Awed by Ascot

From possibly the smallest race course in the country we take you to probably the biggest, to Ascot.

We were thrilled to be there yesterday, among the crowd of over 24,000, for the QIPCO British Champions Day, one of the biggest events in the flat racing calendar and definitely the biggest and most prestigious meeting we have been to. 

The prize money for the 6 races totalled an eye watering 3.5 million pounds, making it the richest raceday in Britain. It was hardly surprising, therefore, that we would be seeing 20 group 1 winners running. We were really excited at the thought of seeing in the flesh, some very famous names, who we had only previously seen on the television, winning the Derby, the Oaks and so on ...

After arriving, it took us a while to get our bearings, but wherever you go you are never far from that iconic huge grandstand building, that can only be Ascot. While the grandstand is big, the outside space is arranged at 2 levels, so it takes a while to get the hang of where you need to be and there are a lot of steps and tunnels.

We were certainly mingling with the great and the good. We arrived a respectful minute or two after H.M. the Queen, and as we admired the Ascot architecture, we spotted the Royal standard flying - that is it, at the top of the flagpole to the right of me.

We also enjoyed seeing our favourite racing presenter Clare Balding ....

... who as always was doing a great job, ably assisted by the Channel 4 team, and, in our picture, Mick Fitzgerald (with his back to us), our favourite ex jockey presenter.

We did get to see the Queen, Prince Phillip and Princess Beatrice, but if we're honest, we were more interested in the Queen's Gold Cup winning horse, Estimate. We went to see her in the pre-parade ring then followed her into the parade ring, where jockey Ryan Moore got the leg up ...

... and as both horse and jockey looked like winners, we backed them. Sadly, however, this was not Estimate's day, and while we thought she ran well, it just wasn't good enough. There was a silver lining to this cloud though, as our male minder had backed the surprise winner, and had a good return on his stake.

Everywhere we went there were reminders of the Queen's patronage,  from the gates ...  to the presence of members of the Household Cavalry who escorted the winners into the winners enclosure ...

Compared to the race horses, the Cavalry horses looked huge and solidly reliable - there was none of the skittishness and excitability we see from the racers.

We were very lucky with the weather, and it was a pleasantly warm and dry afternoon - unlike other parts of the country. However, the wet weather had struck earlier in the week and turned the ground, at best soft - some of the jockeys reported it heavy. This meant that our 2 favourite flat racing horses - Sky Lantern and Toronado - stayed away, and may have contributed to some surprise results, with not one of the favourites winning.

Last year there had been Frankel running his final race, but his absence this year, didn't detract from the excitement of the day and we were thrilled by some really fine racing.

This may have been our first visit to Ascot, but hopefully it won't be our last.

On Friday we return to Fakenham for the first jumps meeting of the season. It will be very different, but no doubt we'll enjoy it just as much as ever.

Lots of love, Patrick, Curly and friends xxx

Introducing Fakenham: Part 1

As our regular readers will know, our much loved local racecourse is Fakenham Racecourse. Really it should be called Pudding Norton Racecourse, as that’s where it can be found, on the outskirts of Fakenham. I must say Pudding Norton is a great name (and food lover Yorkie approves) although perhaps it would sound a bit too stodgy to be a venue for fast running race horses.

Your impression of Fakenham racecourse will depend on whether it's the first race course you’ve visited (as it was for us) or whether you come to it after visiting lots of other courses, especially the bigger ones, such as Ascot, Cheltenham, Newmarket or Aintree. If the latter applies to you, you might think Fakenham is a bit dowdy and something of a let down, since it has no posh buildings and stands and is very definitely rustic. However, WE LOVE IT as it unique, completely without pretensions, and has its own special charm.  We always feel at home at Fakenham and is a very friendly place to visit. From the men who take your money and help you to park, to the gate and fence attendants and the other racing fans in the stands you will get always get a friendly comment.  While at Ascot you might expect to see ladies in dresses with hats, and men in morning suits, at Fakenham tweeds and wellies are much more the order of the day, and the look is just right there.

