Day 33, Level 1 (Sat 11th July): Racing this Time, Rugby and Thai

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Apologies, this post is a day late! I didn't get near the computer yesterday. Here's why ...

The morning was a little slow (due to most excellent drinks at friend Cec's last night!)
Then it was off to Ellerslie for their first Race Day since lockdown. It was a full race card and relatively early start. What fun it was. Great to connect with everyone again, see horses in action, be amongst it all. No fortunes made or lost, just lots of laughs and great fun had. Loved it.

Evening was spent watching the rugby - Canterbury v Blues (C won) - while enjoying Thai takeaways - my first since lockdown! Can't beat Thai Village's Chicken Panang and Sweet and Sour combo. Delish.

I decided this would be a day when I didn't go near my laptop or desktop, so did the cryptic crossword before sleep and, even though it felt weird, thought I'd do my blog post next day. Which I've now done!
So it turned out to be a pen and paper day - a la racebook and cryptics!

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Racing This Time ...
Andre Neill, who used to present the races on Trackside, has started up a Facebook page posting live coverage of the action in the birdcage, winners circle etc - he captures the in-the-moment emotions at the pointy end of things.
The FB page is called Racing This Time and I made a point of going to meet him at the races with a view to doing an article for the Owners Bulletin about it. Now that Trackside aren't doing on-course interviews, this is the only way you can get a slice of the behind the scenes action on course, before and after a race - trainers, jockeys, owners etc.
It's especially great for owners, and particularly for those who can't be there on race day - Racing This Time means you can feel part of things even though you're not there. To be honest, it's nice to see raw footage of what's happening, rather than a snatched professional interview filmed by camera crew, when all the trainer wants to do is dance for joy, cheer with the owners and get the inside word from the jockey. There's always been a feeling that having to do a TV interview gets in the way. But Racing This Time captures things just as they are - the smiles, the whooping, the joy - with a short interview at a casual level popped in as and when. I love being in the thick of the action down by the winners stalls, jockeys' room and where the trainers congregate. Good stuff!
There are trials at Ellerslie on Tuesday and I plan to pop along to watch a few.



Andre Neill in action filming winning jockey Ryan Elliot for Racing This Time








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