Horse Racing - General

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In addition to horse racing, the racecourse also hosts events such as pop concerts, Hollywood stunt shows, hot air balloon festivals and circuses. Indoor events include computer fairs, craft fairs and antiques fairs.

**Prices**

Compared to the other major sport in the area - following Newcastle United - attending a race meeting is relatively inexpensive. Unless you are an annual member there are two main enclosures ...
...lot of information about each horse - its owner, trainer and breeder, its sire and dam, its sex, age and previous form and the name and weight of its jockey. This may make sense to more serious gamblers but really it doesn't mean all that much to me.

I used to always look at the horses as they were getting saddled or whilst they were walking round the paddock and bet on the one with the prettiest eyes, the swishiest tale or the cutest ... more

For most of my life I have lived less than two miles from Newcastle Racecourse. Somehow, I had never been to a race meeting until a few years ago when I managed to wangle myself an invitation to a friend's company's hospitality marquee - needless to say, in keeping with many corporate events, I never saw a horse!

At the next event I attended I actually managed to leave the tent (still clutching my G&T of course!) and saw a few races and since that day I have been hooked! I don't go to every meeting - probably just four or five a year and those of you who read my St Tropez opinion will know that a couple of weeks ago I went to the Ladies Day meeting.

As I've only been to Newcastle Racecourse I can't really make this a comparison piece looking at what you can expect if you go racing at other courses but hopefully this should give you an idea.

"The Racecourse"

Newcastle Racecourse is set in 812 acres of parkland in an area about three miles North of Newcastle called Gosorth Park.

In the course of a year there are 29 race meetings, spanning both the flat and national hunt seasons with prize money in excess of £1.3 million. The two premier events are the Northumberland Plate meeting (in June) and Ladies Day (in July). The Northumberland Plate meeting is more popularly known as the "Pitman’s Derby”, due to the great mining tradition in the area.

The capacity of the racecourse is 25,000 and, weather permitting, the Plate meeting is nearly always sold out.

Since Northern Racing took over Newcastle Racecourse in 1994 over £5 million has been spent to improve the facilities. This has included the refurbishment of grandstands and the addition of a further bars and food areas, new private boxes and a press facility. Improvements have also been made to the Parade Ring and the track itself.

In addition to horse racing, the racecourse also hosts events such as pop concerts, Hollywood stunt shows, hot air balloon festivals and circuses. Indoor events include computer fairs, craft fairs and antiques fairs.

**Prices**

Compared to the other major sport in the area - following Newcastle United - attending a race meeting is relatively inexpensive. Unless you are an annual member there are two main enclosures - Members' Club and Tattersalls. The main difference is that the Members' Club allows you nearer access to the Parade Ring, saddling enclosures and finishing post, whilst Tattersalls is further away from the finishing post. There are bars and food outlets in both areas however dress restrictions apply in the Members' Enclosure - no T-shirts, football shirts, shorts, trainers or track suits.

For most meetings the prices are :

Daily Members' Club Enclosure : £15
Tattersalls : £10

For Ladies Day the prices were:

Daily Members' Club Enclosure : £17
Tattersalls : £12

and for the Northumberland Plate they were:

Daily Members' Club Enclosure : £25
Tattersalls : £15

Children under 16 are free and there are discounts for OAPs, students and disabled as well as for parties of 15 or more.

The charges include free parking and whilst it can sometimes be a bit hectic there are plenty of car parks and room for 12,000 cars. If you don't want to drive to the racecourse, a free Hopper bus service usually operates on race days between the race course and three Metro stations in the area.

Annual membership costs £170 for single membership and £265 for joint. This entitles you to entry to the Members' Club Enclosure at all 29 Newcastle Fixtures, over 25 additional meetings at other courses including York, Catterick, Ayr, Redcar, Hexham, Carlisle and Doncaster as well as at other Northern Racing courses including Brighton, Hereford, Bath, Chepstow, Uttoxeter and Sedgefield. Reciprocal arrangements are also in place with Northumberland Lawn Tennis Club and Durham County Cricket Club.

**Facilities**

~Annual Members~

There is a Pavilion Carvery and Fish Bar which is only available for annual members. This offers a variety of hot and cold dishes as well as a carvery. This has only just recently become "Members Only" which is a shame because it was always my favourite place to eat - their prawn salads were delicious! There is also an Annual Members' Bar.

~Members' Club Enclosure~

The Gosforth Park Suite Restaurant offers a buffet lunch, along with superb views of the racecourse. I haven't tried the restaurant as at around £50 per person I think it is very expensive.

