Thames Valley Police in charge of Uncle Sam's safety… unless they're too busy!
Plus a tiny history of UK racecourses and The Western Meeting Day 1
Firstly, huge congratulations to Thames Valley Police, who have positively the most stupid PCC ever not voted for. An American cancer patient and Trump supporter was confronted by British police and told to apologise for her online posts or face an investigation. Deborah Anderson, a mother of two, was visited at her home in June by an officer from Thames Valley Police. He told her someone had lodged a complaint about her social media posts. She told him she was an American citizen and a member of the Free Speech Union, and he should be investigating burglaries and rapes, not hurty words on social media. He told her he was there to get her to apologise to the person who was offended by her posts. If she refused, she’d be questioned down at the station. To make it worse, Deborah is in the midst of cancer treatment, including chemotherapy. She ought to be have been convalescing. Instead, she was harassed for her tweets. Thames Valley Police are responsible for guarding President Trump this week. What would he make of the fact that those same officers are visiting the homes of his supporters – including US citizens – and threatening them with arrest.
Outstandingly stupid, wrong, illegal, and costly. See the whole filmed interview HERE
Horse racing in Ayr dates back to 1576, but the first official meeting did not take place until 1771 at a racecourse in the Seafield area of Ayr town. This first racecourse was a mile oval with sharp bends. In 1824, Ayr's most important race meeting, the Western Meeting, was established and by 1838 it offered £2000 in prize money and the most valuable two-year-old race of the season in Britain. The meeting's feature race, the Ayr Gold Cup, became a handicap race in 1855 and is now [I believe] the richest sprint handicap in Europe. Due to the small size of the original track and the limited paddock space, a new site for the racecourse was eventually needed. In 1907, the course was moved to its current location in the Craigie area of town. The new layout was modelled on Newbury's, with the only difference being Ayr’s six furlong straight course, rather than Newbury’s mile. The former racecourse is now playing fields, known as the Old Racecourse, and part of Seafield golf course. Local road names Racecourse Road and Racecourse View also reflect this history. A NH track was added in 1950 and in 1966 the Scottish Grand National was transferred to the track after Bogside Racecourse was closed down.
Bogside was in the town of Irvine, about 14 miles away, In 1963, the Levy Board opted to cease funding the course, declaring; “When Ayr is developed as the main Scottish course, racing under both rules, the retention of Bogside cannot be economically justified”. Racing at Bogside ceased soon thereafter. The final Flat meeting was held on Saturday 19 September 1964, and the last National Hunt meeting on 10 April 1965. Point-to-Point meetings took place at Bogside until 1994, and evidence of the former racecourse can still be seen today. Eleven years later, Lanark racecourse also closed its doors.
By way of a reminder, and mindful that the ultra-left socialist elite will have taken over the Treasury by November 1st and created the perfect financial storm: here is a list of the racecourse that have closed in the past 100 years.
Aldershot: Closed in 1927.
Alexandra Park: Closed in 1970.
Birmingham (Bromford Bridge): Closed in 1965.
Brighton (Preston Park): The course closed in 1963.
Buckfastleigh: A course in Devon that closed in 1963.
Folkestone: Closed in 2012.
Gatwick: Operated until 1940 before being redeveloped into what is now Gatwick Airport.
Hurst Park: Closed in 1962.
Lewes: A course in East Sussex that closed in 1964.
Lincoln: Closed in 1964.
Manchester (Castle Irwell): Closed in 1963.
Newport (Trevella): Closed in 1947.
Stockton: The course, also known as the Tees-side Park, closed in 1981.
Towcester: Closed to horse racing in 2018.
Bogside Racecourse (Irvine): The original home of the Scottish Grand National, closed in 1965.
Lanark Racecourse: Home to the world's oldest continually run horse race, the Lanark Silver Bell. It closed in 1977.
A simple glance through that list suggests that something catastrophic happened in the mid-60s, leading to dozens of racecourses shutting their doors forever. This wasn't a coincidence; it was the result of a perfect storm of economic and social shifts.
