THE RUNNER BEANS

Running

Active Travel

Nutrition

Family

A Day at the Races

May 6, 2013 | Lifestyle | 0 comments

And we’re off to the races…

Well on Saturday we were, for my Step-Dad’s 60th birthday a group of friends and family went to Newmarket race course for the 2000 Guineas.

I had a major cock-up on the way there, and managed to leave the tickets at home, so after an hour and a half on the tube, and a 2 and a half hour drive, we made it there. It was fun getting all dressed up for the day, and after our walk from the car to the racecourse, I was thankful that I was wearing wedges!

On the way to the Newmarket, I studied Tom’s copy of Racing Post, and chose all of the horses we were going to bet on! Luckily we made it just in time for the first race…and WON!

We had a private room for our group, where we had lunch, and a birthday cake for Dave. We were also lucky to have access to betting shop too! I never really gamble (I stuck to penny slot machines in Vegas!) so I was overexcited to place our bets.

The view from the balcony attached to our room had a great view of the race course, and more importantly, of the finishing line! We all got into the competitive spirit and cheered on the horses we had backed. I didn’t know many of their names so just cheered for the numbers!

A friend of mine, Lucy, is from a horse racing background, and so it was fun to meet up with her and hear her tips. We went to look at the horses in the paddock and confident with our picks when we saw them parade past.

We also watched a race with Lucy in the trainers and Jockey Club enclosure! So fun to watch it up close and in a crowd (a very prestigious crowd!). The atmosphere was amazing! Lucy’s dad had a couple of horses racing during the day, although sadly neither of them placed.

Our winning streak continued throughout the day and we managed to back 6 out of the 7 winners! Call it beginners luck, or a combination of betting on the favourites or following the tips in the Racing Post, but everyone was very impressed! We didn’t bet big, but we did have fun!

It was brilliant to get out of the London on the bank holiday weekend, and do something a bit different. It was my first time to Newmarket and I loved it! We had great weather for most of the day, with a huge downpour halfway through the races- sadly this was the time that we decided to investigate the bookies by the course. We got drenched, despite weilding the huge free umbrella. Apparently you got better odds from the small bookies on the concourse, and it certainly felt more like proper gambling.

I hope you had a great weekend, and check out my She Runs Windsor recap tomorrow!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *