Salisbury and Surrounding Area

Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire. It is approximately 90 miles from Central London, 40 miles from Bath and 25 miles from Southampton. Visitors to Salisbury can avail themselves of one of the tours that are available and which can be booked on Trip Advisor and presumably in the local tourist information offices. Whatever you do, make sure you see:

Salisbury Cathedral
Stonehenge

The City of Bath is not too far away either.

I only had time to visit the Cathedral, but it was well worth my time, it’s absolutely stunning. It houses one of the original texts of The Magna Carta. The Cathedral itself is just Beautiful both on the outside and inside. I love stained glass windows and these are stunning. I had a really nice lady show me around and what she told me was really interesting. Really worth a visit!

The city centre is quite nice and has an open feel to it. Everywhere I looked there seemed to be a signpost to something historical. There’s nothing I can say about local accommodation, restaurants or pubs as I didn’t stay over and haven’t been here before. But I will visit again, maybe at Christmas time when they have their own Christmas Market.

The Racecourse

Salisbury host Flat Racing only. This is a right-handed galloping track with tight bends and an uphill finish from four furlongs out. Races over a mile or less are run on the straight. Races in excess of a mile are run using a pear shaped loop off the home straight. The uphill finish necessitates that horses see the trip out well. An ability to race prominently is often an advantage.

The general view is that there is no draw bias at Salisbury though stats suggest a minimal bias to those drawn low in sprint races.

Getting here

Salisbury Racecourse is at Netherhampton, about 4 miles from the City Centre.

Postcode for Sat Nav: SP2 8PN.

Car parking is free.

There is also a free bus service laid on by the racecourse from the Railway Station and Castle Street. Full details are on the racecourse website.

It’s nice and green and pretty around here.

Racecourse Facilities

http://www.salisburyracecourse.co.uk/salisburyracecourse

There are three enclosures to choose from, The Bibury Enclosure (£25), The Grandstand (£17) and The Sarum Enclosure (£9 – not always open). The entrance cost is slightly less in all cases if booked in advance. The dress code isn’t particularly strict. Smart casual is encouraged in The Bibury Enclosure. Viewing from various points is very good. There is a viewing area for disabled people too, as there should be.

There are a couple of Restaurants on the course. It seems that the various bars also stock various food to please every budget and taste. I thought the Persian Punch Bar (What a cracking racehorse he was!) was very good. It’s located under the stand in The Bibury Enclosure and you can enjoy your drink on the lawn outside while watching the racing on the screen. I was though most taken with The Lester Piggott Bar which is set high up over the grandstand. If you can get up there early, it’s a fantastic view of the race itself and of the course itself.

At the bottom of the stairs down from the Lester Piggott Bar is a nice little ice cream parlour which serves several different flavours. Nice!!

My Day

Four bets today yielding just one winner and a very small loss. After last nights disappointment, I’ll happily take that but really should have done better.

I ‘got involved’ on ‘Rock Eagle’ in the third race who blew his chance by wandering left inside the last’ and just didn’t get to front running ‘Dive For Gold’ (John Gosden trained at 12/1!!). Not sure why I didn’t back Michael Stoutes ‘Sun Maiden’ in the next, I guess the price was a bit short for my view of him. At least I didn’t back against it.

It was just the most gorgeous day, and everyone was in such a good mood and the small crowd that were there were exceptionally well behaved. It was nice. I will have no hesitation visiting here again.