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2022 in Review

And so that was 2022, and what a year it was. Thirty-seven racecourses visited and reviewed (two twice) and just under 10,000 miles covered in doing so. We’ve faced arctic-cold, desert-hot and rainforest-wet conditions…but we’ve enjoyed every bit of it, even if we haven’t particularly liked a racecourse or rated it well. It's just nice to see the differences in each and every one of them. It’s a fantastic sport, and we love it (even if we are absolute pants in picking a winner).

Racecourses visited in 2022

Aintree - Ascot - Ayr - Beverley - Carlisle - Catterick - Cheltenham - Chepstow - Doncaster - Epsom - Exeter - Ffos Las - Goodwood - Hamilton - Hereford - Leicester - Ludlow - Market Rasen - Newbury - Newmarket (Rowley Mile) - Nottingham - Pontefract - Redcar - Salisbury - Sandown - Southwell - Stratford-on-Avon - Taunton - Thirsk - Uttoxeter - Warwick - Wetherby - Wincanton - Windsor - Wolverhampton - Worcester - York 

The 2022 2blokesgoracing Awards

Best Racecourse (on ratings)


🥇 Winner - York (the only racecourse to score the maximum number of ‘yays’)

🥈 Second - Aintree

🥉 Third - Ascot

Fourth - Hamilton Park

Fifth - Cheltenham


Best Small Racecourse (on ratings)


🥇 Winner - Hamilton Park

🥈 Second - Wetherby

🥉 Third - Carlisle

Fourth - Windsor

Fifth - Beverley


Most Pro-active Racecourse

(Awarded to those racecourses that actively listen, and have proved, that they react to customer feedback)


🥇 Winner - Beverley

🥈 Second - York

🥉 Third - Pontefract

Fourth - Newmarket

Fifth - Hamilton Park


Personal Favourites / Least Favourites

Favourites:

Favourites:

Favourites:

Cheg

Favourites:

Favourites:

  1. York
  2. Wetherby
  3. Beverley
  4. Catterick
  5. Windsor

Leg

Favourites:

Leg

  1. York
  2. Beverley
  3. Thirsk
  4. Wetherby
  5. Hamilton Park

Least favourites:

Least favourites:

Least favourites:

Cheg

Least favourites:

Least favourites:

  1. Ludlow
  2. Worcester
  3. Sandown
  4. Wolverhampton
  5. Doncaster

Leg

Least favourites:

Leg

  1. Ludlow
  2. Worcester
  3. Ayr
  4. Wolverhampton
  5. Sandown

Other Awards

Best pie - Taunton

Best burger - Newbury / Hamilton Park

Best Fish - Southwell

Best choice of food - York / Aintree

Best bacon butty - Pontefract

Best approach to a racecourse - Newmarket (Rowley Mile Course)

Best view from a Stand - Ludlow (Jubilee Stand roof terrace)

Best Stand - Ascot

Best Parade Ring - Epsom

Best Toilets - Ayr (Princess Royal Suite)

Cheapest Pint of Lager - Ayr (Tennents £4.30)

Cheapest Pint of Guinness - Ayr ( £4.50)

Cheapest Pint of Cider - Ayr ( Magners £4.50)

Cheapest Glass of Wine - Ayr ( £4.90 / 187ml)

Cheapest Entrance Price (excl ‘specials’) - Catterick (£12)

Cheapest Racecard - Redcar (£2)

And now for those ‘Not-So-Good’ Awards

Worst Racecourse (on ratings)


Winner - Wolverhampton

Second - Worcester

Third - Ludlow

Fourth - Ayr

Fifth - Exeter / Ffos Las (scored identically)



Worst Value for Money Racecourse - Worcester

Most expensive / worst VFM racecard - Doncaster (£3.50)

Worst Internet reception - Windsor / Worcester

Worst approach to a racecourse - Redcar (through a cemetery)

Worst choice of food - Worcester

Worst Winners Connections Presentation Stand - Doncaster

The 3 Most annoying things - 

1) ARC's £3.50 'fulfilment' fee on advance tickets

2) Racecourses that have adopted a 'cashless' policy

3) Racecourse's that do not permit 'standard' ticket holders to access the rail at the finish line        

Racecourses still to visit / review in 2023

Bath - Bangor-on-Dee - Brighton - Cartmel - Chelmsford - Chester - Fakenham - Fontwell - Haydock - Hexham - Huntingdon - Kelso - Kempton - Lingfield - Musselburgh - Newcastle - Newmarket (July Course) - Newton Abbott - Perth - Plumpton - Ripon - Sedgefield - Yarmouth       

2blokesgoracing is an evolving website and we may revisit those racecourses that we visited in the websites infancy as those reviews were not so detailed. We may also revisit racecourses that performed badly in the ratings to see whether things have improved, and we may also visit random racecourses that we enjoyed last time and wish to go to again.


Things we've learned: 

  • Newmarket has two racecourses (The Rowley mile and the July Course)
  • Goodwood and Windsor are the only racecourses (that we've visited) where the horses parade anti-clockwise around the parade ring
  • Goodwood, York and Newbury offer trips down to the start. Who knew?
  • Redcar is the only racecourse with a dedicated Stand for the parade ring
  • Racecourses are inconsistent in offering concessions. Some offer concessions for over 60's, others for over 65's. Some offer concessions for under 17's, others for under 18's, some for 18 to 22's. And some racecourses offer none at all. This needs to be addressed with one 'standard' concession. I may even suggest this to racecourses going forward.


Another thing we might do is contact Arena Racing Company (ARC) and the Jockey Club directly and ask them why neither of them has replied to any of the reviews at any of their racecourses that we've emailed them. Yes, despite having had several replies back from racecourses that we've reviewed, none of them were either ARC or Jockey Club owned racecourses*. Not even an acknowledgement of receipt. To us that speaks volumes... and that is precisely why none of their racecourses appear on the Most Pro-active Racecourse awards list. We just don't know if they are.


* Newmarket Racecourse (only partly Jockey Club owned) did contact us, in fact I had a very nice conversation with them, but that may be that The Jockey Club doesn't have complete control of them.  
Update: Since contacting The Jockey Club directly, both Market Rasen and Huntingdon have been in touch so credit to them. We have also had a response from Hereford racecourse, the first response from anyone connected with ARC. We still haven't, however, received a reply from Martin Cruddace (CEO of ARC). But we live in hope.

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