PART III
DIARY – AINTREE FESTIVAL
GRAND NATIONAL DAY
SATURDAY 06 APRIL 2013
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The races are over. The Grand National winner, Auroras Encore, with his jockey Ryan Mania Click here to read my Grand National Day Diary Part I Click here to read my Grand National Day Diary Part II Having not returned to the
Winners’ Enclosure following the previous race, I had first pick of my
vantage point ahead of the Grand National.
I chose to stand in the corner of the Earl of Derby enclosure;
immediately next to the walkway gate, so had a prime view of the competitors
as they were led out onto the racecourse.
Following last year’s horse
fatalities, a number of changes had been made to both the Grand National
fences and the pre-race procedures. Four newly designed fences had
been trialled during the Becher Chase Meeting last December. Having proved successful, all 16 fences in
use today would be constructed using this new method. Traditionally the fences had timber frames
covered in spruce; this Festival the core had been replaced by a more forgiving
plastic structure before being covered with spruce as usual. The theory being that this allows the horse
to brush through the fences without falling as was previously the case. The height of the fences remains the same,
as does their outward appearance. This year the horses were
paraded prior to the race as usual, but not in number order as in the past,
but in the same order in which they had been led out onto the
racecourse. This was to prevent any of
the more highly-strung horses from getting more worked up than
necessary. The starting gate had been moved
closer to the first fence; which shortened the distance of the race by half a
furlong. This was to take the horses
further away from the cauldron of excitement in the stands; this having been
emphasised in recent years with the completion of the Lord Sefton and Earl of
Derby grandstands. A white chalk line had been
marked on the turf behind the official starting line; the Starter letting the
horses begin just before they reached this point and thus preventing runners
from getting caught in the tape and causing a false start. Although it hadn’t
worked in the case of Thursday’s Fox Hunters race nor the Topham Chase over
the national fences yesterday! It was
reported that a number of the horses today jumped the white chalk line as
their riders cantered them down to take a look at the first fence. In addition to the above
changes, the landing side of Bechers Brook had been levelled yet again;
course undulations had also been levelled out; a further ‘catching’ pen had been created; and ‘out riders’ (I saw three enter the racecourse via the ‘cooling down’ area gate prior to the
race) had been employed to catch any loose horses. With Paddy Brennan currently suspended,
Sam Twiston-Davies rode the top weight, Imperial Commander, for this father
Nigel. It would be Sam’s fourth ride
in the race and the first time he’d not been aboard Hello Bud. Trainer Martin Keighley had his
first runner in the race, Any Currency.
The
Starter called them in ... the 40 runners had formed an orderly line
stretching across the course ... they approached the chalk and the tape
firstly at a walk, then a trot, broke into their stride and they were off; at
the first time of asking. Chicago Grey
to the innermost of the field. Prominent
heading to the first fence were Becauseicouldntsee,
Swing Bill, Ballabriggs, Soll,
Cappa Bleu, Rare Bob, Mr Moonshine, Big Fella Thanks and Oscar Time. Two of the Donald McCain runners, Ballabriggs to the nearside and Across The Bay to the
centre of the course, led the field over the initial obstacle; the latter
then taking up the running together with the Richard Johnson ridden Balthazar
King to the wide outside as they travelled to and cleared the second
fence. The
third fence is the big open ditch; Across The Bay made an error here, as did
Chicago Grey further back in the field.
Balthazar King led the runners over the next two fences, from Across
The Bay, Oscar Time, Imperial Commander and Quel
Esprit. The runners were well spread
across the course, with plenty of daylight to see the obstacles; the back
marker now was Chicago Grey. Having
watched the horses clear the 6th fence, Bechers
Brook, the commentator Darren Owen announced ‘And they are all still standing’; this news was greeted by a
massive cheer from the crowds in the grandstand! Even I felt the emotion well-up inside of
me ... it was weird! All forty horses
then cleared the small but infamous Fionavon
fence. Across
The Bay was leading as the horses cleared the Canal Turn, closely pursued by
Balthazar King; behind these were Oscar Time, Soll
and Quel Esprit.
