And it’s not just racegoers, there’s also the army of helpers who assist in the staging of race-days too. Our administrative team, in the racecourse office, doubled in strength last week when Lois and Chloe turned up to assist Naomi and Pam. Together they are answering telephone enquiries and packing thousands of tickets which have been booked in advance. We’re dealing with roughly four times the number of ticket orders that we’d normally have for the May meeting, so it’s quite a task. They’re getting through it all, so if you’ve booked tickets and are still waiting for them to arrive – don’t worry, they’ll be on their way very soon.
Out on the track, Gary and Martyn have been joined by Tim, Brad, Paul, Mike, David, Birdy, Woody and Tony – as they build fences, mow grass, erect signage and mark out parking spaces. Factor in regular appearances from Ros, Derek and Sarah and you’ll find that the racecourse team has expanded almost five-fold.
But we couldn’t put the races on without scores of contractors too. Today we’ve got teams on site from Field & Lawn Marquees, PSR Marquees, Dr Loo, Alan Morphet (who’s rebuilding a dry-stone wall we decided to knock down last week) and of course Andy Yool the plumber – who seems to be here all the time; I wonder if he’s actually moved in to the Cricket Pavilion in the centre of the course?
This morning we had a visit from John and Matthew, who work for Best Services, to reinstate one of several lightning conductors protecting the grandstand. They brought a cherry-picker with them which was really handy, because we also needed to wash the glass canopy above the entrance to the Louis Roederer Restaurant, which is really awkward to reach when you're hanging off a ladder. I gave them a bucket of soapy water and a sponge and they were kind enough to do the job for me - so now we've got a clean glass canopy and we're safe from lightning. Thank you bestservices.co.uk !
Anyone who stands still long enough is given a job. In fact, I really need to apologise to Emma and Ollie – who visited the racecourse recently to discuss their forthcoming wedding celebration at the races on Bank Holiday Monday. Having mistaken them for a fresh pair of casual employees, I was on the verge of putting their names down to sell racecards next weekend. Emma was good enough to say that they’d consider all the options, although I got the impression that Ollie thought they might be better off with their friends and relatives in the hospitality chalet.
So far no one has offered any help with this week’s selection, so you’ll only have me to blame if Moon Racer gets beaten at Stratford on Saturday evening.
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