BS Amateur Champs at Aintree

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bounce

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Incredibly my first two BS shows have resulted a win at the amateur 85 first round and a qualifying ticket in the second round for the Champs in November. Not sure how we managed it as my horse is still relatively inexperienced and is certainly not very fast in a jump off but she left all the fences up which is always a good start.

So, we are off to Aintree in November and I am impatiently waiting for the schedule to be published.

I wondered if any of you have been before and can give me any advice. At the moment I am trying to make up my mind whether to get hook up for the lorry and stay in that or to have the jockey club accommodation if anyone else is willing to share a room with me and my friend who is coming along to keep me company.

Can you buy tickets for the Saturday night dinner dance when you are there? If I don't qualify for the finals then I may come home early so would seem pointless to buy tickets before I know whether I am staying Saturday night.

Does anyone know how the accumulator class is run? I've not done one before and as I'm only jumping around 95cm at the moment I don't want to over face my young horse but if the bigger jumps are optional then I might just give it a go.

Can't wait to go and experience the atmosphere and just give it a go. Fingers crossed I may get out to my 3rd BS comp before I get to Aintree for a bit more experience!
 
Well done firstly on qualifying!!! It's a fantastic show and one of my favourites. Everyone is so friendly. The jockey rooms are basic but warm and clean and sleep 4. The accumulator class starts at 85 and builds up until the joker at I think about 1.25. It's a great class, my boy was second last year. Love Aintree it's just so much fun!
 
Thanks for the info. With the accumulator is it basically a single round with each fence increasing so fence 1 at 85 and the last being the joker at 1.25? Think I may be out of my depth on that one as we are only jumping about 95cm at the mo comfortably.
 
Yes the accumulator is a single round with each fence increasing, but it doesn't get that big by the penultimate fence (maybe 1.05 or 1.10, will look at daughter's photos). The last fence (the joker) at 1.25 is optional, there is a smaller alternative next to it, and you could pull up before then if it wasn't going well!

The jockey rooms are comfortable and warm as said above, the beds are quite small (jockey sized I guess!) but the building can be noisy with other people coming in and out to use the toilets and showers throughout the night. Depends if you are a light sleeper or not! The beds are quite close together so I wouldn't fancy sharing with people I didn't know, tbh. I haven't stayed in the lorry but that can also be noisy when people come back from the night out I've heard.

If your horse is relatively inexperienced make sure you do the warm up class first, as the ring is quite different to the usual indoor arenas - there are lots of stalls and a big red (bar) bus parked round the side, tiered seating, big glass sides/windows letting in the light, so a lot for the horse to see and take in.

You might be able to enter the accumulator once you are there if entries permit so you could see how the horse is going.
 
Thank you, that's interesting to hear about the arena. I wasn't going to do the warm up class but may well now enter on that advice. Thanks
 
bounce said:
I wondered if any of you have been before and can give me any advice. At the moment I am trying to make up my mind whether to get hook up for the lorry and stay in that or to have the jockey club accommodation if anyone else is willing to share a room with me and my friend who is coming along to keep me company.
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I've been to Aintree quite a few times for side saddle events, the Aintree team are incredibly nice and very professional.

The hookups are limited and right next to the racecourse itself - great view and away from the noise of the canteen and stables but expensive as I remember.

There are two accommodation options, the grooms rooms that have four single beds with a shared single sex bathroom down the hall and the jockey's lodge rooms that are twins maybe? and ensuite. I've stayed in the grooms rooms twice and they are perfectly fine and *very* cheap, but the the beds are not the comfiest and the showers get a bit grim by mid afternoon - no worse than showers at other shows I expect though. The jockey rooms are apparently a lot nicer but usually reserved for judges and officials at the events I've been to. The canteen situated between the two accommodation blocks does very tasty and great value food and excellent breakfasts.

The stables are also great but as it's a racecourse they are v strict about passports and flu jabs for stabled horses, if you arrive without a passport the stable manager won't let your horse into the stable yard without fax/photo proof of vaccinations being sent through to them. Also worth knowing that you have to totally empty your stable when you leave or forefit your deposit, so bring bin bags to take the cleanish shavings (ask for a shavings not paper bed if this matters to you) home and proper mucking out tools. And for a fiver deposit you can rent a massive locker/shed with a padlock near your stable on the stable yard to keep all your rugs, mucking out stuff etc. safe).

The stables lorry park is very close to the actual stables, but the equestrian centre arena is a 4-5 minute human walk away from the yard (rubber matted horsewalk in front of the stands that goes past the finishing post, great for photos!) that horses seem to find incredibly exciting, so build that & calming down afterwards into your competition day timings.

Have a fab time!
 
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