Sunday, July 01, 2007

A night at the races

I returned from Friday’s night at the races with a cold, blisters on my feet and a lighter purse. The cold and blisters were, I believe, caused by my pursuit of glamour despite the intemperate weather. The lighter purse was due to a number of factors, including gin, Pimm’s and having to buy my own ticket.

I don’t normally pay to go racing on the night before the Northumberland Plate – my mate usually provides me with free tickets. Somewhere along the line, we managed to cross our wires and he got me tickets for Plate Day itself. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to go racing two days in a row – especially with jugs of Pimm’s (or should I say jugs of fruit and ice with a trickle of Pimm’s) costing £15 a shot. One of my friends was determined to drink champagne because she felt her usual pint wouldn’t complement her dress; she saw the price of the champers and stuck to lager.


Jump racing is my sport of choice, so each time I go to a flat meeting, I am bowled over by the Munchkin-esque stature of the jockeys. I am not terribly tall and I did have 3.5in heels on, but these guys barely reached my shoulder. I wonder how many of them are the equivalent of a female size zero and how many eating disorders are hidden under the brightly coloured silks? I wonder if the thrill of galloping home ahead of the opposition makes it worth missing your dinner. I contemplated this as I paid for my Indian takeaway on the way home.


15 comments:

lady macleod said...

Oh dear, staying in for you this week.
You know I met Willie Shoemaker in Beverly Hills at Chasen's Restaurant in 1980. I am tall at 5'10" plus three-inch-heels and he barely made my waist! Very charming though.

@themill said...

£15! Thank goodness I'm not into horses. Enjoyed catching up on blogs while I've been away. glastonbury - it's the shortage of bog paper I remember most!
I'm sending you an email

mountainear said...

Never been to any sort of racing. Have I led a sheltered life?

Whispering Walls said...

Oh well at least you didn't cite losing bets as one of your reasons for impecuniousness. Drinks are such a rip off at races. The cheapest champagne was £60 a bottle at Ascot

Mopsa said...

What a colourful and glamorous day. Did you have a hat to match the 3.5" shoes? Did you wish you were on the track with the Grey Mare?

Anonymous said...

mountainear - get thee down to chepstow and cheltenham pronto !!

yes, you have been missing out, but make sure you go on a day [evening?] when you have to dress up.

Anonymous said...

eminem / winchester - sorry for the lack of sympathy, but surely the idea is to get the boys to pay for the drinks ?

Mutterings and Meanderings said...

Lady M, you must be very imposing in your heels!

@themill and mountainear, you don't need to be into horses to go racing - it's a brilliant day/night out regardless. Get yourselves along ...

WW, isn't that the truth! I am of the 'don't bet more than you can afford to lose' school of thought though...

Mospa, I did have a hat but because it was threatening rain (and peed down while we were queuing to get into the car park) I decided not to wear it. My neighbour says modern hats 'melt' in the rain. The Grey Mare often tries to beat the ex-racehorses when we're galloping on the beach. I reckon she thinks she was one in a previous life too!

Anon, as a believer in equality, I buy rounds!

Yorkshire Pudding said...

A flat meeting? Didn't they have those in "The Young Ones"?
NEIL Dudes! Dudes! Why don't we vote on it yeah? Right. All in favour of a smoking ban in this flat say "Aye"!
ALL AYEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Omega Mum said...

And the thing with jockeys is that they never get that celebrity status thing, do they? No WAGs for them (I guess it's because all those designer carrier bags would be taller than each happy couple..)

debio said...

It seems not all rained off in UK then? Good, good.

More about the races please - miss it so much, if only on the flat.

rilly super said...

if you think horseracing jockies are small, you should go for a night at the greyhounds M&M

Stay at home dad said...

You think that's bad, one cup of Pimm's at Wimbledon is £6... we had to club together...

Catherine said...

Hope you're feeling better now and that it was worth looking glamorous, despite the cold. Was it very smart?

Mutterings and Meanderings said...

YP, I didn't have you down as a Young Ones fan ...

OM, I have rather a crush on Ruby Walsh but he is a jump jockey and therefore of nromal height (and taller than me).

Debio, we got the better day - the Plate Day itself on saturday there was lots and lots of rain. the jockeys were returning very mud splattered as it was on Friday ..

Rilly, I wouldn't've thought a night of the dogs was your scene!

SAHD, it was nearly as much - three of us got three small glasses and a trickle each...

marianne it was indeed, I was in monochrome ...