SIMON NOTT: Let The Train Take The Strain

I’m told that in the halcyon days of the betting ring and racecourse attendance that ‘racing specials’ were very popular.

The bookies and punters packed on to them, some with their heads in form books, others swapping tips while the hardcore getting into games of cards where small fortunes could be won, lost or cheated before even getting to the racecourse.

Even from my experience, I remember that professional punters like John The Beard and Eddie Freemantle would occupy the dining car of the Paddington to Penzance train sorting out their winners on their way to Taunton, Exeter and Newton Abbot.

The days of the first paragraph are long gone and this one is a fading memory.

The train is still a great way to get to the races, most courses still have stations near enough to make it viable with timetables to suit. That is of course, if everything runs smoothly.

Talking of which. My timetable for last week was a fun but busy one. It started with what should have been a door-to-door seven hours or so from Witheridge to our digs in York with a train from Tiverton, changing at Paddington then a connection at King’s Cross direct to York. All was going well, the first leg was a relaxing one, the Tube the same. I knew something was up when I got to King’s Cross to see a packed station with people gazing up at the screen’s open-mouthed.

Every train north had been cancelled. There didn’t appear to be much support going on from the railways, apart from announcements that your tickets would be valid tomorrow. Handy I suppose if you didn’t have to be anywhere today, or had somewhere to stay. No talk of replacement buses or anything that helpful.

My luck was in, Star Sport’s Head Of Racing, ‘Inlike’ Flynn was driving to York from Brighton. I called him, he a very affable chap and told me that as luck would have it he was yet to get to the top end of the M25 so if I could get to Luton he’d pick me up.

My luck held, a fellow overhearing my side of the conversation told me that connections to Luton were still running from St Pancras. A sprint with a suitcase and satchel bore fruit. I just caught it, I was even luckier than it thought, after the train I was on they were all cancelled too. It was all because of a power failure. I don’t like to be mean and may have caught the station on a bad day, but Luton Station at that time of night was akin to a scene from Babylon 5, just under an hour was plenty long enough to hang around there. Flynn didn’t know what Babylon 5 was, far too young, but let’s just say I was happy to squeeze myself and luggage into his car when he arrived.

The four days at York was fantastic, I’d never been before but I’m now a huge fan. My betting ring reports can be read on the Star Sports website. Next up, five days of dirty grundies and other clobber were safely double wrapped and stuffed in my suitcase. I was heading straight from York to King’s Cross ready for a three-day trip to Ostend and Wellington Racecourse. The original plan was the train, but this time they were on strike, so it was Inlike to the rescue again York via St Albans and a taxi to King’s Cross.

Now, at this point, I’d like to point out that I have a very lucky working life, going racing and getting paid for it and don’t often complain, I also try not to price myself out of the game. With that in mind I booked the ‘cheapest’ digs I could find near the station. No, they don’t miss a trick when there’s a rail strike on. Regardless, I got there at 11 and was just happy to crash out, though the mattress apparently made purely of springs and an air conditioning system that created a noise akin to a cement mixer didn’t aid restful sleep, but the shower was nice.

For anyone sick of moaning, my first trip on the EuroStar was a very enjoyable one. I couldn’t find the fabled Champagne Bar but a £5 bottle of Prosecco in a plastic glass was more than sufficient to send us on our way. For the trip, I was accompanied by Kellvin handling camera duties and professional punter Andrew Lowrie.

The connection from Brussels to Ostend was on time and comfortable. We had a great time in Ostend, a film of our trip and a #BettingPeople interview with Belgian on-course bookmaker and betting entrepreneur Dieter Vanlerberghe to follow via Star Sports.

Racing was on Monday, then due to head home at dawn. Our taxi to the railway station from the Ostend hotel picked us up at 5.45am. The connection from Ostend left on time ready for our check in for EuroStar due to leave at 8.52. We weren’t overly worried when the train came to a halt, but it was Andrew who spotted what looked like the driver walking down the track and started his sentence, ‘I don’t want to worry anyone but…’

We had no idea what was going on but after round half an hour we set off again, at a snail’s pace. We were going to miss the time the gates were set to close but were confident that they’d be sympathetic to our plight and let us through. After all, it wasn’t our fault. Hmm, let’s just say those people employed at the gate were not for budging, even though the EuroStar wasn’t due to leave for another half an hour, we could see the departures and if we’d had first class tickets we’d have still been allowed through which was incredibly frustrating.

They did rebook us on the 3.56pm one saving grace, but as it was still 8.20am the train was still there, we weren’t over the moon. Anyone travelling on EuroStar from the continent, please heed these words, they appear to have no empathy especially if you are from ‘The Island.’

Anyway, we spent a few hours wandering about Brussels then checked in nice and early for our replacement train. It took less than five minutes, from check-in through security and passport control, which felt like the rub-down.

We got to King’s Cross on time, said our goodbyes and I headed to Paddington, ticketless, the advance, non-refundable ticket for the 11am to Tiverton Parkway I should have been on, lost forever. It was OK though, when I arrived at 5.45 I was in time for the 6.04, but hold up, they wanted over £140 one way in comparison to the £56 odd for the next one. Another hour hanging about it was.

I don’t think the railways use ‘Let The Train Take The Strain’ anymore, I’m sure last week was an exception….

SIMON NOTT

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Views of authors do not necessarily represent views of Star Sports Bookmakers.

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Simon Nott is author of: Skint Mob! Tales from the Betting Ring
available on Kindle CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

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