Ron and I did a lot of traveling during the 1980's and 1990's. One of our favorite places to visit was England. We loved the people, the sights, and the horseracing. Over the years, we visited at least eight different race courses in England.
One track we never went to was Dingle. It's near the Dingle Peninsula, wherever that is. They have a short race meet, but also something I had never heard of. They have one day a year, when the tide is low, of beach racing! Yes, they set up a course on the wet sand at the beach. I would love to see that. One year the horses raced in six inches of water because the tides did not cooperate. Another year a horse threw his jockey in the paddock and then swam out to see. He was rescued and no one was harmed.
One of the most difficult parts of attending small British race courses is finding a place to park your car. Most of the small tracks are in residential areas of small towns, so parking is usually in a grassy field. You might have quite a hike to get the track itself. I remember attending Wolverhampton race course and walking for at least 20 minutes to get to the track. It was worth it, as we had a wonderful day watching racing, eating a lovely meal, and of course betting with the bookies that take your bets. Such great memories. Maybe one day I will get back there and have a chance to attend the beach racing at Dingle!
No comments:
Post a Comment