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Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
And so that was 2022, and what a year it was. Thirty-seven racecourses were visited and reviewed (two twice) and just under 10,000 miles were 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 every one of them. It’s a fantastic sport, and we love it (even if we are absolute pants in picking a winner).
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
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
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)
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 £3.00 '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
Bath - Bangor-on-Dee - Brighton - Cartmel - Chelmsford - Chester - Fakenham - Fontwell - Great Yarmouth - Haydock - Hexham - Huntingdon - Kelso - Kempton - Lingfield - Musselburgh - Newcastle - Newmarket (July Course) - Newton Abbott - Perth - Plumpton - Ripon - Sedgefield
2blokesgoracing is an evolving website and we may revisit those racecourses that we visited in the website's 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:
We might 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 we've emailed them. 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 acknowledgment 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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