Before 1961, if you wanted to place a legal bet on a horse race, you had to be at the track. This made attendance crucial for racecourses' profitability. However, the Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 changed everything. It legalized off-course betting shops, which began to pop up on high streets across the country. This new convenience meant that punters could now bet from anywhere, severely reducing the need to attend races in person. For smaller, less prestigious courses, the drop in attendance was devastating, and many couldn't survive the financial hit. Add to that the impact of The Beeching Report, which devastated a good deal of local rugby and football clubs attendances, and racecourse attendances dropped considerably. Worse came with the establishment of the Horserace Betting Levy Board, whose purpose was to collect a levy from bookmakers' profits and distribute the money to racecourses to fund prize money and infrastructure. While this was a lifeline for many, it also served as a sorting mechanism. The Levy Board deemed many smaller courses financially unviable, withholding crucial funding. This lack of support, combined with dwindling attendance, was the final nail in the coffin for venues like Lincoln Racecourse, which closed in 1964 after losing its levy funding.
For many racecourse owners, the decision to close was not just about declining profits—it was about soaring land values. Many courses were located on large, prime plots of land near expanding towns and cities. The money to be made from selling the land for housing or commercial development far exceeded the returns from running a struggling racecourse. Iconic courses like Hurst Park were redeveloped for housing, turning a sports venue into a suburban neighbourhood almost overnight.
Now in 21st century Blighty, another financial storm is coming, led by a Government whose policy is a product of doctrinaire socialism, built on unproven statistics and an unshakeable belief in its omniscience, despite a complete lack of real-world experience. If you’re having fun, or enjoying an activity that can be related to NHS cost burdens by some fragile and deceptive numbers, the Government can and will tax it out of existence. Then under the new proposed planning regulations they can buy the land and develop it with some “partners”, who recently invited the local MP to sample their 900 year “Try Before You Buy” scheme for a 5-bnedroom villa in Thailand.
Whilst we await the return of Red “16 bedroom” Ange on the arm of Andy “Give us yer seat guv” Burnham, let’s kill some time at Ayr…
1:45 Almins Vantage/Lallemand Magniva Classic EBF Novice Stakes Cl5 (2yo) 1m RTV 8 run
MR COLONEL, the odds-on favourite is too short… for sport only try ROYAL BARONESS currently 100/1 with Bet365 , 5/1 for a top 4 finish
MR COLONEL* ~ ROYAL BARONESS 3 pts at 5/1 for a top 4 finish.
2:15 Jackie And Janet Mack 65th Anniversary Hcap Cl5 (3yo+ 0-70) 5f RTV 18 run
NEVER DARK ~ LUCIUS AURELIUS 2 pts e/w both
2:45 Ladbrokes Kilkerran Hcap Cl2 (3yo+ 0-100) 1m2f RTV 13 run
Dutch HORNSEA BAY ~ DAIN MA NUT IN 7 pts ~ LIBERTY COACH 2½ pts e/w
3:15 BSSS Premier Series EBF Fillies' Hcap Cl4 (3yo+ 0-85) 1m2f RTV 6 run
AEOLIAN* ~ TSUKI 2 pts e/w
3:45 RBC Brewin Dolphin Hcap (Div I) Cl5 (3yo+ 0-75) 1m RTV 10 run
Dutch THE CHILDE OF HALE ~ POL ROGER 7 pts Win
4:15 RBC Brewin Dolphin Hcap (Div II) Cl5 (3yo+ 0-75) 1m RTV 9 run
EPIDAVROS 4 pts Win ~ PERFIDIA 2 pts e/w
4:45 Ladbrokes Hcap Cl6 (3yo+ 0-65) 7f RTV 14 run
CROCODILE POWER 7 pts e/w
5:20 Tennent's Lager Hcap Cl3 (3yo+ 0-95) 1m5f RTV 6 run
TAFSIR 3 pts e/w