Hospitality & racing diary - May

31st May 2011

Great plans are always difficult to make happen and The Royal Windsor Racing Club horse "Kilburn's" run on Saturday night at Stratford Racecourse was meant to be just that, a great plan.

We think a lot of this horse, he has been a great servant on the flat and after his 23 length win at Plumpton a few weeks ago the excitement was barely containable.

However best laid plans do go awry and with Tony McCoy setting a blistering pace aboard "Street Dance", "Kilburn" set off in hot pursuit and that's where the plan went wrong, "Kilburn" stays 2 miles but not at 1 mile pace!

Both horses finished with credit but the run has to be put down to experience and we live to fight another day. Our sights have not been lowered just perhaps a little bit more race strategy is needed!

"Kilburn" returned in fine shape and with a couple of weeks rest looks very good for a race towards the end of June, just follow us on Twitter for up to date information, excitement and plans!

And talking of excitement we have our first music night this Monday 6th June - South Africa Night and a wonderful start to our music season as the South African Singers join us for a post racing concert!

The first race is at 6.15 - come racing!

We still have limited Racing Hospitality packages available for 13th June - The Sausage Festival, call Matthew on 01753 498442 for more information on Royal Windsor Racecourse Hospitality suites and packages.

You can follow windsorraces on Twitter and Facebook.

25th May 2011

The Cobra Beer Curry Festival in association with the Maidenhead Advertiser.

The Curry Festival arrived at Royal Windsor Racecourse on Monday night and despite strong winds over 4500 people attended.

Local curry houses, Cumin & Coriander of Windsor, Emperor of India of Bray Wick, Zaman of Datchet, Cookham Tandoori , Mealbox.com and Lemon Grass of Maidenhead lined up side by side for the first ever Cobra Beer Curry Festival .

The evening kicked off with a fun Poppadom Race over ½ furlong and there was drama at the finish when the winning runner from Zaman of Datchet was disqualified after a stewards enquiry!

He crossed the line some way clear however forgot that he needed to have at least some poppadoms at the finish line, Nivraj Jassar (JJ) of Cumin & Coriander was therefore promoted to first place!

With the Curry Festival then in full swing racegoers were treated to hot delights such as Karahi Chicken (Cumin & Coriander), Lamb Balti (Lemon Grass) and Chicken Lucknowii (Cookham Tandoori) and competition was fierce as the curry houses offered free samples to entice the racegoers to vote.

Mealbox.com put up a tremendous fight and were still serving long after voting had finished, but the night belonged to the Cookham Tandoori, a Spice Merchant Restaurant, who held off the challenge of Lemon Grass of Maidenhead to win by just over 40 points.

Pictured on the podium collecting the trophy and the title of Cobra Beer Curry Festival Royal Windsor Racecourse are Bashir Islam, Aysha Islam, Hasan Choudhoury, Ashique Ahmed, Danish Singh and Pandav Methu.

Aysha Islam was delighted and during her post win interview said "We are very pleased to have won and feel that all our hard work paid off" she also paid tribute to the Cobra Beer Curry Festival and hoped that it would become an annual event.

Matthew Foxton-Duffy of Royal Windsor Racecourse said "what a fantastic event, these restaurants have worked so hard and come together to not only help each other but provide a truly diverse range of curries for racegoers, they have served over 2,000 portions of curry tonight! My favorite was the Lamb Balti but my lasting memory has to be the sight of Poppadoms flying in all directions down the finishing straight!!"

The Maidenhead Advertiser have supported the event and I really hope that we can bring the Curry Festival back next year - even the hospitality suites had a special curry menu!

13th May 2011

With Royal Windsor Racing Club horse "Kilburn" winning at Plumpton on Sunday by 23 Lengths the mood was very good around the racecourse on Monday night. It was his first run over hurdles and what a display, the headache is now where to go with him next. I think "Moose's" banter with Alan Brazil on Talksport that he heads for Cheltenham may be a little ambitious but what a revelation and fantastic news for Royal Windsor Racecourse's own club!

There was a very good crowd at the racecourse on Monday and the big trainers were out in force. Luca Cumani a notable attendee and a very good pointer of expectation for his horse "Alkimos" ridden by Kieron Fallon who duly justified favouritism to win by 1 ½ lengths at 4/6 on.

The feature race on the card- The sportingbet.com Stakes (Registered As The Royal Windsor Stakes) (Listed Race)- was won in some style by "Side Glance" for Andrew Balding, heavily backed it went off at 4/6 on and won the race in a very fast time. "Side Glance" is very much a horse to keep an eye on and is an improving 4 year old.

Vestra Wealth enjoyed their first ever night of racing sponsorship and with 3 races sponsored the highlight was surely "Rees' Rascal" a fantastic looking grey gelding who won the Vestra Wealth Private Client Handicap by 4 ½ lengths for Jim Boyle at 10-1.

It was a busy night for celebrities, Eddie Jordan popped in, Mel Smith was seen in the Annual Badge Holders Enclosure and Bob Champion was in the paddock. We always love photos of our racegoers with famous faces so why not become a fan of Windsor Racecourse on Facebook and upload your pictures, we give a pair of Club Enclosure tickets for the best ones.

We next race on Monday 16th May, Royal Windsor Racecourse Hospitality is still available and the first race is at 6.00 - come racing!

You can follow windsorraces on Twitter and Facebook.

4th May 2011

Apparently Joe Cole was here on Monday, I say apparently as with 10,993 people enjoying a fantastic Family Fun Day that is difficult to prove!

The stars of the Barbados Family Fun Day were definitely Jalon Samuel and Sir Michael Stoute. Jalon travelled from Barbados for his ride on Sir Michael's horse "Adone" in the 4.25 courtesy of the days partners "The Barbados Tourism Authority"; he arrived on Saturday and stayed in the Macdonald Hotel in Windsor. Jalon is the champion jockey in Barbados and it certainly showed as he steered "Adone" round the tight bend as if he had been riding here all his life, unfortunately there was no fairytale and his mount finished a very creditable 5th.

In the first race there was high drama when Tim Clark was injured as he left the stalls but he still managed to finish 6th aboard "Rich & Reckless". The race was an apprentice race and Tim's first ride under rules in the UK. On getting off he was rushed to the medical room and subsequently The Berkshire Air Ambulance landed in the centre of the course to rush him to The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Thankfully Tim is ok and looking forward to his next ride as he cannot remember his first! All I can say is "how tough are these jockeys!"

Peppa Pig and George delighted so many of the children and were mobbed wherever they went, it's amazing just how popular these characters are and they really added to the family feel.

One of the highlights for me was the Paddock Lawn. I have never seen it so busy and never seen so many people tucking into the wonderful foods provided by the Barbados Tourism Authority - a real treat for all.

All of the team at Royal Windsor Racecourse worked so very hard on Monday and our thanks go out to all those racegoers that attended. It was really a fantastic day and to see so many people enjoying the sun and racing was a wonderful sight.

We next race on Monday 9th May, Royal Windsor Racecourse Hospitality is still available and the first race is at 5.40pm - come racing!

You can follow windsorraces on Twitter and Facebook.