Chepstow

[jnunan4759]

I was curious to see Chepstow in the news. Not many people know about it but I have gone there on numerous occasions when I worked in Bristol, UK. It's in Wales and Wales reminded me of West Virginia because of the hills. One of the first things I asked was "Do you have coal ?". And they do.

Chepstow is kind of a small track and you had to wear a suit to go into the nicest part of it. It was my first introduction to the "Tic-Tac" man and I was completely freaked-out. I'm still fascinated by those guys.
.
The first time I went I got lunch, a sandwich. But they were like strange sandwiches, like cucumber. Not like ham and cheese. I had to sit at like a card table and was with some people I didn't know. Very nice, very British and they had no clue who was running except for the horse they owned. They brought me my cucumber sandwich and it had all the crust trimmed off the bread.

After the race you would go down to a paddock and they'd announce the first 3 finishers and everybody would applaud each as they walked them around with jockey's up.

I found out Welsh is an unintelligible language. Unless you grow up there it can't be heard, spoken or understood. You drive down the road and see signs and you just say "What the hell is that?".

All in all, I had a nice time there. I went back almost every chance I could. It was like going through a worm-hole, it was so different for me. Tons of jumpers. I also learned the two most profitable words in British jump racing, Martin Pipe.

[scanman]

I visited Chepstow on a racing/golf holiday some 10 years or so ago. Gorgeous day, which made the setting for the racecourse exceptional. Flat racing was on offer. It's a very undulating racecourse and races up to 1 mile are on the straight. The walking ring/paddock/winner enclosure in front of the grandstand is very well laid out. For me, it was a fantastic racing day out. Anyone visiting this part of the UK when they are racing should definitely check it out.

jnunan - sounds like you enjoyed your visits. Martin Pipe was a fantastic trainer and his methods were years ahead of his time. Today, his son David has taken over and does very well. If you ever make it back, you should go to Ffos Las racecourse (a little west of Chepstow). It was built on the former site of the largest open cast coalmine in Europe and is the latest grass racecourse built in the UK (opened 2009).

[jnunan4759]

Yes, I did enjoy it immensely. I had a unique opportunity where I just had to be there for months. I was free to go to the races any day and got to see Cheltenham, Ascot, Aintree. Epsom and Newmarket.

I really enjoyed Lambourn. I stayed there about 3 weeks in a room in a house of a guy I met in the pub. Horses everywhere, walking right down the middle of town, etc. Learned a lot about English training methods.

[scanman]

Originally Posted by jnunan4759

Yes, I did enjoy it immensely. I had a unique opportunity where I just had to be there for months. I was free to go to the races any day and got to see Cheltenham, Ascot, Aintree. Epsom and Newmarket.

I really enjoyed Lambourn. I stayed there about 3 weeks in a room in a house of a guy I met in the pub. Horses everywhere, walking right down the middle of town, etc. Learned a lot about English training methods.

Excellent! Your got to see some really nice racecourses. I've been to all but three of the racecourses in the UK (lived in Scotland for a time). I really miss going racing there. Fortunately, my ADW shows UK racing, so I get my jumps fix most mornings.