Are You Ready?

Everywhere I go, I’m asked the same question. Oddly, it’s never, “Jonathan, what’s your racing tip this week?” It’s always, “Are you ready?”

Of course they’re talking about being prepared for our forthcoming events – because ‘ready’, etymologically speaking, is derived from the Old English word ræde which meant to ready your horse. The word ready therefore shares its origins with the word ride – but I won’t be riding at the races on Saturday 28th May, I’ll be helping to make preparations for everyone else.

The word prepare originates from the Latin: pre or prae meaning before and parare which means to furnish, order or design. Parare also means to pare down – which is what Gary Sharp (Cartmel’s Head Groundsman) and his team have been doing to the birch obstacles on the race-track. Only when Gary is at work, we say that he is repairing the fences – re meaning again or anew. 

But what about you: are you prepared? Advance bookings for tickets must be made on the racecourse website by midnight on Sunday 22nd May, or on Ticketline by Tuesday 24th May. If you haven’t purchased your tickets yet for the Simply Red Raceday, it might be wise to log on now, as they are disappearing fast. Tickets are also available for Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra (playing on Sunday when we’re not racing) and the traditional Bank Holiday Monday race-meeting on 3oth May.

We can help you to prepare in other ways too – in addition to tickets, visitors to the racecourse website can purchase vouchers for packs of raw meat to place on their barbecues. The BBQ packs are collected from the Furness Fish & Game trade-stand in the Tented Village. We’ve also got vouchers for the funfair (£15 worth of rides cost just £10), Tote betting and glasses of Champagne.

There are still a few spaces remaining for tents in the racecourse campsite, but not campervans or caravans. A pitch for a two-man tent costs £30 for Friday evening to Sunday morning; separate camping tickets are required for Sunday evening to Tuesday morning.  So, if you’ve yet to find somewhere to stay, don’t despair.

Incidentally, the word despair has nothing to do with repair, prepare or even parare. Despair is derived from the Latin words: de meaning without and sperare meaning to hope. So a literal meaning might be without hope – a bit like Venturous in the 4.10 at Newmarket, my selection for Saturday.