Racecourse Number: 35
First Visited: 1996
Number of visits: 3
In March 1996 I visited Sedgefield racecourse for the first time with my Dad. Sedgefield is one of those national hunt courses that has plenty of meetings and feels really familiar from years of betting shop viewing. At the track, along with this familiarity it has its own very distinctive feel. I watched a discussion on Racing UK where concern was expressed about the increase in proportion of all weather racing and the lack of character these courses have. It was felt the distinctiveness of individual racecourses is the very essence of the appeal of British horse racing. I couldn't agree more. Something I was reminded of on my next visit in 2014. Sedgefield has real character, tight turns, undulations and a very agricultural feel. Sure it is not very classy but the facilities are fine given it is a lower grade track, though I am not sure that much had changed in the eighteen years between visits.
By 1996 I was nearly at halfway in my challenge to visit all the racecourses. On this day we opted for the longer trip to Sedgefield rather than the shorter but previously taken trip to Aintree, which had some big names on show being Friday of Grand National week. Runners at Aintree included Viking Flagship, Brown Windsor and Sound Man which we watched in the betting shop in between races. Sedgefield however was not without stars of its own that day though with some significant national hunt names from the nineties on display. Two such horses were Weaver George and Xaipete. Between them they won an incredible thirty nine races. Weaver George disappointed that day but Xaipete took the lucky last in great style and would go on to win three more times at Sedgefield. I still have the racecard and as such have lots of detail from the day including my own betting records. I had a losing placepot perm but managed three winners at Sedgefield including Xaipete, meaning a successful days betting for me and a modest profit. However I would just be looking after this money and returning it to the Sedgefield bookmakers with interest in 2014.
The meeting in 2014, my second visit to Sedgefield was a big day for me. Transient Bay my latest and third significant venture into racehorse ownership (5% share) was having his first run for Philip Kirby in the concluding bumper race. Like the rest of the racing partnership the Tomlinsons were there in numbers. In fact an impressive sixteen of the twenty racing partnership members attended. Falling on a Sunday the meeting was ideal for a family day out so the four of us plus my Dad made the trip up the A1. Unfortunately the weather did not play its part, the day described as bleak by my wife. Cold, wet and windy would be an accurate description with conditions getting worse as the day progressed. Not ideal when you have a runner in the concluding bumper! For a weekend this was a very poorly attended meeting. Together with the weather, nearby Sunderland's appearance in the Carling Cup Final meant punters where few and far between. A high percentage of attendees were clearly owners, a fact strongly suggested by the queue at the owners entrance. (Something I had not seen before). Later in the day we crossed over to the centre to the course enclosure to let the kids enjoy the park there. Genuinely there was a total gate of around twenty five enjoying one bookmaker, a tote terminal, a dingy canteen area and the view in the picture above. Not one for the website! The set up made me think of the story from footballer Ray Parlour's biography when he played for Middlesbrough. He had taken the first team on a racing trip to York which they had loved. Suited and booted they had fitted in great with the other dressed up young racegoers and had enjoyed the amazing facilities, so they decided to plan another racing trip! This time to Sedgefield! I can only imagine their surprise and disappointment upon arrival at the massive contrast in facilities, customers and dress code. At the meeting I attended in 2014 there was hardly anyone there under forty!
This meeting did not go well from a betting perspective though on a couple of occasions did show some promise. In the first I lazily backed the odds on favourite and came unstuck. In the second things looked very encouraging as the runners turned for home. Long time leader Boris The Blade was being stalked by my selection Caerlaverock who cruised into the lead two out at at odds of 10-1. The picture changed however approaching the last as suddenly Caerlaverock was running on empty and the grey Boris The Blade rallied gamely to take the contest by two lengths. The defeat was compounded by the ridicule of my son Jake who had selected the winner only to be dismissed by me as ungenuine! He pulled up more often than finishing. The winner returned at 25-1. Even when I did finally get a winner in race six (short priced favourite Tokyo Javilex) the outcome was far from joyous. Upon collection I was handed my winnings in Scottish notes which I requested be changed. Though he did comply the grumpy bookmaker was not impressed and stated how he wished he could refuse to accept them.
The big race arrived. Time for my new horse to have his debut run. I had spoken to trainer Philip Kirby a little earlier in the day in the racecourse betting shop and he sounded hopeful, predicting a promising run, though not expecting to compete with some of the more experienced contenders. Not for the first time his insight proved correct. The partnership gathered in the parade ring both expectant and very large in size. In contrast eventual winner Debooch had a total set of connections of one jockey, Jason Maguire. His victory would be his fourth of the day, a win which would see our race later featured on Sky Sports news. Our horse Transient Bay ran a promising race in fourth around twelve lengths behind the winner. As a group of owners we were very happy with this initial run, jockey Kyle James seemed particularly pleased with the performance and the horses attitude. We even picked up a little prize money for fourth place. Phil had also said that anything he achieves now would be a bonus as this potential staying chaser would only really come into his own over a much longer distance. Part of the fun of racehorse ownership is about potential, dreaming of future glory. Our horse ran twice more at Sedgefield the following season, with me attending on one of those days. Following two poor runs it became apparent that Sedgefield was not an ideal track for us, much like Ray Parlour and friends! If we had known in that disappointing second season that Transient Bay would retire a five time hurdles winner we would have happily taken that.
