The Sun Met Gallops have come and gone and the countdown to the Cape’s big day has begun in earnest.
An owner of a Gr1 runner on the day has taken exception with the way Joe Public was treated at Kenilworth Racecourse on the morning of the Sun Met Gallops.
‘Disappointed’ writes in the Sporting Post Mailbag:
The 2017 Sun Met gallops were well attended by the public, who braved the unseasonal burst of wet weather to watch what has become an increasingly popular event.
However, it can’t be said that the punters were exactly received with open arms.
Made to wait until after the gallops before being ‘allowed’ upstairs, the ‘public’ was segregated from the Met runner connections throughout the proceedings with a cattle type barrier separating punters from trainer/owners.
Surely a few reserved signs on tables would have sufficed to ensure owners/trainers had access to tables?
It is hard to understand, in a country where segregation has such horrific connotations, what the point is of making such a noted divide between two groups – who by and large hail, in reality, from very different economic backgrounds.
Throughout the Met draw – which was somewhat drawn out to say the least – punters (many of whom had been forced to queue for a period in the rain), and who were not attached to a table, had to stand.
Surely it would have been possible to provide chairs?
They also had to watch while Met runners connections were able to choose from a number of eating options while they had no access even to the much advertised sticky buns – a traditional part of Met gallops day.
For what is considered to be a day supposed to benefit the public, it is safe to say the punters were hardly made to feel welcome! And I speak from the relative comfort of being an owner.
On a personal note, I find some of the security staff unnecessarily rude and am not sure who finds this acceptable – but it must be possible to employ personnel who at the very least try and be polite to customers – not heavy handed and abrupt security police types!
Now for Met day…
