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The Weekly Blog

Here is the Forecast…

Here is the forecast for Scotland and the North of England:

It’s going to be shirt-sleeve order and summer-dresses in Scotland, where there’ll be a variety of outstanding outfits on show at the forthcoming Ladies Days at Perth (Thursday 17th May), Kelso (Sunday 27th May) and Musselburgh (Saturday 2nd June).

On each of those days there’ll be a 99% chance of chilled sparkling wine, with the smattering of Rosé.

Over in the Lake District it’s going to be a Barbecue Summer, that much is certain. We’ve no idea what the weather will be doing, but the good people of Cumbria (and Lancashire, and Yorkshire, and Sussex, and Caithness and all the other people who descend on Cartmel Racecourse every season) will be firing up their barbecues regardless. Because that is what they do.

Year in, year out, many racegoers attend the same race-days every season – whether it’s the Whit Bank Holiday Weekend at Cartmel or Ladies Day, on the Sunday of the same weekend, at Kelso. The fixtures have become landmarks in the social calendar, part of the summer-season. Thousands of visitors already know where they’ll be on these dates and have already bought their tickets – but don’t worry, there are plenty still available and they can be purchased online at a small discount, as long as you plan ahead.

I’ve been checking the weather forecast and according to the Met Office, “Fairly benign weather is the most likely scenario for the end of May, though confidence in this situation is low and some mixed weather is likely too.”

Crikey! No s**t Sherlock; those guys at the Met Office are really hot on the case aren’t they?

They go on to say: “Long periods of dry weather are likely, interspersed with shorter, more changeable spells of showery rain… Despite the generally warm trend, there could be large temperature contrasts across the UK and from day to day.”

Amazing – how do you think they can be so specific? Maybe they should have a go at the GOLDPOT – one of the new bets which will be introduced by britbet, later this Summer, in July. The GOLDPOT involves finding the winner of every race at a specific racecourse each day and is one of the bets that will frequently be accompanied by a guaranteed pot of £1,000,000. Think of it as being a bit like the old Tote Jackpot, only much better.

A little like the National Lottery, there will be consolation prizes for customers that almost win the bet, but just fall-short. Plus, if (like the Met Office) you feel the need to hedge your bets, britbet will allow its customers to cash-out mid-way through its multi-leg bets. So if a sudden downpour arrives to change the Going at one of our glorious Summer race-days, you’ll be able to take your winnings and run before the last-leg of your bet spoils the party.

As for this week’s prediction: It’s Dear Sire in the Swinton Hurdle at Haydock, where light rain in the morning is likely to give way to a dry but cloudy afternoon.

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