Sometimes one wonders if something one says - or writes - has a wider influence than one would ever believe. On Boxing Day 2004, I paid my first visit to Wincanton races, which I waxed lyrical about in the local press. Boxing Day 2005 had the end result of attracting a record crowd of around 8000 people to this beautiful course! There was some top-quality racing, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Regretfully though, I felt that the catering, bar and parking facilities were totally inadequate. Despite queuing 30 minutes for a pint of beer, I still didn't get one. Another 30 minutes queuing for a sandwich also proved fruitless, as they had sold out. To compound the problems, it took an hour at the end of the meet to navigate our way through the car park exit. It was a good day for the Williams clan. Christian Williams, from near Bridgend, was on board Preacher Boy, winning the second race at 5-1. I was really excited by this result, as my wife had a little flutter on Preacher Boy. This proved little consolation to me, however, as at the end of the day I had backed six also-rans, and a third in seven races. Miss Venetia Williams trained Lorient Express to an impressive seven-length win in the 2.05pm race. To satisfy the hardened punters, three favourites also passed the winning post in first place, although none of them were at very generous odds. Overall, we still found it a very enjoyable day out. I intend to return for at least one of the many meetings at Wincanton over the next few months. | 
