Many people fail to realise that the North West of England is actually a little hotbed of horse racing, with the region boasting five racecourses, six even if you include Bangor-On-Dee in North Wales, which actually does come underneath the Granada TV umbrella if we’re being pedantic.
The tracks in question are Carlisle, Cartmel, Aintree, Haydock and Chester.
Neil Watson has been attending horse racing fixtures at the aforementioned racecourses for decades now, and is the ideal person to take a walk down memory lane with when it comes to looking back at some memorable North West racing moments.
Carlisle, the bigger of Cumbria’s two racecourses, stages both Flat and Jumps racing throughout the calendar year. Do you have any fond memories of any races you’ve witnessed whilst at the track?
I do know it's always been cold whenever I've been to Carlisle but I remember seeing Al Dancer as a novice hurdler in October 2018 and thought he looked decent, then four months later he won the Betfair Hurdle at Ascot which was nice to see.
I also remember seeing a Paul Nicholls novice chaser called Silsol win in heavy ground one November which he backed up with another at Haydock Park, he beat some old favourites in those two races too!
Quirky Cartmel is an absolute must for any racegoer to experience at least once in their lifetime wouldn’t you say? Can you recall the most exciting or eventful race you’ve seen there?
Has to be Better Times Ahead in the 1998 Chas Kendall Chase. All the ground that he made up was astonishing for a 12-y-o on that long run in!
Aintree is of course the home of the world’s greatest steeple chase – the Grand National. Like myself, you’ve been to a fair few, but which one of them ultimately gave you the biggest dose of goose bumps?
There’s so many to choose from, but Auroras Encore in 2013 had me going absolutely giddy.
I recall telling my much missed friend Nigel the Saturday before at Haydock that I liked his chances because for the previous four years Sue Smith's horse had always won a race in April.
Nigel was relieved when I text him to say I’d backed him at 66/1 in my horse race bets online. Tiger Roll in 2019 was also an historic moment, to be there was absolutely spellbinding.
You’ve been a paid up Haydock member for years, which ultimately means you’ve seen some of the best horses around race over both codes. Briefly if you can, what have been the standout moments for you?
Kauto Star's fourth Betfair Chase was a memorable afternoon when he rolled back the years. What an emotional afternoon that was!
Seeing Cue Card, Bristol De Mai and Silviniaco Conti scoring multiple Betfair Chase victories has been fun too, along with The New One who kept collecting the Champion Hurdle Trials that he ran in. All those results had a major impact on the Cheltenham races betting odds each season.
In recent times, Battaash winning two Temple Stakes on the Flat was nice to see too.
The Chester May Festival is undoubtedly their showpiece fixture of the season, and culminates with the Chester Cup. Who has been your favourite winner of the Cup down the years?
Overturn for Donald McCain was a poignant winner because we rarely get top class dual purpose horses and he was a real headliner for the stable and it was nice for the Cup to stay in Cheshire also.
Story wise Top Cees will go down in Chester folklore and I remember Graham Goode’s commentary in 1995 going "Up towards the line, to a mixed reception".
That of course captured the moment perfectly due to Top Cees being a highly controversial winner of the race.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 28th August 2022
