DAVID CARR

Weblog: What do you mean the Wi-Fi doesn't work? The life of a Racing Post reporter

Sun, speedos and an unusual question

Spring has definitely sprung, in North Yorkshire at least. After months of snow, frost and rain, the word 'firm' came out of hibernation and appeared in the official going description at Catterick.

Now, we are not talking about sweltering temperatures and racegoers turning up in shorts and bikinis - or not this racegoer anyway. Though it was a much easier afternoon for trainer Micky Hammond, who has so far raised £3,500 by wearing short trousers every day since November and who joked that he was going to turn up in Speedos through June, July and August.

And there it was in black and white - good, good to firm in places. The sun shone throughout and it must be spring as this was the last jump meeting of season - next time we come here for jumping we will have set off after opening the first window of our Advent calendars. I mean, after watching our children do so. Of course.

It might be a slightly more exciting card that day than this decidedly low-key programme, which was as exhilarating as you might expect when the seven races carry just £23,000 prize-money between them.

But I did get asked one of the more unusual questions I have ever faced in the course of this job. An older racegoer, who introduced himself as the father of former jump jockey Martin Foster, said he had seen my name and picture in thePost and had long wondered if I was any relation to Frank Carr, who used to train in these parts.

I had to disappoint him - I was born and bred 200 miles away in Sussex. Into a non-racing family. Older hands in the press room related that Carr was a decent trainer, winner of a Royal Hunt Cup and a Lincoln before heading off to Hong Kong. I just wonder what he looked like if my byline picture encouraged the notion that we might be related.

One for the 'What are the chances of that?' category was the double that James Reveley rode on his 21st birthday. They scored at 100-30 and 4-1 so the combined
odds came to 21-1 - okay, mathematically it works out at 20 2/3-1 but I don't think it is massaging the truth to round it up to the nearest whole number, just to make for a good story.

Nothing new to report on the food front in the press room - sandwiches followed by cake and cream scones is clearly a winning formula.