Sedgefield Racecourse

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.

York Racecourse

Racecourse number: 2

First visited: 1985

Number of visits:7

York's Benson and Hedges Gold Cup Day meeting in 1985 is one of my favourite days racing. My first dozen or so trips to the races were to my local track Haydock Park and so this first visit away from Haydock would open my eyes to other horse racing possibilities. As good as Haydock was, York was simply better. In terms of scale, racing quality, atmosphere and viewing options this was something very exciting indeed. My family watched most races that day in a seated area way up in the stands overlooking the final furlong. What a view. Bourbon Boy was a winner I remember backing for Michael Stoute, Walter Swinburn and Sheikh Mohammed. On this particular occasion I noted the results in the racecard along with the winning distances. Not something I continued with but certainly helpful in terms of this record. The full colour cover of the racecard was as distinctive as the meeting itself, and at 40p a bargain.

The big race of the day which is now the Juddmonte International featured many racing superstars of the time including many future breeding superstars. Top of the bill and favourite for the race was Oh So Sharp who had already won the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks. She would go on to complete a rare triple crown by winning the St Leger. Other leading contenders were Commanche Run, Triptych, Bob Back and Palace Music. The later had previously beaten Pebbles in the Champion Stakes. I was very conscious of the importance of this race. I backed Oh So Sharp but she could only manage second. Racing legend Lester Piggott riding Commanche Run got first run on the favourite partnered by Steve Cauthan and won by three quarters of a length. These equine stars of the 1980's were bred from the equine stars of the 1970's. Sires of the 1985 renewal runners included Roberto, The Minstrel, Alleged, Bustino, Troy and Kris. What a race that would have been. This race was also to provide me with a link to Dancing Brave's Arc De Triomphe one year later in which Triptych competed. To me the 1986 Arc is the best race ever run and was won in thrilling fashion by a fantastic horse.

Perhaps one reason I enjoyed the day so much was some betting success which included a successful dual forecast on the final sprint race. I used to do the old dual forecast quite a bit in those days and with optimism I choose Dorking Lad and Mary Maguire in race seven. The payout was around £30 which was a decent amount for a teenager in the 1980s. The real thrill though was watching it take shape in a perfect way from this unfamiliar yet wonderful viewpoint. This day definitely acted as a major catalyst for my racing hobby to extend nationwide. I was fourteen years old and York had made a big impression on me. By the time I left school two years later my racecourses visited total would have increased to ten. My journey to all the British racecourses had begun in earnest.

Pontefract Racecourse

Racecourse number: 20

First visited: 1991

Number of visits: 7

The photograph above was taken at the pre parade ring at Pontefract in 2010. In shot are my two favourites seven year old girls from then. My daughter Rachel and my racehorse Smarties Party who was fancied for the upcoming two mile two furlong handicap.

Nineteen years earlier in July of 1991 I made my first trip to Pontefract races. Positioned right next to the M62 near Leeds it is a large square shaped flat racing track with a significant climb to the line over the final two furlongs. I have a memory of two horses from this day. After twenty one consecutive defeats Chaplins Club, a great servant to owner Peter Savill, was way off the betting radar but as an old favourite and winner of ten races was surely worth a small interest bet. Meanwhile, the previous season Timeless Times had set a record of sixteen wins in one season. I was thrilled to see this famous horse in the flesh and hopeful of a return to winning form. My two key resources for this blog are the Racing Post online database and the less well known my dads old diaries. Both are invaluable for this early period but what surprised me using the former was that the two horses above actually ran in the same race. My dads entry for this day began "We had a family day out at Pontefract races. Irene, Jason and I picked up Linda and Andrew (My sister's boyfriend at the time) from her flat and took them. We all backed one winner but showed a loss." Timeless Times disappointed carrying the burden of my wager whilst Chaplins Club flew home on the outside to spring a 33-1 surprise and provide me with that familiar racing sensation of if only, should have, could have, meant to but didn't!

