Lydia On The Derby

Originally posted by Shadow Leader@Jun 3 2008, 07:01 PM
It was quite good but the Great Leighs slagging was disappointing, didn't think she'd follow the rest of the sheep with that one.
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SL - Lydia is spot on about Great Leighs.

I wanted to love the place as it would be a very handy track for me to visit, but sadly the place is exactly as Lydia describes.

The racing facilities for horses are excellent but as a venue for racegoers it is shambolic. That is pretty much a fact rather than an opinion to be honest.
 
Sir Percy won races over a mile and a mile and a half but he proved himself a champion when he won the Derby and that is why he had a block of mares queuing up for him.

If there is such a big que why is he only standing for 8k.
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Have to say at 8k he sounds great value though, precaucity speed and stamina. Having said that I haven't seen him so he could be crooked as .....
 
C'mon TDK, clivex, considering that everyone knows the place is still a building site, what do they expect? No, it's not especially pretty at the moment and having the stand in the middle of the track isn't my cup of tea either as I want to see the racing if I go but the big beef I have with the main criticisms of it (in general, not necessarily just from Lydia) are that it is "muddy". If you don't like mud, then don't go racing after two days of solid rain, ffs!!! I've been just as covered in mud from a day's racing at Ascot/Goodwood/Newbury/Hereford/Wincanton/Sandown....in fact pretty much any one of around 30 courses you care to name!

That, and the fact that not two months ago when they opened the press were falling over themselves to gush on about how wonderful the place is, is the problem I have with the complete U-turn and subsequent hatchet jobs the sheeplike racing media have done on the place.
 
C'mon TDK, clivex, considering that everyone knows the place is still a building site, what do they expect





I would say not to be charged £20 to get in and the ability to see than more than about half a furlong of a race!
 
I'd probably agree with that, however anyone choosing to pay £20 to go somewhere they know is a building site can only blame themselves! I'm sure nobody held a gun to their heads to make them purchase a ticket or persuade them it was a completely finished, swanky, mud-free zone!

The positioning of the stand certainly isn't my idea of a good plan but again, it is something all those who paid their entrance fees were well aware of - it's hardly a state secret that the grandstand is where it is!

We all go racing for the racing; by all accounts Great Leighs are looking for a different clientele, one for which the racing itself almost doesn't fulfill the main role. The [admittedly very small!] crowds attending most of Kempton's meetings do show that there are people who go racing for the social occasion, spending more time in the bar than anything else. The people you see there at the evening meetings in particular are corporate groups or largish groups of young professional people clad in pinstripe suits seemingly straight out of the office, more interested in having a drink and wandering out of the bar only to have a laugh and a giggle over the novelty of placing bets and comparing slips before going back to the bar to watch the race on the screens inside.

The idea of trying to attract this type of clientele may well prove to be flawed, not least as that sort of audience isn't as likely to attend regularly and the entire concept will undoubtedly alienate "regular" racegoers who simply won't bother to attend.

It's not my idea of a perfect day out at the races mainly due to the layout (and it being AW racing!) and the place is still under construction so still bit of a mess but I still feel that not only has the racing media has been quick to turn on the place after the gushing praise they heaped on the place after the first meeting, they have been a tad unfair in making their main criticisms that it is "muddy", then rounding on the grandstand layout they had previously admired if only for it's novel concept.
 
I like Lydia but no matter what the subject is she has a strong opinion -its always black or white-never grey.
 
In fairness that's not always a bad thing - I'd prefer people to state their case rather than sit on the fence and prevaricate.
 
SL - I don't think it is a case of everyone "turning" on Great Leighs. It was rightly applauded for providing excellent racing facilities when it opened behind closed doors. The criticism came when it had to justify the public paying £20 a head to get into the place.
 
I am sure anyone who read the Racingpost etc would have realised that the place still had a lot of work to be done. But I am sure there would have been plenty of people who went that day thinking its a new racecourse fully open for business.
 
Just read Lydia's article, another good one, perhaps a little over the top, but her comments about Great Leighs seem in line with what pretty well everyone who's visted the track have been saying.

She seems to have been banished from the printed Times in recent weeks, and only appears in the web edition,- that's a shame. Perhaps they could make some spacen for her on a Wednesday by omitting a couple of the seemingly numberless dross cards that make up so much of the sport nowadays.
 
Make that "what pretty well what some people who['ve] visted the track have been saying."

The media have utterly brainwashed this one - there weren't that many complaints; there was more praise for the track - indeed if you watch the BBC coverage the very people who supposedly slagged it to high heaven were praising it highly in their clips. Classic bit of selective journalism there.
 
I went on a private behind-the-scenes visit to GLs the previous week, and the place was beginning to look great - work going on apace both inside and out, where they were paving the bit in front of the stand for cafes, putting up a champagne bar on the lawns by the horsewalk/pre-parade ring, etc etc. If they hadn't had that 3 day deluge with incredible storms - we hardly ever see that kind of thing in East Anglia in summer! - the core at least of the place would have looked wonderful. Anyone there on the 13th May which was a sunny evening would agree. I have pics of the place the week before too, to prove it too!

In fact I discussed with my 'guide' [the press officer!] the possibility the grass would look very parched, as it is in the photos, and she said they had a big lake and planned a sprinkler system for the future, but meanwhile 'hoped for a little rain' before the meeting. In the event, the place was littered with pumping machinery, earth movers, red and white cordon tape, blown bits of debris etc - I'd never seen it look so awful, and I've been five times.

Sadly on the day, they had had flooding in most areas, and given the unexpected BHA demands had to turn the workforce to complying with them, whilst also trying to deal with cordoning off waterlogged grass and covering the worst of the walkways etc etc. It was a massive rescue operation with over 100 people inc all the staff and Holmes himself working almost right through the night.

I felt so damn sorry for them, and the press savaging from people who had no idea what had gone on behind the scenes was brutal. I've had a miserable time in the wet and rain at Windsor and several other places ffs - Goodwood on a wet windy day anyone?
 
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