As They Cross Wilson Avenue

Graham Green must take most of the blame. Brighton Racecourse 'enjoys' a reputation for a certain roguishness on the back of the depiction of razor gangs and racketeering in his most famous novel Brighton Rock, and the iconic Boulting Brothers film based on it.
In actual fact the events portrayed in Green's book took place at the long closed nearby Lewes racecourse, but the image has stuck.
15 years ago there was every chance that Brighton racecourse would suffer the same fate as Lewes. Long neglected by its owners, Brighton Council, it was unloved, unsafe and basically a dump.
Under the inspirational leadership of local racing fan Phil Bell - now gone onto to great things at Chepstow - the course was smartened up and has enjoyed something of a revival.
To be honest the course is never going to be Ascot but its future looks secure and a day watching the racing there is always interesting.
Last Monday was a day for real racing fans, not the stag/hen, family fun, ladies' day crowd which Brighton, along with many other courses, try to attract in the summer.
Autumn had set in, and the wind swept across the paddock. The betting jungle was sparsely populated.

Brighton is a unique racecourse, uneven with twists and turns, which favours course specialists. One of my first successful betting strategies was to follow a horse called Belper, who had only one eye. He could not win anywhere except Brighton, where he could fix his good eye on the running rail and find his way to the finishing line.
In all races except those over the shortest distance of 5 furlongs, the horses have to gallop across a road. This can be scary, especially when the wind is tugging at the straw matting put down to cover the tarmac, and the rain makes it as slippery as ice.
A tradition amongst the commentators is to mention this road in every commentary, making Wilson Avenue the second most famous road in racing folklore (after the Melling Road at Aintree obviously).
Inevitably with the inclement weather changing the going, the results on Monday proved to be a bookers' benefit with a host of long odds winners.
Highlights for me were seeing the veteran horse Megalala, 14 years old and effectively drawing his pension in horse terms, go into the stalls without any help from his jockey or stall handlers. He finished 3rd, beating horses over 10 years younger than him.
Most Brighton racedays include a seller. These are for the worst horses in training, and involve the winning horse being sold at auction immediately after the race. The great sports journalist, Ian Carnaby, sponsors a 'truly awful' selling race at Brighton every year, and in days gone by used to finish his day out in town with an evening listening to the late Rockin' Billy playing Billy Fury discs in Preston Street.
Brighton racecourse still has its many detractors. The chances of it ever hosting a Derby trial (eminently sensible because if a horse can handle Brighton it could certainly deal with the contours of Epsom) again are probably long gone. It suffers vandalism, the going can be very firm in the summer, the travellers were still allowed to camp at the 2 furlong poll this week but it remains a cracking day out.
Oh and even if the getting out stakes (or in my case the getting in deeper stakes) does not work out there is a chance of a rainbow to guide you into town afterwards.

Brighton marks (out of 10)
Welcome/friendliness 8
Atmosphere 5
Betting ring (size, competitiveness) 5
Racecard (cost, quality) 6
Queues for bar 8
Viewing 7
Standard of racing 4

Total (out of 70) 43
Punting success - lost