They once hung Dick Turpin on the Knavesmire at York. Now that same portion of England’s green and pleasant land stages some of the worlds finest racing.
But I just wish someone would tell the weatherman. In 2008 despite it being in August the whole meeting was washed away. A major highly acclaimed drainage project resulted, but it seems in these parts not even the forecasters have a clue what the great Weather God is up to.
Last year on Ladies Day they forecast a good day- the finery came out accordingly only for the kind of storm that would have had Noah calling for investors to hit the track as some of the finest equine fillies in Europe turned for home in the Group One Darley Yorkshire Oaks.
And for an encore we were served up more of the same overnight on Thursday. Nothing in the forecast yet a spectacular Thunder and Lightening chorus at about 1000 at night dumped 20 millimetres onto the track.
Heaven knows what we’d have done without that drainage work.
A week of surprises- Declaration of War winning the Juddmonte International with Al Kazeem only third a minor one, the victory of 40-1 shot Jwall in the Coolmore Nunthorpe one of Richter Scale proportions.
But something unique did happen at York this past week- not one trainer or jockey complained at all about the going- watered from the skies or the irrigation system!
Time for a lie down!
Mike ‘Keep your halo straight’ Vince