Remember wedding anniversary: tick. Arrange suitable celebratory event: tick; we were going to see Jools Holland at a Newmarket races music night. Ensure good weather: oh dear!
After weeks of dry weather with lots of sun we finally got what the farmers have been asking for this week. First the splendid Histon + Impington open gardens event was rained off last Sunday. And yesterday it started raining in the middle of the afternoon and just went on and on. So it wasn’t a matter of alfresco dining but of huddling under umbrellas at Newmarket.
I’m not what you’d call a regular race goer. I like the occasion but I’m a little to risk averse when it comes to my own money to get much of a buzz from betting. However I do go sometimes. Way back in the 70s I remember a splendid afternoon at Chester Races with old school friend Wicked Uncle John (that’s my kids’ uncle not mine) when we financed an afternoon drinking Guinness with modest winnings and a successful forecast on the last race.
Since then I’ve been to racing in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Dallas, Ascot and Cottenham. That’s a nice eclectic mix. And so last night it was off to Newmarket.
Despite the rain it was splendid. Or perhaps because of the rain. No doubt many people stayed away so there were no queues, the stewards were helpful and order was maintained. And because of the rain you could argue that there was something special in the display of umbrellas. We got to sit in the grandstand, we’d actually splashed out on the Premier Enclosure, we place some bets and we dined at Mozart’s Bistro.
Mozart’s Bistro would have been a pleasure on a warm summer’s evening. Last night it was a little drafty. However it has an elegant canvas sail roof and we sat away from the prevailing wind so remained dry. The service was prompt, cheerful and efficient. Can’t complain about that.
It’s not exactly haute cuisine although portion sizes are small indicating some pretension. We started with gravadlax (note to self: don’t expect to be bowled over by gravadlax in the UK; if you’ve tried it in Sweden you’re going to be disappointed), which tasted more smoked than marinated, and duck. Then we both had rump of lamb. Full marks to Mozart’s for asking us how we wanted the lamb but it was a digital choice between pink and not pink. I chose the pink and it was fine. The wife went for the not pink she said afterwards that she should have remembered that in the UK not pink really does mean not pink.
There seemed to be a good if not inexpensive wine list but a disappointing choice by the glass: house wine only. However both the white ‘French chardonnay’ and the red ‘French Shiraz’ were fine. All in all not a disappointment.
The racing itself was fun to watch. The horses thundered, the punters cheered and celebrated and the favourites, by and large, seemed to win. This put paid to my sophisticated betting strategy: bet each way on second favourites. That’s fine if they occasionally win. Not so good if all you’re picking up is place winnings at modest odds. So we ended up £11 down on the night.
Jools Holland came on at about 9.30 and played for an hour or so. His orchestra was splendid with the brass much in evidence. There were 3 vocalists: Louise Marshall, ‘special guest’ Sandie Shaw and ‘queen of boogie’ Ruby Turner.
Sandie Shaw must be the wrong side of 60, I was at uni when she won Eurovision with ‘Puppet’, but she dressed like she would have done in her heyday. From a distance she looked pretty good. Her medley of 4 songs included a dreadful dirge-like rendition of Puppet but finished with a rousing ‘Always something there to remind me’.
But star of the night and the big take away for me was Ruby Turner. Ruby’s got a big voice and worked really well with the orchestra. Despite the rain and the umbrellas the crowd was bopping on the grass as Ruby sang. And Jools as ever was enthusisatic about everything including te rain.
Great evening; Newmarket music is to be recommended. and 2 ticks out of 3 isn’t bad.
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