Good morning all,

A quick recap of my week at York, and how things changed as the week went on.

Plus a selection from Goodwood tonight.

I do enjoy York, both as a track and, for Ebor week, a chance to catch up with friends that I haven’t seen in a while and hopefully make one or two new ones.

The crowds are back in force after being missing throughout the summer of 2020, and are determined to make the most of it. It’s great to see, in all honesty, although the Saturday crowd is a different kettle of fish. More on that later.

York’s pricing structure is to be applauded, again. A week of top-class racing for around £100 is value all day long, and other tracks could do worse than follow their example. Once inside, things are still reasonably priced, with good, honest sit-down grub for around a tenner, and if you’re so inclined, a decent bottle of champagne for around £40. So says bookmaker Rob Speechley, who hadn’t stood at York before and rocked up very early on the Wednesday with his partner. So, with time to kill, they hit the champagne bar at 11am. “I’m pi**ed before we get going”, he laments two hours later. A good start.

I’m in a new position as well -the firm I’ll be working for this week have bought another pitch, and I’ll be single manning on the back row in Tatts, taking their prices from the main pitch. I won’t go into huge detail about all the bets I take on the week, but business is steady all week long, and after two days we’ve covered the week’s expenses. Two days left to make a profit then, and we do, with results falling our way in the main.

The weather is kind too, with just a spot of rain on the Thursday at the close of play. We’re expecting it to hose down on Saturday though, and it does, just before the Ebor. From our perspective it comes at just the right time – 20 minutes before and it would have scuppered the betting on the Ebor big time. As it is, everyone has their bets on, and so we at least feel we’ve had four races before the rain takes hold, and business goes downhill for the day.

When you’re working, the races themselves are the only time you get to grab a quick drink, send a swift text message, or just tidy up your joint. As such, you don’t see a lot of the action. In fact, the first I saw of Mishriff giving them a thrashing in the Juddmonte was as he passed me at the half-furlong pole, as I’d been bundling up £20 notes into neat envelopes of £100 a time, ready for paying out quickly. I did get to see the tremendous Stradivarius -Spanish Mission tussle though, which sadly for my pocket came out the wrong way, but it was good to see the old Stradivarius back again. “See, I told you he should have been two’s on”, says bookie Paul Johnson after, somewhat tongue-in cheek. His son David has a different take on it – “he’s lost his marbles”, he says, looking at his father. I’ll leave them to it.

David’s back on speaking terms with me after I nicked a few quid off him on the Yorkshire Oaks the day before. He bet without Snowfall in the race, and as the money came late for Albaflora, I decide to have a tenner each-way at 7s with him. The lovely grey plods through the beaten ones for second, and I get a winner. “Have an opinion next time, rather than just waiting for the market to tell you which one to back, please”, he barks at me as I pick up. “You’ll be getting your account closed otherwise.” I give him a score back on a loser Friday to keep the miserable sod happy.

Our digs, as ever, are out in Sherburn, a few miles from the track. They’ve been upgraded a bit since the last time we were there, new carpets and the like. I sleep well at night in the comfy (if squeaky) new bed, although the bloke above me, deciding to stick his telly on to watch what sounds like a war film at 1am on Friday morning (with guns galore, of course) causes me to wake. “I say, old chap, would you kindly mind turning that down?” (or words to that effect) I shout through the wall, but to no effect. I reckon he’s fallen asleep with it on. It’s well past two before it goes quiet.

We make it to Saturday. Things have changed. We now have a crowd that’s not there for the racing. The football chants and associated singing start well before the first. The day has a different feel to the rest of the week. Business is no more than steady until the Ebor, at which point it does get busy, but as I say, the rain comes and that’s about it. My joint has turned into a dumping ground for empty wine bottles, beer cans and plastic glasses. (That despite there being a bin literally five yards away). By the end of the day, I’m soaked, have a sore throat from shouting, and I’m glad to go home. And it ought not be like that, after such an enjoyable week.

We keep going over the same old debates about how to attract a new crowd to racing, but if this is the (Saturday) future, the majority of racing enthusiasts, and indeed families, won’t want any part of it. I’m waiting for a course to be brave enough and have a Saturday fixture where no alcohol is served, see what happens. Do we then get the grey pound back, along with families who know that they won’t be in an alcohol-fuelled environment, and will feel happier bringing children along? Children who – you never know – might find themselves enjoying the racing, and become invested in it? Just one fixture. That’s all I ask.

Today's selection is Liberty Bay in the last at Goodwood, the 7.23. Essentially, she's better class than this lot, most of whom are Class 6 horses but she was holding her own two classes higher last month and simply looks too good for them. I'd have been happier at 6f rather than 5f, but all the same, I think she'll simply be too good for them.

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Good luck with all your bets today,

David.