But what about the course itself. Well, like Cheltenham and Aintree, it is an anti-clockwise, left handed course, which is good for left footed horses but not for the right footed.  It’s a bit less than a mile round, which means that for many races we are fortunate to see the horses pass in front of the stands 3 times. It is also supposed to be quite a tight course, being more of a square than an oval, and this often catches both horse and rider out. As we have seen on several occasions, the course demands respect, and it doesn’t pay to dismiss it as an inconsequential rural backwater.

Sadly we only have about 10 meetings a year starting in October and ending at the end of May but thankfully our membership gives us lots of reciprocal meetings at other racecourses, to go to throughout the year. Each year the Racecourse also hosts a Point to Point meeting and a Arabian Day.

There's lots more to tell you, so part 2 will follow soon.

Love Patrick and friends xxx

Meet our Reporter on the Ground

While I had the great honour of introducing our exciting new blog, I wouldn't want you to think it is going to be a one man show of a blog - far from it. I've yet to find a member of Bears Unlimited (well the Norfolk Branch anyway) who doesn't like horse racing, so this new project will be a team effort - exactly as it should be.

There is one member of Bears Unlimited though, who needs a special introduction at this early stage, as he will be a key member of the reporting team and, no doubt. the most authoritative correspondent. So, please meet Curly ...

You will note his small, light and compact frame, just like a jockey's and that's because he is a bit of a jockey (a fairly modest amateur rider, but a jockey all the same). While I am a great racing enthusiast, I enjoy the sport from the sidelines, unlike Curly who rides and schools horses and mixes with a lot of horses, owners, trainers and jockeys. What Curly has to say is always worth listening to, and unlike me, who speaks a lot of blarney, Curly speaks from experience.

If you're ever looking for Curly at a racetrack just head for the winner's post in the winners' enclosure (our earlier picture provides a good example) as he'll be there to welcome the horse he's backed home - you'll probably find me closer to one of the other position posts!

Curly's a very hands on sort of bear, so you'll be as likely to find him walking the course and inspecting the going, as leaning up against the rails spectating.

Here he is, out on the course at our local racecourse of Fakenham, inspecting the approach to the final jump on the chase course. These big jumps don't phase him, but there again, he has such good rapport with the horses he rides, that he knows what they are capable of and knows just how to get the best out of them.

Sounds a bit like A P McCoy really  - one of Curly's heroes.

Back soon with some more racing talk.

Love Patrick and friends xxx

PS I'm afraid that Curly rarely looks towards a camera when at a racecourse, as he's simply too engrossed in the business of racing.

We're Off and We're Racing!!

It is my absolute pleasure to introduce this new blog to you. It has taken me a while to bring it together, but as my Bears Unlimited friends will tell you, my relaxed and laid back Irish style means I never do anything in a hurry. The blog is inspired by what I believe to be the finest hobby in the world; going to the races to see our beautiful equine friends in action, doing what they do best, running and jumping in the incredible fashion that only they can achieve.

When I joined the Norfolk branch of Bears Unlimited from Ireland (please see my Bears Unlimited biography for the full story) I think I changed their lives in more ways than one – I like to think for the better.

My finest achievement has been to introduce the guys and girls of Bears Unlimited to horse racing, after discovering they had never been to a race meeting.  I found this hard to believe as they had the National Hunt racecourse of Fakenham, almost on their doorstep.

I took them along to a meeting and they loved it. They were hooked right from the start, and it wasn’t long before we all became Fakenham members. The great thing about race course membership is that reciprocal meeting are arranged with other racecourses and you can go along and enjoy member privileges for the day for free – marvellous! We were all keen to take advantage of these meetings so started organising our diaries so we could go to as many as we could. And what a year it’s been: we’ve had a great time travelling the country  and watching some fantastic racing.

Each race course is unique and has it’s own style and atmosphere. We therefore thought it would be good to bring you a flavour of each racecourse and share with you our racing experiences.

And so this blog, slow in the planning, has finally come to reality. Our plan is to give you an armchair journey to the courses we’ve been to and feature some of our winners. As we visit more racecourses we’ll add them in, until we’ve achieved our ambition of visiting every race course in the country. We’ll also aim to bring you racing news and views throughout the year as racing is just such an interesting sport. If you’re not interested now, hopefully you will be as you keep reading.

Lots of love Patrick