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DAVID CARR |
Weblog: What do you mean the Wi-Fi doesn't work? The life of a Racing Post reporter
Is this as good as it gets?
Isn't it funny how you quickly you get used to misery? How a spell in the doldrums soon stops you expecting anything much better?
So that this morning on the radio the weather forecaster suggested that it was going to be quite a nice day in the north of England, it would only rain a few times.
And this afternoon at York, when asked about the going a couple of jockeys answered with a positively upbeat 'not too bad'. It's mid-July and a grey day with only a few showers is a nice one - and good to soft, 'dead', 'tacky' going is better than we've come to expect.
In fact, the showers never came, though the overcast, damp atmosphere was probably a contributory factor to the need to start one of the ambulances with jump leads before the fourth race.
Not sure what trainer Dominik Moser made of that on his first visit - can't imagine it would have happened in his native Germany.
Though I can't imagine he was in a mood to get upset as the nine-hour trek to saddle his first runner outside his home country had paid off, with Gracia Directa making her dismissive odds of 14-1 look very generous with a tidy win.
Moser stood out in the winner's enclosure thanks to his earring - don't suppose that's a fashion likely to catch on with Aidan O'Brien or Sir Henry Cecil - and he also spoke very good English (thank heavens - German is not language much spoken in the northern press room).
Robert Winston rode the winner as Moser wanted someone who knew York, though in the presentation it was felt necessary to point out that 'he's not from Germany'.
Disappointment in the presentation for the previous 'Cakemark' maiden.
The winning owner got a cake stand but none of the sponsor's 'two-bite brownies' which looked delicious in the racecard - turns out they are only available in Australia and the USA (though that may have been just as well, as I bet plenty would have taken that 'two-bite' description as a challenge).
Today's 'What are the chances of that?' moment came at the end of the card as there was a dead-heat for third in each of the last two races. A real 'I was there' moment to boast about for those who stayed to the bitter end.
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