I left Paddington just after 3.30pm and arrived about 15 minutes before the first. Traffic out of the City was a shambles as was the M5. I suspect very few local Harold Park members are making the journey on a regular basis, if at all. The return trip was quicker of course but still an hour and a half.

Once parked and inside, I had a good luck around. I should say from the get go, I'm not a fan of 1400m tracks. I've been in the States for just shy of 3 years and lived 25 minutes from Yonkers near Columbia Uni. I was a regular there at least once a week sometimes two during the meets. I went to the Meadowlands probably a dozen times during my stay and from a spectators perspective, I preferred Yonkers. Atmosphere and action wise, no comparison.

I lived 100m from Harold Park, Menangle is 2 hours way accounting for traffic. Take your Google Maps and stick it : ) Menangle is never going to do it for me but I can see why the horse peeps love it. The surface looks a Millions Dollars and the lighting is excellent. Better than the Meadowlands which hasn't had a cracker spent on it in years. The audio was fine.

I backed a few winners which was nice and I'm glad I made the trip. Will I go again, probably not more than once or twice a year but I suspect they'll probably do well out there once they get the "patrons stuff" down. The food was average and the drink was cold.