which was scruffy. There were some gorse, some small trees / scrubs and sculptured to give a natural feel. Not bad effort but not quite good enough to push the front runners Folkestone, Kempton and Catterick
Nice pond but disfigured by outlet housing
Going today was on the fast side of good. That would normally mean mass defections, decimated card and issues around safety. However because the grass covering was so good the moisture was held in the ground and from my view I think this led to satisfactory racing. Given that the EA had refuse to allow watering it was a good effort by the groundsmen to get this condition and given that I am seeing nice covering of grass on the NH courses so far this winter, we must have had a good growing season this summer / autumn and with no real frosts yet the grass is on good nick.
Price to get into the centre including access to paddock was only £8 which I reckon was very good value for money. We had quite a varied card today with a seller, juvenile fillies’ hurdle, decent novice chased and some interesting handicaps. I think they worked hard on the card, the races were over a number of trips so decent value today. Car parking appeared to be very close to the entrance in all respect and as you can park all the way around to about two furlongs out the view from the second last was very good. So no Kip Keano award here then.
The track itself is a tight flat left hander of only about a mile around. This means they go around a few times so mental arithmetic is a must for any jockey intending to make all here. The fences caught a few out but looked to me to be on the soft side. The tight nature means that there is a straight of only a furlong so timing your run is key and the inside offers some benefit. It is obviously one to suit tippy types. It has a fence directly in front of the main grandstands pretty close up as well which is a good feature from a spectator position, but no water jump. From the centre of the track you can get right up to the races without too much hassle and because of the layout walking around from fence to fence from the middle to see the action is easy. Good track in this respect
Racecard and communication were pretty reasonable the card cost £2.50 but had a useful guide to pointing in East Anglia which was well put together and included a good review of the previous meeting at Fakenham. On the communication front we had Thommo on the mike and he is always value. So good effort on this front from Fakenham.
History 1884 and is Norfolk’s oldest existing course but then it only has Yarmouth for company in that respect. The West Norfolk Hunt Meeting, the oldest horse racing event in the Norfolk area, was introduced in 1884 and originally hosted at East Winch near King's Lynn. However, a search for a new venue to improve racing conditions was finally successful in 1905, when the National Hunt racing moved to the location we now know was Fakenham Racecourse. The first race was conducted on Easter Monday - which is still a major event on the Fakenham racing calendar today - with an impressive 37 starters in the tracks inaugural race.
After years of nothing but steeple chasing, Fakenham Racecourse introduced Hurdles in 1926 to mix up the racing events and secure the popularity of the sport. Although the racing was suspended during the first and Second World War, Fakenham grew to be a permanent supplier of fixtures on the racing circuit. Today Fakenham is still the proud host of National Hunt meetings throughout the season.
Nearby some 5 or so miles due west on the A148 is Sandringham. This proximity gives the royal connection with the racecourse. Sandringham is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as “Sant Dersingham”, the sandy part of Dersingham, subsequently shortened to Sandringham. There is evidence of a residence on the present site of the House as early as 1296; prehistoric flint tools have been found in the area and there are remains of a Roman villa quite close to nearby Appleton Farm. From the 16th century the area passed through two families, the Cobbes who held the land from 1517 and the Hostes who followed in 1686. The house which the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, found at Sandringham was a plain Georgian structure with a white stucco exterior, built in the second half of the 18th century by Cornish Henley, whose wife was a member of the Hoste family. Henley died before the house was completed and his son eventually sold it to a neighbour, John Motteux, who had first arrived in England as a Huguenot refugee in 1685. Motteux bequeathed it in his will to his friend Charles Spencer Cowper, the stepson of Viscount Palmerston who was Prime Minister at the time.
In the spring of 1862, Sandringham House with its estate at the time of 2,800 hectares was bought from Cowper as a country home for Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who had just turned 21. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had decided that he should move from the family home to a house of his own. His principal residence was to be Marlborough House in London but it was felt that he should also have a private house well away from town so that he would be able to escape when duty permitted and enjoy the benefits of a healthy country life. Many properties were inspected and the search was still in train when the tragic and premature death of the Prince Consort brought it to an abrupt halt. However, Queen Victoria decided that everything must go on as her husband would have wished and so the Prince of Wales prepared for a visit to Sandringham. On inspection, the property was decided to be most suitable and so the purchase was concluded a few days later.
