Saturday 14 March saw Tilling Green Community Centre transform into Newmarket, as Rye Bonfire Society’s fundraising females hosted their first race night.
Nobody really knew what to expect given that the posters advertising the event declared “Live action, no video”! Race nights generally consist of punters watching videos of pre-recorded horse races… not this time! Oh no!
Attendees were treated to real jockeys, including Mayor Andy Stuart and lady Mayoress Niki Stuart. Some of the Ryebellion Drummers had swapped their drumsticks for riding crops, then it was under starters orders as the jockeys reeled in their wooden mounts.
Paul Carey had rescued the wooden horses and given them a fresh new look, and they certainly did look the part as they were proudly shown in the “paddock”, pre- race, by their jockeys.
There was an optional Tote betting available and it was all taken very seriously, both by the very competitive jockeys and the very noisy audience.
The jockeys were picked at random once betting on the horses had closed and each race was conducted under the watchful eye of the adjudicator, Barbara Astley-Morton, with a verbal warning, followed by disqualification for “dragging” horses rather than reeling. The marvellous and entertaining commentary was courtesy of James Austen.
We are pleased to report that no riders were unseated and all jockeys behaved impeccably until the final race.
This was an unofficial late addition to the meeting, a mare-al special, featuring current Mayor Andy Stuart, Deputy Mayor Chris Hoggart, plus two former mayors, Shaun Rogers and Mike Boyd. Unfortunately, the adjudicator was forced to disqualify one of the above for dragging their horse at the end of the race.
The fundraising team said afterwards, “We had no idea how this set-up would work and this fundraiser was a real gamble, literally…however, we had a good turnout and it really was a fun night. We raised a fantastic £370. Thank you, to everyone who was there. We may even go all out for another one in the summer, where race goers will be
encouraged to dress for a day at the races.”
And, in case you didn’t know, there’s still time to guess Graeme Foster’s ancestry. For just £2 (all proceeds to Rye Bonfire Society), you can let your imagination run riot and the person whose prediction is closest to his actual ancestral history will receive a bottle of house wine from Rye Fine Wines. So please call in for a glass of vino and
to enter this unusual event. You should see some of the configurations already guessed! Who knew that being “a legend” was a gene?
Image Credits: Barbara Astley-Morton .