Enjoy a great day out with your mates on a horse racing hen party or stag do. A day at the races always brings to mind champagne, glamorous ladies in gorgeous hats, excitement and a general day of frivolity.
Horse Racing Hen Party
A horse racing hen party is a very stylish affair. There are several high profile courses that really know how to entertain, like Cheltenham and Ascot. Chester has a swish seafood bar and several restaurants, and having a table for luncheon is essential whichever you’re at. Don’t worry about missing the racing; the dining venues have fabulous views and screens inside so you don’t miss a thing.
Arrive late morning and pace yourself with Spritzers while you study the jockey and horses’ form. Or, better still, just pick whichever name you like best or the racing colours that float your boat. Make friends with the tipsters at venues like Cheltenham down on the ground. It’s a great way to start a conversation with someone if you’re out to mingle.
Of course, if your horse comes in then it’s Champers and a little treat with your winnings at the shopping village. Stands are packed full of designer clothing and accessories, as well as countrywear and hard and fast kit for the gee-gees.
Horse Racing Stag Do
Guys, if you’re planning a horse racing stag do then choose a major raceday for real atmosphere. Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot, Grand Nationals, Gold Cups… they’re all highly charged days out.
If you don’t fancy chancing the weather or want a local course, places like Chepstow, Newbury and Newcastle do excellent main day hosted events. You’ll join the throngs in the functions suite, have a terrific lunch, and a tote in the bar will take your bets after a tipster and Compère give the room some inside knowledge.
Enormous screens show the live action from the hosting racecourse so you don’t miss a thing. You’ll feel like you’re at the actual race. Comfort and fun all included.
How to Place a Bet
Placing a bet may seem a little confusing. First of all you need to decide which way you want to bet:
Betting to Win
This basically means the horse has to finish first in order for you to win any money.
Or
An Each-Way Bet
This means the horse must finish in first, second, third or fourth, depending how many runners there are in the race. You will win a certain amount of money depending on the odds and how much money you have put on.
The Totes offer the easiest way to place a bet if you are a novice as they give you easy to understand odds. The bookmakers in the betting ring offer similar odds but speak a strange hand signal language. When seen in action this is an experience in itself.
There are many horse racing stag and hen packages available for locations all over the UK. A lot of these packages will include an excellent standard of hotel accommodation, transport to and from your hotel, a unique entry package, evening party meal and nightclub entry.
So don’t just go for the day; make a night or weekend of it!
Guest post by Marco Walker of Designaventure
Images from Flickr (CC BY 2.0 License) by…
Women: Jaguar MENA
Hurdles: vegaseddie
