A day at the Races

 Wednesday 30th April 2025.               A day at the Races

Today’s outing for the Lads was a much anticipated visit to a Horse Race Meeting , the venue they had chosen was that of Pontefract, a town in West Yorkshire, so not too far for them to travel. It would be a short train journey to the outskirts of the town and then about a 15 minute walk to the Race Course.

Our train arrived at Pontefract Tanshelf a few minutes after midday and we soon found ourselves in amongst a rather large crowd of young students heading towards us and then following us to the only off site eating establishment, that of McDonalds, not everyone’s cup of tea . However we joined the throng and duly awaited our ordered meal, finding a suitable shaded outdoor spot. At the moment there are 7 of us Lads here in Pontefract, those being John, Colin, Derek, Brian, Dave, Glenn and Mark, he is not accompanying us to the Race Course but has decided to visit the nearby Ancient Castle Ruins .

 

With the prospect of a rather warm and sunny day in store, suitable race going attire was the order of the day, in fact it turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures reaching almost 27 degrees, fortunately we were able to find a suitable shaded area to view the racing from and took good advantage of this.The first race was scheduled to start at Ten minutes to Two and then every 30 minutes after that a total of 7 races to encounter but we shall not be present for the final 2.

Now time for our betting arrangements, we have decided to put £10 each into a kitty and each make our own choice of either 2 £5 pound bets or an equivalent arrangement, the remaining amount will be placed on the first race, any winnings will be saved for a future adventure etc. So with our first bet placed it was settle down and enjoy the rest of our day.

What a joyful experience we had in store for us , the thrill of both winning and unfortunately losing, the anticipation of seeing our individual choice of runners competing over the various distances either 5 furlongs or a mile and a quarter. What Fun.

Eventually our day at the races here in Pontefract had to close, we slowly made our way back to the railway station in order to catch our returning train homewards bound. Just thinking what could have been if we had backed a few more winners.

Upon reflection I think most of us were Winners today apart from Mark, unfortunately his day was not so fulfilling as ours, but I am sure he has no regrets.

Cheers Everyone.