With an unprecedented number of runners still standing, further back
in the field three horses unseated their jockeys here – Treacle, Big Fella Thanks and The Rainbow Hunter; RUK’s Olly Bell being one of the syndicate who own the
latter. As the field set off toward
Valentine’s Brook, jockeys Noel Fehily, Denis O’Regan and Aidan Coleman were left rolled-up on the turf
in their wake. One of the Irish
raiders, Ninetieth Minute, was already tailing off. The
remaining 37 horses all cleared Valentine’s and headed to the next; where
Auroras Encore landed awkwardly, probably as a result of Oscar Time jumping
across in front of him. The 11th
fence is an open-ditch, Across the Bay led over this one, from Soll to his inside, and Balthazar King to his
outside. Just behind these were the
almost white Swing Bill, another of the greys Quel
Esprit and Oscar Time. The trailing
Ninetieth Minute was pulled up before this fence. The
first faller was Tatenen, who departed at the 12th
fence. Across The Bay led the horses
back over the Melling Road and on the long run to
fence number 13. Balthazar King and Soll disputed second, with Oscar Time close behind
these. There were 35 runners still in
the race, although Viking Blond was now tailed off and a few others in rear were
beginning to struggle too. Sensibly,
Adam Wedge decided to pull up Viking Blond before the Chair! As
an aside, Viking Blond is one of the ‘job
lot’ of 21 youngsters purchased in January 2008
by David Minton on behalf of Raymond Mould which included Astracad,
Sybarite, Batonnier and, of course, Sprinter Sacre! Across
The Bay and Balthazar King led over the Chair; Soll
made a bad error here but survived, unlike Colbert Station who blundered and
unseated the Champ, AP McCoy. Having
cleared the water-jump, a couple of the loose horses (I believe the culprits
were Big Fella Thanks and Treacle – one wearing a ‘single’ number cloth, the other a
chestnut) decided that they’d had enough and would head toward the
stables! With this intent they veered
out to their right, almost taking Across The Bay with them. As it was, Treacle ‘destroyed’ the plastic running rail when attempting to clear it
en route! Despite
having been hampered by the loose horses, Across The Bay still managed to
keep his head in front as they headed over the Melling
Road and out into the country for the final time. One of the JP McManus representatives, Lost
Glory, was pulled up before the next having tailed off; Across The Bay and
Balthazar King cleared this fence in unison, with Teaforthree
now in third position, and Oscar Time in fourth. Just behind these was Ruby Walsh aboard On
His Own, together with his sister Katie aboard the favourite Seabass. Having
cleared the second in this line of fences, Sam Thomas decided to call it a
day aboard What A Friend, as did Robbie Power aboard Joncol;
both of whom had tailed off. The next
to be pulled up was Becauseicouldntsee, before the
21st fence, which Seabass hit. Heading down to Becher’s
Brook for the final time, Across The Bay still held the advantage, from Teaforthree, Oscar Time and Auroras Encore; Balthazar
King having dropped back off the pace.
Imperial Commander was pulled up before this fence. The
leader made an error here, but survived; further back in the field both Mumbles
Head and Forpadydeplasterer made mistakes too. Weird Al made a bad error at the following
fence, the Fionavon. Across The Bay and Teaforthree
disputed the lead over the Canal Turn, from Soll,
Oscar Time and Auroras Encore. The
2011 winner, Ballabriggs, was pulled up before the
fence, as was Quel Esprit. Three
of the stragglers were pulled up either before or after the next, Valentine’s;
namely, Weird Al, Forpadydeplasterer and Harry The
Viking. On His Own departed at the
fence, only the second faller during the race; Ruby’s Grand National record
blotted this year! It was a very soft
fall and the horse was soon on its feet again. And
there was still no change up front heading towards the final Melling Road crossing, with Across The Bay, Teaforthree, Oscar Time and
Auroras Encore remaining at the head of affairs; Balthazar King, Rare Bob, Soll, Cappa Bleu, Seabass and Swing Bill were travelling in behind
these. Struggling at the rear of the
field, but still continuing, were Roberto Goldback,
Quiscover Fontaine, last year’s runner-up Sunnyhillboy, and Any Currency. Mr Moonshine had been pulled up before the
27th. Having
completed the long run towards two out, Teaforthree
and Oscar Time now disputed the lead, with Auroras Encore three or four
lengths behind these, and Cappa Bleu a further four
lengths back. They were followed by
Rare Bob, Seabass and Swing Bill; with long-time
leader Across the Bay having faded.
