The Coleraine Races

Yesterday started out reasonably warm, but by lunchtime the clouds had gathered and the temperature dropped. The Coleraine Cup and the Great Western Steeplechase, held yesterday afternoon up at the racecourse, attracted a reasonable crowd (by country standards). The racecourse is located at the top of the hill, before the descent into Coleraine.... so naturally it was windy and bloody cold.


I didn't bother dressing up in dresses or hats, though some of the women did. They spent quite some time holding onto hats, repairing hairstyles and shivering!

They had two jumping castles for the kiddies, both the little ones, and the bigger "let's get dressed up like ladies and freeze in strapless numbers" 13yo kiddies.



After consultation with me, Michael placed a few bets on some of the races. We broke even with the betting, winning some and losing others.

After one of the races, when we had cheered all the contestents over the finishing line, Mim decided to get into the act. The steward was cantering up the straight, so Mim called out "Go, Steward, go!" Got some laughs from the people around.

Some novelty races were held in between the horse races. Jemima entered the egg and spoon race ... and came last. Not that she cared! The race announcer described her as a "study in concentration" as she very carefully walked with spoon in mouth and hands ready to grab a falling egg (and no, they didn't think to preboil them!). She wanted to go in the sack race, but the spaces were filled before she got to the starting point.
on your marks.... a fall at the gates ....
a "study in concentration"

The Blokes' Oaks were held again this year. Usually, this is where they take a scruffy bloke, send him back to Coleraine to be "done over" and the one who makes the most successful transition is crowned. This year, the blokes just came dressed up. We had one of the local coppers and his son, a chef from London visiting family, a stockworker who was auditioned for Farmer Wants a Wife/Husband and one of Michael's students, amongst the contestents. Stewie didn't enter this year. The winner was a tie between the chef and another bloke, with the copper coming second.

contestants Stewie

The final novelty race was the Ladies Oaks, where the "lady" had to be transported by her strapping young man. They wouldn't let any lady under the age of 18 participate - I wanted Stewie to take Mim!


The Steeplechase was a good watch. Two laps of the course, 14 jumps in all. Just as the pack were riding past us in the first circuit, one of the horses stumbled and his jockey came off. Jockey was okay, he rolled twice and got straight up onto his feet. His horse just kept running with the pack, by the time they got to the other side of the field, the riderless horse was coming first! But something happened over there, we think the horse came through the barriers, because by the time the steward caught up with him at the end of the race, he had blood streaming down his front leg, and what looked like a piece of skin flapping against his belly.



And then there was Flippy to watch. Flippy was, well, a fish out of water. She was dressed for a day in Melbourne races in mid summer, not a cold country race day.

If you intend to go in public on a windy day, it is not advisable to wear a short flippy skirt. And if you do wear a short flippy skirt, you don't wear a G-string. I noticed her cheeks before I even saw her face. I made sure I pointed her out to Stewie, Les, Mouse, Plaw, Michael and anyone else who was interested. Didn't get a good shot of the skirt flying up, but you get the general gist!



I'm looking forward to the Races next year, maybe I can persuade Michael to go in the Blokes' Oaks?