If you are not after something quite so grand the Members' bar also does hot pork butties and a variety of sandwiches which are much more reasonably priced (and very tasty!).

~Tattersalls~

There are three main food outlets here - the Picnic Basket, the Nosebag and the Family Food Hall. All offer a good range of hot and cold food and I can especially recommend the chips - just what you need to warm you up on a summer's day in Newcastle!

**Programme**

Official Race Programmes are available for each meeting. Priced at £1.50 they act as the Official Racecard and Form Guide, although you will find the same information in any newspaper that day or in the Racing Post.

**Gambling **

If I were a successful gambler I would be sending you all this from my island in the Caribbean rather than my spare room!

The Racecard gives you a lot of information about each horse - its owner, trainer and breeder, its sire and dam, its sex, age and previous form and the name and weight of its jockey. This may make sense to more serious gamblers but really it doesn't mean all that much to me.

I used to always look at the horses as they were getting saddled or whilst they were walking round the paddock and bet on the one with the prettiest eyes, the swishiest tale or the cutest smile - not very scientific I know but. as what I know about horses is generally not worth knowing. it was the best I could come up with!

More recently my strategy has been to pick a jockey and stick with him for every race - rather than betting to win I do a place bet with the Tote. At the Plate I picked Kieron Fallon (as he was the only one I had heard of!) and, whilst he didn't have many winners, he was usually placed and I made a profit of about £24 on the day. At Ladies Day I went mainly for Philip Robinson - and he had a very bad day!!

There are bookmakers lined up along the race course just waiting to take your money. Many have a minimum bet of £5 to win although some will also take place bets too. The odds quite often differ from one bookmaker to another so it's worth shopping around. As I'm not much of a gambler I think that £5 is a lot to risk on one horse actually winning so I prefer to do a place bet usually of £2 which is often the least that you can bet. If you can't find a bookmaker to take your bet there is always the Tote which has selling points on every enclosure. The odds often don't seem as good but there are more types of bets available to you there.

Some of the bets are as follows:

~Win~

With a Win bet, the horse you choose needs to win - if there is a dead heat you get half the dividend.

~Place~

Only the Tote offers you the chance to bet Place only - your horse needs to be placed as follows:

1-4 runners : no place betting
5-7 runners : your horse needs to finish 1st or 2nd
8+ runners : your horse needs to finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd
16+ runners : your horse needs to finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th

~Each Way~

This gives you a win and a place bet on the same horse - if your horse wins you will collect both the win and the place dividend.

~Placepot~

Choose a horse to be placed in each of the first six races - you can choose more than one horse in each race if you wish and you need to use a special Placepot betting coupon to place your bet.

~Scoop Six~

This is a bet on six nominated televised races on a Saturday - they may not all be at your racecourse. You have to pick at least one horse in each of the six races which will either win or be placed. There is a special Tote betting coupon for this type of bet and a minimum of £2 bet is required. If all your horses win or are placed you stand a chance of winning a large amount of money - at the Ladies Day meeting the Scoop 6 was estimated at over £1 million.

~Exacta~

In races with more than two runners you choose two horses to finish first and second in the correct order. You can also do a Reverse Exacta in which it doesn't matter which order they finish.

Other bets include the Trifecta, Quadpot and Multibet but each one seems more confusing than the one before - now you know why I tend to just do a Place bet!

**The Race Itself**

Prior to each race the horses are walked round the parade ring. This gives you the chance to check them out and decide which one you are going to bet on. Owners and trainers gather in the centre of the ring and they are then joined by their jockeys. Once the jockeys mount up they ride to the start - at this point you have to rely on the large screens positioned around the course to see what is going on.

Once the race is underway the screen shows the progress of the horses and there is also a commentator - although I can never make out a word he says! As the horses near the finishing post the crowd gets noisier and then with a thunder of hooves it's all over! If you are lucky you might have spotted which horse won - if not it will soon appear on the screen and be announced over the tannoy.

The winner and placed horses are taken to the winner's enclosure whilst the jockeys get weighed. The winning owner, trainer and jockey may then get presented with trophies before the horses are led away and the next lot brought into the ring.

It's then time to collect your winnings!

**Conclusion**

For me, attending a race meeting at Gosforth Park is the perfect excuse to get dressed up - wear that hat you bought for a wedding and haven't worn since and get dressed in as much finery as you can muster.

Horse racing is a very exciting sport - there's always something to see, whether it's the horses in the parade ring prior to the race, the race itself or just "people watching".

And as for Ladies Day and my newly bronzed legs - well, the sun shone, the tan looked fabulous - if only I'd been able to pick a winner the day would have been perfect!
 

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