A day at the races!

Sophie had to be at her manager's house again today and the plan was for her to drive along the A14 to Thrapston herself, but it was a rotten morning with heavy rain and dark skies and the road was very busy with a steady procession of lorries. I felt much better giving her a lift and as she had to be there for 6am I was relieved that she agreed. The sun is certainly not showing its face until much later now, which is an unpleasant reminder that winter will soon be upon us!

I was going to go back to bed when I got home, but I stayed up and had two lovely coffees. Sophie texted me to say they'd arrived in Yorkshire at 8am so they had made good time!

Keith and I were off to Southwell racecourse today, a Christmas present from my parents which had taken us until now to arrange! We had a relaxed morning and set off at 11am on a beautiful country road that took us past Market Harborough and through Melton Mowbray, where Keith wouldn't let me stop to buy a pork pie!

This was a different route to the one we took when we went to the workhouse a few months ago and I did a bit of grumbling as the road was like being on a roller coaster! There were lots of signs advising motorcyclists to take it easy as it's a bad route for accidents and I dreaded coming upon a tractor or slow car, but we made it easily to the A46 and then the short journey to Southwell.

We had been given directions to park in the nearest car park and had vouchers for entry, a couple of drinks and racecards. We were allowed into the Premier Enclosure where we had been advised jeans and casual attire was not permitted...why then did I see loads of people wearing jeans?!

We had a look around, obtained our racecards and had a good study. For the first race we went to see the horses in the parade ring.

Royal Django

In the first race I picked Royal Django as he was a gorgeous looking horse. Keith fancied him as well so we placed our bets and went to watch the race from the steps outside the premier enclosure. There were really only two horses worth betting on in this race and the other, Orchestrated, won... ours came second but we hadn't bet each way so we received nowt!

While we studied the form for the next race we had a drink and went down to see the horses again. I decided on Utility while Keith went for Snapdragon Fire, but Red Inca won. Hmmm!

In the third race I chose Patsio while Keith went for Stormbay Bomber and he had an each way bet on the horse. Jaxlight was the favourite and it won, but Stormbay Bomber came third so at least Keith had some money back!

We had another drink and sat by the door which was a mistake as people were constantly coming in and out and letting it bang. One couple with a tray full of drinks went out but the woman let the door slam and the whole tray went over, breaking all the glasses. They thought it was highly funny to see the liquid and broken glass everywhere. One poor member of staff had to clear it all up for them.

In the fourth race Keith chose Double Court, as did I, so we combined our bets. To our delight, it won and Keith received £52 back so he was doing very well! I let him keep the winnings as we were planning on going out for a meal this evening!

Before the fifth race we went down to see the horses again and I chose Slaine which was the evens favourite. He was ridden by  Bryony Frost who I admired for going out on the horse and jumping the fences! I managed to get 6/5 so I would have received £11 back for my £5 if it won. Keith bet on Moidore which was an outsider and unfortunately this fell early on in the race. Moidore was really the only other contender so I thought I would be home and dry but I was wrong! Slaine came in last and the jockey actually dismounted before the finish and walked him home! Typical!

Sophie had texted me to say they were leaving Hatfield (near Doncaster) and would be home in just under two hours. I suggested to Keith that we leave as well and I just hoped that the horse Keith had his eye on in the sixth race didn't win!

We left and took the A46 all the way until we reached the M1 which was a busier route but a lot quicker. Just before we turned off the M1 onto the A14 a police car joined the motorway and slowed us all down, not allowing any of us to pass him, so there must have been some obstruction or problem up ahead.

We met Sophie at the pub in Islip where Sharon had dropped her off and she wasn't that happy that we were a bit late! The plan had been to pick her up and go and get something to eat nearby but we were all a lot earlier than I had expected. We decided to go home and freshen up and maybe go to a pub nearer to where we live. Keith checked the races and discovered that the two favourites in the sixth race had been beaten so he was relieved!

We had a drink at The White Horse and decided to eat at the Indian restaurant in Mawsley, for a change. We chatted about the races and Sophie's day and went to eat at about 7pm. The food was delicious and we enjoyed poppadoms to start followed by chicken Madras for Keith, chicken Dopiaza for me and a veggie curry for Sophie.

When we came out it was pouring with rain so it was straight home and an early night. I was shattered!