The Prince made the old house habitable and moved in with his new wife, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, three weeks after their marriage in 1863. It soon became evident that the old house was too cramped for the Prince’s growing family; it was demolished to make way for a new house, designed by a Norwich architect, AJ Humbert and built by Goggs Brothers of Swaffham. The main house was completed in 1870; a ballroom was added in 1881 and a new guest accommodation wing in the 1890s.
After King Edward VII’s death in 1910, one of his friends wrote, “Up to the last year of his life he was continually improving his domain, repairing churches, spending money on the place in one way or another.” His son, King George V, wrote, “Dear old Sandringham, the place I love better than anywhere else in the world,” and his grandson, King George VI, wrote “I have always been happy here and I love the place.”. It is evident from the amount of time that the Queen and her family spend here that this affection continues as strongly as ever.
The gardens at Sandringham were first opened to the public by King Edward VII in 1908, and in 1930 the Museum was opened with an admission charge of 3d. Her Majesty the Queen opened the House itself to the public in her Silver Jubilee year, 1977.
The Racing
Race 1 Selling handicap hurdle over 2m4; easy winner Mongonel well ridden by Tom Scu clattered two out. Bon Speil tried keep tabs but gave up the ghost four out. The rest were hopelessly thrashed with Pobs Trophy coming home like Steptoes Hercules with the jockey resolutely refusing to administer even one slap. Nothing of note. No bid for the winner. No claims made.
Mangonel skips well clear towards the last despite a blunder two out
Race 2 Conditional Jockeys handicap chase class 5 over 2m4; soundly judged race by Robert Kirk and repeat win for Roc De Guye. Betty Browneyes tried to make all but weakened approaching 3 out. Finnegans Rainbow jumped without fluency but stayed on ok for second. Orpen Wide stayed on at the one pace and I am not convinced this track suited. Nothing of note
Roc De Guye (yellow/purple) stalks then in third on the way to a repeat win of this event
Bay Central had to be coralled by a hunter after running a couple of times around the course after unshipping Conor Ring at the first
Race 3 Juvenile Fillies hurdle 2m; So Is She acted up badly at the start looking mulish and was a bit lucky to actually start. Raced well though and was bought through smoothly from two out to lead over the last. Not a bad effort at all. Hope point had to be led in to start, was close up throughout but lacked the winner’s turn of foot. However good effort under a penalty. Bernisdale tried to make all and went off at a strong pace. Was collared approaching the last fair effort under a penalty. Nothing of note here.
Bernisdal established a long early but ultimately futile advantage
Race 4 Novice chase class 3 over 3m1; the giant Helpston looked very well in the paddock and put in a good round for a novice. Can continue to be hard to beat if not too highly tried. Could go handicapping if holding the 128 OR. Positive. Larks Lad stayed on ok, previously walked over when only other entry scratched on the day at Southwell on previous victory. Bottman has won here but made errors and lacks fluency. Worth opposing so a negative.
First circuit positions
Helpston (pink cap) was impressive today
Race 5 handicap chase class 4 over 2m6; The Laodiciean was slow at a couple of fences and weakened from 4 out. Investment Affair was hard driven from 2 out and won well with a bit in hand I would say but at 11 you wouldn’t think there was too much improvement in him which makes you think the others are moderate / poorly handicapped at the moment. Leapold was tailed off at halfway. Morenito tried to make all but was headed about 4 out. Grenoli led from 4 to 2 out but looked a sitting duck for the winner from 3 out. Nothing of note here
Eventual winner Investment Affair (green with yellow cap) taking the fence in front of the stands
Passes the post for a comprehensive victory
Race 6 novice handicap hurdle class 4 over 2m; great news for me as I had noted White diamond earlier in the season and she was available at a juicy 9/2 on one board. Made most breather four out slipstreamed around final turn produced to lead on run in. She is a tricky ride but has ability. Clearly suits tight tracks cheekpeices helped. Diamond Twister showed good pace from a held up position, to my eye needed the run and I have him down as a positive from this off his 94 mark.
One of my ones to follow White Diamond (cheekpieces)at the start en route for a sound victory
Notes
Helpston (p)
Bottman (n)
Diamond Twister (p) down £10
0
Ran poorly next and is now aimed at a Lingfield race on the sand. Let's see how he does before going againover hurdles as the mark over hurdles is now tidy at 88