The leaders jumped two out in unison, Auroras Encore gaining on them
as they approached the last, which the latter flew but Teaforthree
brushed through; Oscar Time now in third position. Having
landed running, Ryan Mania’s mount led at the elbow and drew away from his
pursuers with ease and, with solely a loose horse (Tatenen?)
for company, galloped on to win by 9 lengths at the line. Paul Moloney
galvanised Cappa Bleu on the run-in to collar Teaforthree by a neck for second place. Oscar Time completed in 4th; with Rare Bob
claiming 5th and Swing Bill 6th. Any
Currency completed last of the finishers in 17th place. There was a small ‘pile-up’ at the last, where Mumbles Head refused, and Sunnyhillboy and Roberto Goldback
unseated as a result. Barry Geraghty was a bit miffed that it was described as ‘unseated’, as he ended up standing on
top of what remained of the fence because his mount had collided with Mumbles
Head with nowhere to go. These jockeys
are so proud and hate their departure to be described incorrectly! Here
is the full result for all those runners which finished the race:
And
those which did not finish:
No
horses had been injured, and no hospitalised jockeys either. The first casualties occurred at the Canal
Turn; where three unseated. Just two
fallers – Tatenen (Andrew Thornton) at the 12th
fence and On His Own (Ruby Walsh) at the 25th fence. NEWS FROM THE
STEWARDS’ ROOM FOLLOWING THE RACE: The
record of vaccinations in the passport of BECAUSEICOULDNTSEE (IRE), trained
by Noel Glynn, did not comply with the Rules of Racing. The Stewards found
the trainer in breach of Rule (E)18 and fined him
£140. WHY THEY
RAN BADLY I
remained at my ‘station’ whilst the
placed horses were led back down the walkway in front of the grandstands
before they continued through the gate and returned to the Winners’
Enclosure. Auroras Encore and his
jockey posed for pictures in front of the official photographers who had
assembled on the course; after which he led back through the gate to join the
other horses in the Winners’ Enclosure.
I
waited for a short while, allowing the queues to disperse before heading
across the walkway and out through the Lord Sefton enclosure
exit to reach the steppings below the Weighing
Room. I always find that if you are
prepared to weave through the spectators who tend to congregate to the
nearside of the Winners’ Enclosure, there is often room to stand on the steppings to the far side, opposite the podium. I found a space just in time to see Auroras
Encore being led away to return to the stables; but I did see the
presentation of the trophy and mementoes.
I
found it amusing when a lady standing with a group behind me made the comment
‘they are one of us’ referring to
the owners; because they were wearing tweed jackets! The horse is owned by Liverpool-born Jim
Beaumont, Scot Douglas Pryde, and South African
David van der Hoeven. All three are now based in Scotland. Jim and Douglas were the tweed-wearing
owners (they both also own a third-share of Mr Moonshine); David missed the
race because he was away on holiday. A
few days later it was announced that the 2011 winner Ballabriggs
had run his last race and would join Hedgehunter
and Albertas Run in retirement on the Isle Of Man. I
returned to the course-side rails ahead of the next race. The starting gate for this race was located in
the far corner of the track. The
stable lass had accompanied All The Aces to the starting gate; she led him
around prior to the horses being called in and pulled on the reins as he held
back reluctantly. The Starter’s
Assistant also flicked his whip behind the horse’s heels and he cantered
forward to join the others, sweeping around their outside until he was
upsides the front runners by the time he reached the tape. But
the problem was that there were two tardy competitors who hadn’t even made it
out onto the racecourse yet, Local Hero and Smalib Monterg. And there
was a third too, Le Bacardy, who exited from the
enclosure even later than these. Alan
Berry aboard the JP McManus owned Prince Of Fire had already turned to walk
his horse away from the gathered field.
So
they were all asked to take a turn and line up again; All The Aces’ lass now
leading him in on the wide outside of the field, although she did let go of his
reins a little early.
Finally they were off. All The Aces tried to plant himself, but
the stable girl grabbed his reins once more and two Starter’s Assistants ran
up behind him to crack their whips and finally he consented to set off after
the others; jockey Peter Carberry frantically
kicking the horse into action, although some lengths in rear. The main body of the field was led
away by Kudu Country, from Shotavodka, Changing The
Guard, Meganisi, Lyvius,
Prince of Fire and Makbullet. Having cleared the first flight, Shotavodka held a narrow advantage over the field,
although he wasn’t particularly fluent at the second flight. The runners headed down the home
straight towards the grandstand turn, clearing the third flight en
route. Shotavodka
continued to lead, from Kudu Country, Changing The Guard, Lyvius,
Meganisi, First In The Queue, Makbullet,
Prince Of Fire, Paintball, Jumps Road, Special Catch, Ranjaan,
Cry Of Freedom, Kian’s Delight (a very pretty
horse!), Canadian Diamond, Cockney Sparrow, Le Bacardy,
Smalib Monterg, Zarzal, Distant Memories, All The Aces and Local
Hero. The horses set off away from the
stands, towards the back straight.
