Reviews of Carlisle Racecourse

REVIEWS OF CARLISLE RACECOURSE

Carlisle Racecourse was recently visited by Hilary Pavitt from Love the Races (www.lovetheraces.com) on our first afternoon jumps meeting of the year. Please see her article below.

Carlisle Afternoon Jumps Meeting

Wednesday 9^th February dawned a really �dreich� day (for all you Sassenachs it means dull, overcast, drizzly, cold, misty & basically miserable weather). Undeterred, we set off about 9.00 am hoping for an improvement but as the morning went on we really wondered if there would be any racing it was raining so hard but as we crossed the Border into Englandwe could see a patch of clear sky over Carlisle! Great, racing again at last!

The racecourse is very easy to reach from the M6, take junction 42 and following the signs for Dalston and the course is there about 5 minutes from the motorway. Huge free car parks right beside the road and very clear signage into the course. Entrance prices vary but �22 is the most expensive, under 16�s are free and Students & OAP�s no more than �11. Have a look at their excellent website for more information www.carlisle-races.co.uk they�ve got some excellent Music evenings planned this year so do have a look.

Carlisle like many other courses in the country have had meeting after meeting cancelled and this was their first day�s racing since November so it was great to see such a reasonable crowd for a mid week fixture on poor day weather wise.

We � husband Tim � and I quickly found our table in the Swifts Restaurant which Carlisle had very kindly provided for us and got settled down to see what the course had to offer. I know I often mention the race card but it is a vital item for a race-goer and I feel a course can be judged on the detail it provides within it. Carlisle�s is excellent! A clear Guide to the Course at the beginning of the card, together with a well written section on Making the Most of your Day. Clear and concise Quick Reference Guide to the Runners & Riders, good Track Facts and the Classy Tips were spot on with one. The Trendsetter Guide also gave 4 out of 5 race winning trends, not bad going! Where to Eat section was great giving menus on offer for each eatery and mentioning that Swifts Restaurant had spare tables that day.

Having studied the card it was time for lunch and it was a wonderful meal, thank you very much Yvonne and all your staff in particular Natalie, who looked after us so well. There was a good menu with 4 choices for each course, and it was hard to choose but finally we settled on a Goats Cheese & Caramelised Onion Tart for Tim whilst I had a Baked Salmon with Hollandaise & Cheese topping, both excellent! The main courses were no easier and we both picked Herb Crusted Haddock Fillet � I love fish! Being boring we both selected the cheese slate for desert. Later on in the day there was a huge tea laid out, delicious sandwiches, two or three huge homemade cakes, fresh scones jam & cream and a never ending supply of hot tea & coffee. Superb food, thank you Carlisle.

On a good summers day the setting is lovely, great views down towards the Fells of the Lake District, even on a dull day the setting is better than many. There is good viewing with only a short section behind the new water storage pond you can�t see, but with the now normal big screen you actually miss nothing. Carlisle is another duel purpose course (both jumping & flat racing) and Wednesday was a jumps day. It�s a fairly testing course with a stamina sapping climb towards the last 4 fences and with the bottomless conditions the requirements for the horses were bog loving stayers! If a horse stays here under any conditions it�s good, but in the heavy I reckon it�ll stay anywhere! Despite the severely testing conditions we had a couple of really close finishes and some excellent racing. Tim and I both managed a winner each, but I was too busy chatting to get a bet on a very good place at 50/1�.. won�t happen again! I was very torn before the 3.20 Pertemps Handicap Hurdle as Knockara Beau was running, every time I�ve watched him I�ve backed him and he�s won so I just had to stick with him. Also running was Sa Suffit who�s trained by James Ewart and looked after by a lovely young lady called Claire Milne whom you�ll be hearing much more about soon!

The layout of Carlisle is very punter friendly with easy access to all the facilities which are well signposted. It�s very easy to get close to the action along the rail, there is plenty of space around the parade ring/winners enclosure and if you want you can also get fairly close to the saddling boxes and pre-parade ring. Lots of cover from the elements in the Grandstand and the Tote stand which looks down over the winning post. Once again the ground staff do an excellent job the whole area was spotless, as were all of the toilets I visited�!

Put Carlisle on your list of �Places to Visit� it�s friendly, the racing�s great and it�s really easy to get to. Thank you Carlisle for a great day, a superb lunch and a good winner or two!