My second trip to Pontefract in 1993 was with my later to be wife Claire who joined the Tomlinson family on a typical racing day out for the first time. Still keen to impress her at this stage I made a miserable effort in terms of my betting prowess on this day. Countless losing bets were followed by further betting misery when my banker of the day Lake Popoo, owned by Robert Sangster, was out battled and beaten a neck to deny me any strand of credibility. Even at this early stage Pontefract was destined to be a place of betting failure for me.

When Smarties Party ran in 2010 it would be the last time I would attend a race meeting as an owner with Chris Thornton as my trainer. Later that year he would retire following a fantastic training career which included horses like Shotgun, Path Of Peace and Flossy. Much was expected of Smarties this day which was reflected in the high number of syndicate members who turned up. I genuinely felt she would finish in the first three. She had come second on her previous two flat outings and hopes were high. One big obstacle to success was Sinbad The Sailor owned by Sir Alex Ferguson who would go off favourite. Shrewdly though, Sir Alex did not turn up to see his horse disappoint in fourth......... but he still beat us by two lengths. Patchy soft ground was touted as the excuse for a poor showing by Jockey P J MacDonald. My poor record at Pontefract continued nearly twenty years on. In truth though it was a great day out and we were well looked after by the Pontefract staff. It was a genuine thrill to be in the parade ring with my Dad, trainer Chris Thornton and other syndicate members on a fancied runner watched by my wife, my mum and my kids. Just a shame the hoped for visit to the winners enclosure was not to be.

This blog post is kindly sponsored by Guinness.

Uttoxeter Racecourse - Part One

Racecourse number: 18

First visited: 1990

Number of visits: 9

By my second year at university my interest in horse racing had become much stronger. Seventy five percent of my afternoons would be spent at the races or in the bookies. I was regularly doing two to three race meetings a week. Somehow my life had become a mixture of horse racing, playing football and drinking with friends (with the occasional lecture thrown in). Most of my studying involved racing form not my degree subjects. Leicester had regular race meetings but I needed more. The Midlands rail network allowed me to develop an additional small group of tracks which I attended regularly over the next few years. They were Southwell, Nottingham and Uttoxeter. Using my trusty student railcard I could cheaply and quickly get to these racing destinations. In the case of Southwell and Uttoxeter I was planted right at the racecourse entrance as the racecourses both have train stations adjacent to them.

Prior to 2015 my previous visits to Uttoxeter took place in the early 1990's. On my first visit in November 1990 I had £20 on a horse called Market Forces who won at 5-2. A couple of weeks later I backed him again when he won, this time at Leicester.  At the end of this first visit I helped myself to a Tote placepot poster which I displayed in my room at University for quite some time. For the next few years pictures of horses, copies of photo finishes, bookies posters and losing betting tickets would be my room decorations of choice. My biggest Uttoxeter winner from this time was Captian Dibble who easily won his first novice chase there. I had £50 on at 6-4 and he was never in any danger.  A couple of years later he would win the Scottish Grand National at Ayr. A year earlier I had witnessed his novice hurdle success at Leicester, beating my selection that day Upton Park. These form connections would be a prominent feature of my mini Midlands circuit.

