Blog – 11th October
Welcome to another blog from the team at Pontefract Racecourse.
Every fortnight, someone from the team will share their thoughts for your entertainment (or otherwise!):
- Managing Director, Norman Gundill with his trusty PA, Caroline who also looks after the hospitality,
- Accounts Manager, Nicola,
- Admin manager, Carol,
- Marketing exec, Alexia, and,
- Chief Operating Officer, Richard who is writing this blog
We are preparing to close the door on another racing season, but we have one final fling to bring you on Monday 21st October. And yes, while there’s some top notch racing on the programme – we have a Listed 2yo race (which even has it’s own Wikipedia page!) and over £130,000 worth of Prize Money on offer – we’re going to have a look at another of our Season Finale traditions at Ponte. The handover to the National Hunt team….
Racing under both codes (Flat and National Hunt) has a big following in Yorkshire and, as the Flat season is nearing its end, it’s always lovely to be able to welcome back some firm favourites from the jumping season. The team from Go Racing in Yorkshire are always particularly excited to get their cameras and notebooks out in preparation for the start of the ‘Winter Game’. And our Admin team get involved too – Caroline drives the car that follows the gallopers round and Alexia fires up the Socials with the latest news.
Pontefract used to offer trainers the opportunity to ‘gallop’ their horses regularly after racedays. But, as weather patterns continue to become increasingly extreme, we had to restrict racecourse gallops to the last raceday so that the track had a good few months to recover before it was needed again the following April. Initially we’d have 5 or 6 horses coming to stretch their legs but the word started to spread and trainers latched on to the fact that we allowed gallopers and the event started to take off. In 2021, we had over 50 horses using the track after the last race. This is after 70-80 horses ran during the race meeting! As demand grew, we’ve had to restrict numbers to allow no more than 40 horses to gallop after racing – with each trainer restricted to 5 horses so that we can allow as many different yards as possible to take advantage.
While some tracks charge for racecourse gallops, we took a different view and don’t have a fee. Allowing a racecourse gallop was one way that we could thank trainers for running a horse during the course of the year – especially those who might not ordinarily have had a runner during the season. If the trainer wants to make a donation to the groundstaff team, then that is always gratefully received!
And we’ve had some real superstars of the Northern jumping circuit grace the Ponte turf. Nicky Richards always brings some nice horses with G2 and Listed placed, Castle Rushen a regular. Brian Ellison’s Tommy Whittle and Eider winner, Sam’s Adventure, learnt his stamina from an away day at Ponte. Perhaps the best of them was Ruth Jefferson’s Waiting Patiently who limbered up at Ponte before his second in the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day.
So, to 2024…. We’ve already got 30 horses booked in with limited spaces remaining. Nicky Richards, Donald McCain and Sam England are amongst those who have already got their names down. Which equine stars will be making an appearance? You’ll have to join us on Monday 21st October when all will be revealed!