The Old Gold Gazette - Press releases from the BHA do not scintillate with expression, however the content of the last one is sufficiently exciting for us.
11 Days
A future pub-quiz question will be: what was the special significance of the Longbenton Handicap Stakes, a 5 furlong sprint for 4-year olds and upwards, run at Newcastle on 1st June, 2020, at 1.00 pm?
Humdrum races at that venue don't normally stir the blood, unless by some compulsive disorder one has had a monkey on the favourite.
There are those that argue that the width of the track there makes the jolly the least bad option. Newcastle is not really a place to go, just go through.
The slow shunt across the gloomy Tyne is usually enough to make travellers stay on the train... I guess if you know the area it must be different, but what can outsiders do?
Refer to Get Carter, the unpleasant gangster movie, with its images of the mean Geordie streets of the early 70s?
Think of Gazza, perhaps, although he wasn't a local, having been born a full three miles away in Gateshead.
We know not to take coals to Newcastle but, bizarrely, someone once did.
Timothy Dexter was an 18th century entrepreneur based in New England, and he had some dodgy friends.
They persuaded him that a boatful of anthracite was the perfect import.
Dexter set sail, bound, so his associates gleefully thought, for ruin.
He docked during a miner's strike, sold his cargo at a huge profit, and set off happily for home.
Timothy Dexter Dexter was also reported - and we may be dealing with apocrypha here - to have randomly taken several thousand stray cats to the Carribean, arriving to find the islands rat-infested.
His caged, spitting consignment was swiftly traded for massive gain.
In due course the obituary included the aside that 'his intellectual endowments were not of the most exalted stamp'.
Dexter may have been stupid, but he was lucky.
He smelt the salt spirit of adventure and, with racing in the air, so do we.
At Old Gold Racing we believe there is no question he would have invested his entire wealth in the Georgian equivalents of Bob Pebble and Darling Maltaix, and are delighted to be able to offer you the real thing.
Anything left can go on the fav in the first race back. 11 days to go.
The Bridge of Hope Old Gold Racing is on the verge of announcing some charitable partnerships we've been working on.
In this piece, Paul St John takes a look at the first of these - The Bridge of Hope, and tells the story of its founder, James Fellowes...
Epsom Downs 2: Emily Davison
Continuing his Derby theme, Paul has been worrying over Emily Davison, the suffragette who died during the 1913 race...
Fancy a bit of Bob, or a dash of Darling?
To ask questions or just talk racing call 01242 650 630...
All the best, The Old Gold Racing Team (& Bob & Darling)