Hexham Racecourse

                 

Racecourse number: 38

First visited: 1998

Number of visits: 2

In November 2014 my Dad and I attended Hexham races to watch Transient Bay make his debut over hurdles. Following a couple of promising runs in national hunt flat races the previous year this marked the start of his second season as a racehorse. This was my Dad’s first visit to Hexham and my second. The course has a quite picturesque setting in rural surroundings with a natural hillside amphitheatre which provides good viewing. The racecard identifies the course as Britain’s most scenic. I can see where they are coming from. Perhaps though the statement should be qualified with “weather permitting.” This cold, cloudy day would not do the course justice. Undeterred, on arrival we went to collect our owner’s badges. A simple task you would imagine.

Not on this day. Most racecourses allocate at least six free badges to owners and offer additional ones at half price. On this occasion my name was listed to get a free extra badge allocated to the jockey, no doubt to maximise our free badges. I was given free entry and able to pay half price for my Dad but there was an issue. My dad was given a voucher for a free bowl of soup but I was not. I had the audacity to politely request the same. My jockey’s badge it seemed was frowned upon and did not qualify for soup so I was given short shrift by the team managing this entry process. I could have protested further, perhaps ironically stating that I would still make my allotted weight even after consuming the soup. However, the queue was building up behind us and I could instinctively tell I was onto a loser. Now I like soup, especially on a day like this but it’s not really about the soup. Anywhere you go as a customer you want to be made to feel welcome. In horseracing owners are absolutely key to its longevity. Not for the first time at a racecourse owner’s entrance I did not feel particularly welcome or appreciated. Later, Soup-gate as I shall now refer to it took an ironic turn for the worse.

Transient Bay’s race was the second on the card, a novice hurdle over two and a half miles. Seven would run with prizemoney for the first four. Certainly an exciting prospect as we all gathered in the parade ring prior to the race. The partnership of twenty was reasonably well represented as the regular attendees were becoming established. Over the runs to come I would do my best to be one of them. The situation at Hexham would have been even more exciting had we known at the time that one of the runners would go on to win the Grand National. In truth, I had not even considered One For Arthur as a strong contender for this lowly race let alone as a future national hunt star. Lucinda Russell’s runner would finish a promising third this day before going on to much bigger and better things. Prior to the race there was lengthy discussion with our jockey, Kyle James. Surrounded by around ten people he outlined his thoughts directly to me, which did make me feel quite special. In short, his expectation was not high in terms of victory but he did predict a promising run to build on. One concern at the time was that Phil’s horses were not in great form. In fact his Up the Bees had just disappointed in the first race. One thing we were not concerned about was the hurdles themselves for our giant thoroughbred. They were no more than a tiny trip hazard to him. The official race record reports we were held up behind, pushed along 5^th, soon struggling, pulled up 4 out. Not a great effort really and there was disappointment, initially mixed with a little concern as we were pulled up with almost a circuit to go. Speaking to Kyle straight after the run he felt the horse was not himself, was soon very tired and that the run was way too bad to be true.

Whilst I did manage one early short priced winner, punting success would elude me this day. In our race I backed the John Quinn trained favourite Zermatt who, whilst getting a little further round than Transient Bay was also pulled up. A confident bet on Present Lodger came unstuck when the jockey unseated right in front of us. My Dad was faring no better and after race three, decided to cash in his bowl of soup voucher. Unfortunately in the owners and trainers bar the soup had run out. Don’t worry Dad I bet they have loads left at the general racecourse canteen. They did, and it smelt great but this soup there is not for owners and has to be paid for. No doubt most of it was thrown away at the end of the day! Three years on I can confirm I have largely moved on from Soup-gate and eat soup on a regular basis whether paid for or not. Generally though, facilities at Hexham are not great. Certainly, the lack of a stand is a huge miss, even allowing for the hillside location. The betting shop is also quite intriguing, a bit like the opposite of Dr Who’s Tardis. From the outside it looks ordinary sized but inside there is very little room, small screens and something of a rugby scrum environment to overcome to get a bet on. Overall, you may have sensed the course is not massively to my liking and it would appear the horse agreed. When the fifth race was won by outsider Mrs Grass we knew it would not be our day and was time to cut our losses. Disappointed, cold and yes a little hungry we headed home. Looking at the day positively it was one of those that gave perspective. If the day ever came when we were victorious we would appreciate it more based on days like this.