Special Catch was a little short of room to the inside, his jockey
forced to manoeuvre his mount so as to remain on the hurdles track between
two short sections of the guiding rail.
He forfeited ground as a result. Shotavodka,
Kudu Country and Changing The Guard continued to cut out the running as the
horses headed up the back straight; there were no casualties at any of the
three flights therein. All The Aces
remained at the rear, and Prince Of Fire had dropped back through the field
to join him by the time they reached the far turn. Turning into the home straight, Shotavodka still led, from Changing The Guard, Meganisi, Lyvius, Jumps Road
and Paintball; making progress from the back of the field was Cockney
Sparrow. The long-time leader still
held a narrow advantage over three out, but a wall of horses had now lined up
to mount their challenges. Shotavodka jumped the next slightly ahead, but Meganisi then got his nose in front; Changing The Guard, Zarzal and Jumps Road were also still in the firing line. However, whilst Meganisi
was battling on and holding off his rivals to the centre of the course, the
filly Cockney Sparrow, who had been gaining on the leaders all the way down
the home straight, made her challenge to the stand-side. Having got her head in front she stormed
clear to win by 6 lengths at the line.
Meganisi just held off Zarzal,
to claim 2nd by a head. Changing The
Guard completed in 4th. Having met trouble in running earlier
in the race, Special Catch stayed on to finish 5th; with Jumps Road 6th and
long-time leader Shotavodka in 7th.
Cockney Rebel had finished 2nd to the Alan
King-trained L’Unique at Aintree earlier in the
season; the latter having won the Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle on the first day of
this year’s Aintree Festival. NEWS FROM THE
STEWARDS’ ROOM FOLLOWING THE RACE:
I
returned to the Winners’ Enclosure to see the placed horses arrive back. I was still standing on the steppings when the horses for the final race began to
parade in the Paddock. The Nigel-Twiston Davies’ runner, Pure Science, was drawn aside as
he was led along the path which entered the Winners’ Enclosure area. The vets examined the horse and, following
a discussion with the trainer, it was announced that he would be a
non-runner. The
horse is a chestnut with a broad white blaze, two stockings on his off-side
limbs, a coronet on his near-fore and a very unusual marking on his
near-hind; I can only describe it as a leg-warmer! In fact it’s a white leg-warmer on the
inside but a chestnut speckled white leg-warmer on the outside! I set off to the course-side rails before the
walkway gates were closed to spectators and was therefore in time to see the
Alan King runner, Wilde Blue Yonder, being led out onto the racecourse. The favourite was the Nicky Henderson
trained Tistory, a half-brother to Punchestowns. The
starting gate for this race was located in the far corner of the track; with
one and a half circuits to travel.
Then
they were off. The runners were led
away by Dance Of Time, from Orchard Boy, Quickpick
Vic, Monkey Kingdom, Purple Bay, Spitz, Tistory,
Avidity, Master Malt, Wilde Blue Yonder, Fair Loch, Dakar Run, Vago Collonges, Alphabetical
Order, Mister Pagan, Sgt Reckless, Killyglass, Une Ace and Caledonia. Heading
down the home straight on the first occasion, Dance Of Time disputed the
running with the Irish raider, Quickpick Vic. The runners passed the lollipop and set off
on the run away from the stands; Bryan Cooper’s mount now with the advantage
over the field. The
horses remained closely grouped as they headed up the back straight, with no
change at the head of affairs; Alphabetical Order was the first horse to come
under pressure and he began to lose touch as they reached the far turn. Around the top bend, Mister Pagan was the
next to feel the pinch; along with Spitz.
Dance Of Time had also dropped back through the field and was now at
the rear of the main group. Quickpick Vic led the
runners into the home straight, from Purple Bay and Tistory;
on their heels were Master Malt, Fair Loch, Wilde Blue Yonder, Dakar Run and Killyglass. The
horses had fanned out across the track to make their challenges. Barry
Geraghty’s mount was driven up the inside of Quickpick Vic, with Purple Bay to their right. In the centre of the track Ruby Walsh,
sporting the beige and black Wylie colours, was upsides as they passed
between the wings of the second last flight, but it was Killyglass
to the stand-side who swept past all of them to assume the lead two furlongs
out. Noel
Fehily’s mount edged to his left as he was driven
out; Ruby Walsh galvanised Vago Collonges
to close on the leader as they headed to the line, but it was too late. Killyglass held
on by half a length. Caledonia kept on
well to finish 3rd, with Purple Bay 4th.
