ANNUAL MEMBERS NEWSLETTER

Welcome To

Annual Members on John

We especially welcome our Annual Members today who are Lancastrians since John of Gaunt was the first Duke of Lancaster. We would welcome our members from Ghent in Belgium, whom the latter part of John’s name was anglicised from, but we don’t have any. Should any of you know anyone from Ghent who wants to become an Annual Member, please ask them to get in touch. I’m sure they’d like today. Were John of Gaunt around today, which would be some feat given he died 619 years ago, I am sure he would have enthused about the smorgasbord of facilities available to you today, with viewing boxes and your dedicated bar and seating area

The Achilles Stakes over five furlongs shows off speedsters today. In Greek mythology, Achillies won the Trojan War, but today it is apt we remember a true trojan of the weighing room in Lester Piggott Lester rode his first and last winner here and when a person is known colloquially by their first name, it is illustrative of how iconic they were Lester kindly came and had photographs with Annual Members a few years ago and he is a much-missed figure in the sport as a whole. It is fantastic that his daughter Maureen remains a frequent visitor to Haydock Park

It has been pleasurable to see so many members at our various reciprocal visits around the country. At Hexham last weekend, there was a fantastic turnout. I am sure you’ll be delighted to attend our forthcoming Cartmel reciprocal in a few weeks.

I am sure all at members at Haydock Park wish Kirkland Tellwright, our clerk of the course of twenty-two years a long and happy retirement when he steps down next March. Kirkland has overseen some fantastic changes at Haydock Park with a fine assortment of new races which were not here when he started. Haydock Park will miss you, Kirkland.

I hope you have an enjoyable and successful days racing.