You may remember this post which was my entry into the Ladbrokes Cheltenham Ladies Day Challenge which was open to bloggers. Well I managed to get the most votes and won two tickets to attend the races YAY!! So thank you so much if you voted, I really appreciate it! It was lovely to have the opportunity to have a nice day out with my boyfriend.
We did have a lot of hassle in the lead up to the event, unfortunately I got told the wrong date (I got told it would be on the Thursday not the Wednesday) so when I waited in all morning on Tuesday for the tickets to arrive (you know when you're too scared to even get in the shower in case you miss the delivery man?) My boyfriend had a phone call about a job interview for Thursday but managed to get it changed for Wednesday morning instead. I had an appointment somewhere I managed to change to Wednesday so that I kept Thursday free. As soon as the tickets arrived I opened them with huge excitement (A day out is rather rare for me and my chap at the moment, so it really was an exciting day!) and then I saw on the tickets it was on Wednesday instead. A sudden feeling of dread and panic took over, and after a nightmare of a time changing my appointment we thought best we'd just have to miss the morning of the event and go after Mark's job interview. We arrived rather late in the day and was only there for about 3 and a half hours but it was enough.
It seems Mark is incapable of pulling a normal face in photos lol.
When we arrived we walked around for what seemed like an hour to try and find out what the deal was, where to go, where to see things and just get a general idea of the place. Neither of us had been to anything like it before so didn't know what to expect. We managed to get a taxi with a young lad to the racecourse and he briefly told us a few things from his last visit. We didn't really know what our tickets enabled us to do so when finding someone who worked there and who actually knew the answer, we could go anywhere on the site. We grabbed a drink and decided to try and find a good view of the track but again walked around for ages as there was no fluidity to the grounds, it was all a bit everywhere. We tried to get into the stands (as you would after being told you could go anywhere) but turns out we couldn't. So we had to go to the outside bit and stand to watch the races, which was fine but it was really packed. Now sadly I wasn't brushed with the tall branch and I'm a proper short arse so like anywhere I go, I couldn't see a thing - Not even the big screen! It took us a while to understand what was what and where you needed to go to see the actual race. We got there in the end.We thought it was only right to watch one race, get a feel for it and then put a bet on. Try and figure out how it all works. I didn't have a clue and still now don't but Mark was pretty good. I just went for a horse with a cracking name, which happened to loose it's jockey and run past with no one on him. Mark put the next bet on and won £110! The next bet was not so lucky but no great deal of money was lost believe me. One man put £750 on a horse!!! I hope that horse bloody won for that man's sake!
I took my Dad's fancy camera with me in excitement to take lots of pictures but when we took it out there wasn't actually anything to take pictures of. You couldn't see the race course at all so couldn't take a picture of that. Which for that I was disappointed with but Mark took these pictures on his phone so I thought I would include them.
The people there was obviously the kind of people you'd expect... "Mommy and Daddy brought me a pony when I was born!!!" yeah ALOT of that! And ALOT of splashing the cash, it was an unreal thing to see to be honest. I just couldn't believe the things I saw... People walking around with LOADS and I mean LOADS of money in there hands like it was just causal. I walk around with £20 in my pocket and I feel like someone's going to pinch it, let alone walk around with a grand in my hand and wave it around! Madness. They were also REALLY rude. This is the thing that really ruined my day. People just barged each other out the way, shoved in front of you and no one said excuse me or apologised to each other. It was like living in another world it really was.
I didn't think I'd get the whole gambling and betting thing but when Mark's horse was coming in first place we both got really excited and joined in with the shouting and encouraging! It was rather fun! It was a really good day out but I certainly wouldn't pay money to go myself. It was an experience to see "how the other half live" I for one and am so glad I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. As for the horse racing itself, I couldn't see anything so I have no comment on if it was good or not. It was so nice to get out for the day with Mark, get our fancy clothes on and have lots of fun! I love days out like that!! I think if we was to ever go again or give a word of advice it would be to speak to someone who's been before so you know where the best place to go to is and you know what to expect or even better go with someone who knows what they're doing!
If you follow me on Twitter you'll know we had a lot of trouble getting home too. The train journey back to Birmingham is only supposed to take 50 minutes. We was on the train for 2 hours so obviously funny selfies was a must! The train was delayed by 74 minutes due to a signaling problem at New Street. I promise though it was a really really good day and I am so thankful that I won and got the chance to go. I did really enjoy myself and I'm so proud of Mark winning his moneys - pat on the back for him!Thank you Ladbrokes for this wonderful day out and all that voted.With Love,Sian xx