The Alan King representative, Wilde Blue Yonder, completed in 11th.
The
winning horse had been won a bumper in Ireland last October when trained by
Stuart Crawford, the trainer of yesterday’s Mares’ bumper race winner, Legacy
Gold. The horse had subsequently been
sold for £68,000. It was his current
trainer’s first winner since mid-December! Whilst I was waiting for the placed
horses to be led back down the walkway, it was announced that Auroras Encore
would shortly be paraded in the racecourse ‘pull up’ area so that race-goers could take photographs of him
by which to remember their day. This
was a totally new occurrence, presumably a public relations exercise to prove
that the winning horse was none the worse for its experience; but a very good
idea none the less. In fact it was an
encore ... an Auroras Encore! So, instead of returning to the
Winners’ Enclosure, I remained where I was, the ‘pull up’ area being immediately in front of where I was
standing. Whilst waiting, Channel 4’s Rishi Persad decided to stand
on the Earl Of Derby Stand terrace to film a round-up segment for their Grand
National programme; however, each time he tried to record to camera, an
announcement would be broadcast over the sound system, drowning out his
attempts! A few minutes later Auroras Encore
was led out onto the racecourse via the stables’ exit by Sue Smith’s
Assistant Trainer Ryan Clavin. He spent a few minutes leading the horse
around before winning jockey Ryan Mania appeared and took over the task. A while later, Ryan the jockey handed the
horse back to Ryan the assistant; the latter leading the horse in the
direction of the winning post. Rishi did a further segment to camera, with the horse
grazing in the background; then the winner was led to the lollipop where one
of the official photographers took a number of photographs. I think three or four spectators also took
the opportunity to have their photograph taken whilst posing with the horse. Auroras Encore was then led back to
the ‘pull up’ area before heading
to the stables. It was now time for me
to collect my winnings; which turned out to be £8.50 ... an overall loss of
£1.50. Never mind, I was happy in the
knowledge that one of my two selections was a placed horse. Last year I’d selected both the 3rd and 4th
places horses, this year the runner-up.
Next year ... the winner? I then walked across to the empty
Parade Ring for one last time, spending just a few minutes before deciding it
was time to begin my long journey home.
I popped to the loo, always advisable before a long trip. There were only a few people heading
for the exit gate which leads across the racecourse as I picked my way
through all the discarded paper slips and plastic cups in the betting
ring. However, stewards were
permitting solely a limited number of spectators to cross the turf at any one
time, thus preventing the queue for the buses from becoming too long. I had to wait around five minutes before it
was my turn to cross the course. Having reached the two waiting buses,
both were standing room only; just space for a few more aboard the leading
one, so I was directed towards it and we soon set off in a clockwise
direction around the inner perimeter road.
Having alighted, everyone crossed the all-weather gallop, the
racecourse, then the Melling Road, taking care when
crossing the latter, as the coaches parked along its length were beginning to
depart having collected their passengers.
I then returned along the driveway to
collect my car; it was easy to find, having been parked in the row in front
of a cluster of bushes. I had taken a
double-packet of Jaffa cakes with me to Aintree; they were leftovers from my
Cheltenham Festival food stash. I ate
12 cakes prior to beginning my journey home; in other words, half the packet! Vehicles waiting
to exit onto Aintree Lane had not been queued back past the gate when I
alighted from the bus but, now, it was queued back to the row in which I’d parked
my car. I joined the back of it; a
steward soon signalling for cars to join the back of a second queue which had
formed further up the drive. I was now
in the right-hand lane, next to the golf range and camping centre. My particular queue was held up for a few
moments whilst vehicles exited from the golf range area in front of us. Close to Anchor
Bridge, coaches were being given the right of way if entering the line of
traffic from both the centre of the National course and from the Melling Road, the latter also having been used as a coach
park. All lanes of traffic having
merged into one, it slowly exited onto Aintree Lane; I was paused on Anchor
Bridge at one point; I glanced over the wall to see the canal – it was a lot
wider than I’d expected it to be. For
some unknown reason, I’d not imagined it to be similar to the Grand Union
canal down in my neck of the woods!