In the winter of 1991 I saw Stay Awake trained by Jonjo O'Neill run on three consecutive occassions. First was a gallant second at Cheltenham on Mackeson Gold Cup Day (My first visit there). Then a cosy success at Leicester. The third run was at Uttoxeter and the race was somewhat memorable, particularly for me. There were only four runners in what was a top novice chase contest with Stay Awake a marginal favourite over a couple of strong rivals. My involvement in the outcome of this race was both unexpected and ironic. At this time in my gambling journey I would often go to the races and have one big bet or no bets at all. On this day like the previous run at Leicester Stay Awake was my one selection and I had £50 on at 5-4. Positioned at the second last fence I watched the race unfold. Going racing as often as I did at that time I enjoyed mixing up where I watched each race and was not content to simply watch in the stands. From early in the race I could tell this would not be my day. Stay Awake did not jump with the previous fluency I had witnessed and jockey Mark Dwyer did well to keep the partnership intact and keep the horse in contention as they turned for home. As the runners approached me at the second last the three leading contenders were locked in battle but with Stay Awake clearly under the most pressure, but still with a chance. As the three of them jumped as one Stay Awake made another mistake and crumpled on landing right in front of me catapulting Dwyer forward into the turf. Unusually the horse simply stood up and did not follow the other runners allowing horse and jockey to be quickly reunited. Now stories of my interaction with jockeys are few and far between but a most interesting and unexpected one then took place. In a surreal twist it became very clear Mark was coming over to talk to me. Surely an apology was not necessary, these things happen in racing! Holding Stay Awake by the reigns he simply asked if there was prize money for fourth place. Somewhat flustered I checked and confirmed that there was. He was somewhat unconvinced and pressed the matter. I again confirmed and was then supported by another race goer who had joined the conversation. Finally satisfied Mark remounted, jumped the last and claimed the fourth place prize money to the ironic cheers/geers of the crowd. Should he have known? Certainly this was an unusual circumstance and of course today he would not be allowed to remount.

There are two other significant memories that stand out from my visits to Uttoxeter. The first was witnessing the filming of a scene for Coronation Street. In it Don Brennan enjoyed a visit to the races with his new redhead girlfriend. I was very close to one scene (Don placing a bet with an on course bookmaker) but on the wrong side of the camera! In 1995 I would attend the first Sunday meeting with on course betting. Desert Orchid was the star of the show, there on parade to promote the big day. Racing seven days a week is so much taken for granted these days but I was there when it all began.

Exeter Racecourse

Racecourse number: 7

First visited: 1986

Number of visits: 1

My summer holiday in 1986 was at Pontin's Torbay holiday camp in Devon. Simply fantastic. Even better, this gave me a prime opportunity to visit, with my Mum and Dad, one of the local racecourses. Like trips to the races, holidays to Butlins and Pontins were a big feature of my childhood. At some of the bigger camps there were on site bookmakers. At Torbay the arrangements for placing a bet were simply fantastic in there outdatedness. You would write out your bet at reception and hand over your stake prior to 11am. The camps collective bets would be taken and placed at a local bookies and winnings picked up for collection the following day. There was racing on TV at York that week and I remember my Dad collecting his winnings following a success from an old favourite, Triptych. This was in the days when newspapers and teletext were the main source of racing news and information. In fact, without teletext whilst on holiday, we nearly made the mistake of going to Exeter races a day early. We were all primed to go when I realised via the day’s newspaper that the meeting was the following day!

Exeter would be my seventh racecourse. Significantly, the notion of going to the races whilst on holiday would be the key to me attending so many courses throughout my life. This day was thus a catalyst for some brilliant trips to the races throughout Great Britain. Exeter is one of the largest racecourses in terms of its circuit distance so I was impressed when my Dad, having got us there quite early decided to walk the course. I must have decided against it for some reason. Certainly it was a warm day and the ground pretty firm. Past the winning post, I recall the massive loop the runners had to take before entering the back straight. A traditional looking course but a little more pear shaped than oval. Horses I remember from this day are Razzle Dazzle Boy, Britannicus and Melendez though in truth I cannot recall the winners, any betting successes, failures or otherwise. I have no help either from trusty racing online databases, as they do not go back quite that far. 

On examining the racecard, which I have kept all these years, I found a number of significant jockeys and trainers who were there that day of great interest. Riding in race one for example was future champion trainer Paul Nicholls. Training in race four was ex-champion jockey John Francome. Others with rides that day were Brendan Powell, Richard Dunwoody and Simon Sherwood. Martin Pipe had just the one runner that day in the last race. Within a few years, he would totally dominate such southern jumps meetings with runners in every race and most of them as favourite. Possibly of most interest in the racecard to me was that the commentator was Mr. L McKenzie. I am assuming this was a very early call from Lee McKenzie who I have seen at the races as an announcer or commentator many times over the years. Indeed nearly thirty five years later so many of these names or their children remain a major feature of today's horse racing circuit. Like me, they and their families keep coming back for more.