By 1996 I was nearly at halfway in my challenge to visit all the racecourses. On this day we opted for the longer trip to Sedgefield rather than the shorter but previously taken trip to Aintree, which had some big names on show being Friday of Grand National week. Runners at Aintree included Viking Flagship, Brown Windsor and Sound Man which we watched in the betting shop in between races. Sedgefield however was not without stars of its own that day though with some significant national hunt names from the nineties on display. Two such horses were Weaver George and Xaipete. Between them they won an incredible thirty nine races. Weaver George disappointed that day but Xaipete took the lucky last in great style and would go on to win three more times at Sedgefield. I still have the racecard and as such have lots of detail from the day including my own betting records. I had a losing placepot perm but managed three winners at Sedgefield including Xaipete, meaning a successful days betting for me and a modest profit. However I would just be looking after this money and returning it to the Sedgefield bookmakers with interest in 2014.
The meeting in 2014, my second visit to Sedgefield was a big day for me. Transient Bay my latest and third significant venture into racehorse ownership (5% share) was having his first run for Philip Kirby in the concluding bumper race. Like the rest of the racing partnership the Tomlinsons were there in numbers. In fact an impressive sixteen of the twenty racing partnership members attended. Falling on a Sunday the meeting was ideal for a family day out so the four of us plus my Dad made the trip up the A1. Unfortunately the weather did not play its part, the day described as bleak by my wife. Cold, wet and windy would be an accurate description with conditions getting worse as the day progressed. Not ideal when you have a runner in the concluding bumper! For a weekend this was a very poorly attended meeting. Together with the weather, nearby Sunderland's appearance in the Carling Cup Final meant punters where few and far between. A high percentage of attendees were clearly owners, a fact strongly suggested by the queue at the owners entrance. (Something I had not seen before). Later in the day we crossed over to the centre to the course enclosure to let the kids enjoy the park there. Genuinely there was a total gate of around twenty five enjoying one bookmaker, a tote terminal, a dingy canteen area and the view in the picture above. Not one for the website! The set up made me think of the story from footballer Ray Parlour's biography when he played for Middlesbrough. He had taken the first team on a racing trip to York which they had loved. Suited and booted they had fitted in great with the other dressed up young racegoers and had enjoyed the amazing facilities, so they decided to plan another racing trip! This time to Sedgefield! I can only imagine their surprise and disappointment upon arrival at the massive contrast in facilities, customers and dress code. At the meeting I attended in 2014 there was hardly anyone there under forty!
This meeting did not go well from a betting perspective though on a couple of occasions did show some promise. In the first I lazily backed the odds on favourite and came unstuck. In the second things looked very encouraging as the runners turned for home. Long time leader Boris The Blade was being stalked by my selection Caerlaverock who cruised into the lead two out at at odds of 10-1. The picture changed however approaching the last as suddenly Caerlaverock was running on empty and the grey Boris The Blade rallied gamely to take the contest by two lengths. The defeat was compounded by the ridicule of my son Jake who had selected the winner only to be dismissed by me as ungenuine! He pulled up more often than finishing. The winner returned at 25-1. Even when I did finally get a winner in race six (short priced favourite Tokyo Javilex) the outcome was far from joyous. Upon collection I was handed my winnings in Scottish notes which I requested be changed. Though he did comply the grumpy bookmaker was not impressed and stated how he wished he could refuse to accept them.
The big race arrived. Time for my new horse to have his debut run. I had spoken to trainer Philip Kirby a little earlier in the day in the racecourse betting shop and he sounded hopeful, predicting a promising run, though not expecting to compete with some of the more experienced contenders. Not for the first time his insight proved correct. The partnership gathered in the parade ring both expectant and very large in size. In contrast eventual winner Debooch had a total set of connections of one jockey, Jason Maguire. His victory would be his fourth of the day, a win which would see our race later featured on Sky Sports news. Our horse Transient Bay ran a promising race in fourth around twelve lengths behind the winner. As a group of owners we were very happy with this initial run, jockey Kyle James seemed particularly pleased with the performance and the horses attitude. We even picked up a little prize money for fourth place. Phil had also said that anything he achieves now would be a bonus as this potential staying chaser would only really come into his own over a much longer distance. Part of the fun of racehorse ownership is about potential, dreaming of future glory. Our horse ran twice more at Sedgefield the following season, with me attending on one of those days. Following two poor runs it became apparent that Sedgefield was not an ideal track for us, much like Ray Parlour and friends! If we had known in that disappointing second season that Transient Bay would retire a five time hurdles winner we would have happily taken that.