Perhaps it is because Anchor Bridge is of the narrow hump-back
variety. Having reached
the Aintree Lane, all traffic was directed to turn left; although a few
vehicles decided to turn around in the road to head back in the opposite
direction. It took ages to reach the Ormskirk Road traffic lights, as the queue stretched back
from there to the Melling Road. It really doesn’t help that all traffic
light controlled junctions in the area seem to be of the 4-phase
variety. Finally I was able to drive
up past Asda and negotiate the confusing (to
newcomers that is) junction where both the M57 and M58 begin; I recall a
vehicle travelling in the inside lane pushed its way into the outside lane as
I approached the roundabout, having initially chosen wrong one. I believe it was
19:30 when I began my journey home.
Darkness seemed to fall a little earlier than during my previous Aintree
trips; I must have been travelling slightly later in the evening. I was tempted to
drive into one of the motorway service stations, as a number have WH Smith
outlets, to see if one of them had a copy of FHM; but decided this was
unnecessary panicking on my part. I’m
sure it must have been published only recently, otherwise Choc would have tweeted the photograph of his very nice naked bottom at an
earlier date! It was dark by
the time I reached the section of the motorway between Stoke and Stafford;
for a number of miles chevrons have been painted onto the carriageway as a
reminder for motorists to keep their distance from the vehicle in front. I found these extremely distracting to
drive over; I never drive too close to the vehicle in front and they just
played havoc with my eyesight. I found
them dangerously mesmerising in fact; it was a great relief when they
disappeared again. They are okay in
daylight, as an earlier stretch of the M6 had been painted with them too; but
not after dark. The M6 toll road
commences further north than I’d realised, just south of Cannock; but I
suppose it has to in order to bypass the major connabation
which is Birmingham and its adjoining cities and towns. I noticed just one vehicle ahead of me had
decided to take the fee paying option.
If I’d been travelling an hour later, I would have been forced to go
via the toll road as, due to overnight road-works, the M6 was going to close
at 22:00 – it was 21:10 when I noticed the information signs reporting this
closure. In hindsight it
may have been better to take the almost clear toll road, as the existing M6
was in a poor state on this occasion, with lanes already coned off ahead of
the closure. Then, to add insult to
injury, just as the motorway was heading down to merge with the toll road
once more, east of Birmingham, cones and debris had been knocked across the
open carriageway of the motorway. I thought I’d
avoided everything, but then there were a couple of clunks as my car ran over
something; I was only travelling at around 60 mph but still didn’t see it
coming. Maybe the transit van ahead of
me had blocked my view; I saw the debris in the rear view mirror afterwards,
but still didn’t know what it was. If
damage had been caused to my car that is all I needed ... I was still paying
off February’s annual car service and really didn’t need further expense. Driving along
the unlit section between Birmingham and the M1 junction I decided to open
the window to get some fresh air; but it was so cold that in the end my teeth
began to chatter! I closed the window
again, but still couldn’t stop shivering; it took a number of minutes for the
interior to warm up again. Having joined
the M1, I headed south towards London; there were still over 60 miles to go
to reach my home. It’s such a long
journey when you’re counting down the miles and the counties ... Merseyside,
Cheshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire, Leicestershire,
Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and, finally,
Hertfordshire. There were further
after-dark road-works on the motorway near Milton Keynes. Once I reach junction 12 of the M1 I’m in
very familiar territory, as this is the junction I take when visiting my
younger brother and his family in Silsoe.
Fortunately much of the M1 is lit. I continued to
Junction 9, close to Redbourn, before leaving the
motorway and taking the A5183 which bypasses the village. I turned left at the first roundabout to
reach Harpenden; a right-turn at the roundabout on the Common saw me onto the
A1081 to return to St Albans. I arrived home
at 23:05; which was too late for me to make a coherent attempt at writing an
extended blog entry before turning in for the night, especially as I needed
to eat first! The following
morning I decided that I’d walk down to the local supermarket to buy a copy
of the Racing Post and to search the shelves for at least one copy of FHM
magazine. In fact I rescued four
copies! Having arrived
back from the supermarket, I spent the remainder of Sunday selecting
photographs for my website, before formatting them in preparation for
uploading. It took all day to complete
the task, with Monday evening spent selecting photos from Ladies’ Day. From Tuesday onwards, any spare moments
were dedicated to writing my Aintree diaries (this one was completed on 20
April 2013). Click here for photos - Old Warriors and Hall of Fame
Inductees Click here for photos - Charity Race Click here for photos - Choc Thornton Click here for photos - Races 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 Click here for photos – Liverpool Hurdle including further
photos of Choc Thornton |
