Wincanton Racecourse

Racecourse number: 55

First visited: 2018

Number of visits: 1

Two days after attending my fifty fourth racecourse Taunton I was at it again. Wednesday at Wincanton had a nice ring to it. There would be an inevitable close comparison with Taunton, a similar national hunt meeting not too far away. Just to keep the comparison fair and equitable I didn’t back the first winner at Wincanton either! I had driven alone in Claire’s car from nearby Center Parcs and got a real buzz when I saw the stands from a distance. Wincanton impacted on me in a way that Taunton could not. The quality of racing is far superior, I have watched a great deal more races there and the Saturday meetings featuring races like the Elite Hurdle and Badger Beer Chase are significant events in the national hunt racing calendar. This was one racecourse I had really wanted to go to. I was excited to be there. My excitement would be rewarded with an excellent days racing at a quality racecourse.

From the outset the day had a positive feel to it. Wincanton has spacious and excellent facilities. On this day the three enclosures were combined into one so I was able to have a good look around. In truth there was only a moderate crowd but it felt like a racecourse for real racing fans. There was racing memorabilia everywhere and genuine attention to detail throughout. Don’t get me wrong it didn’t have the beauty of Goodwood or the scale of Doncaster but it was very welcoming. In many ways I felt this track was ahead of the curve in terms of horse racing customer focus. Or perhaps sadly it was behind the curve in terms of attracting a different kind of audience. Either way free entry was supplied by my Racing UK subscription. Even the weather was helping – heavy rain earlier in the day had passed through and made way for a pleasant, though mainly cloudy spring afternoon. This rain would actually be the key to the outcomes in the races themselves. Thankfully it only took me one race to learn this lesson and latch on to a winning strategy. My strong fancy in the first Run To Milan was beaten into second by Captain Cattistock, a bulky staying type trained by Paul Nicholls. It was clear that winners that day would need to not only act in the heavy ground but also see out the distance very well. This formed the basis of my quickly revised form study. I would end up backing two of the next three winners on this basis. Contenders that I had previously discounted.

The two winners were Daytime Ahead and Somechine at 5-1 and 6-1 respectively. Both won decisively in the conditions. The latter was ridden expertly by the soon to retire Andrew Thornton. A great jockey and winner of more than a thousand races. He was associated with great horses such as See More Business and French Holly. I was more than happy to join in with the applause on one of his final winners. He would retire in June 2018. My progress was strengthened by a good bet on a Mark Johnson improver at Wolverhampton. I lumped on at 100-30. To celebrate I went mad and treated myself to some Leek & Potato soup in the Badger Beer bar area. Well worth a visit. Race five saw me split my stake on the Colin Tizard trained The Cider Maker and the Venetia Williams trained Achille. My interest was heightened when Venetia herself took a place in the stands almost next to me. It was clear she was hopeful of a good run. However Achille, Venetia and I had to settle for a respectable second as the race was won by Cucklington, another horse trained by my nemesis for the week Colin Tizard! I had the winner of the next race, odds on shot Unioniste but by then I was already making my way back to Center Parcs to continue our family holiday. I was really impressed with Wincanton and would love to return for one of the feature Saturday meetings one day soon.