1st visit to Towcester

I made the journey to Towcester for the first time yesterday as I continue my quest to visit all 60 racecourses in the UK with Towcester being the 57th I've visited and after a rather drawn out bus ride from Milton Keynes railway station that took the best part of a hour through I finally reached my final destination and was very impressed with the outstanding viewing offered from the too excellent new grandstands at this Buckingshire venue and after a wander around the betting rind and parade ring I must say I was very impressed with what I saw.

The racing itself wasn't of the highest quality but this is Towcester not Cheltenham but despite the relatively low grade racing on offer the racing was still very competitive with several exciting finishes especially in the opening race with the TimVaughan trained My Oh Mount Brown just holding off the top weight and 25-1 shot backed by yours truly Val D'Allier in a titanic tussle up the Towcester hill.

The best performance of the day was undoubtedly the Emma Leville trained 6yo Clarok Cloak a 140 rated hurdler making his chasing debut in the 2m novice chase and regardless of the weak opposition there was plenty to like as he negotiated this very tricky track for a novice with a effortless 15 length victory. He may well be up to mixing it at a much higher level as the new season progresses tho the trainer did say he would not appreciate very soft ground so will bear this in mind.