aberdeen races part 1

The interest of the public of Aberdeen in horse-racing was shown by the huge crowd, numbering, it is estimated, between 40,000 and 50,000, which attended the meeting held on the Links on Saturday under the rules of the British Racing Club. All the events in the afternoon took place without the occurrence of anything in the nature of a hitch or accident, and judging by the behaviour and demeanour of the spectators they were generally satisfied with the day's sport. In the forenoon the weather was exceedingly promising, bright sunshine being tempered by a breeze. Later on, however, heavy clouds gathered, and when the races started the sky was gloomy and threatening, and at the start there was a slight rain. Just after the most important race of the day had been run, when there was still half the programme to be fulfilled, a heavy shower fell, and a large number of the onlookers left the course. It seemed that the weather was to break down completely. The shower, however, was not long in duration, and after it had passed away the meeting was concluded under pleasant conditions. 

THE COURSE. The enclosure within which the meeting was conducted was one that offered many advantages from the point of view of the spectators. On the one side of the course was the Broad Hill, a magnificent natural grandstand, and on the other the esplanade along the sea front. The course itself stretched from the road that crosses the Links at the south end of the Broad Hill to near the old powder magazine. During last week several improvements were carried out on the ground with the view of providing good running for the horses. At the points where the road leading to the beach intersects the course turf was laid, and other parts of the course were levelled. On the esplanade, at the Bathing Station end, a large grandstand was erected, giving accommodation for several hundreds of people, and in addition there was a long staging provided with two or three tiers of seats. In front of the grandstand on the lower esplanade a large number of chairs were placed. On the steep slope of the Broad Hill, where the crowd was most dense, special arrangements were made to enable spectators to seat themselves with comfort on the hill, also to prevent them from swaying forward. All over the face of the hill wooden foot-boards were fixed firmly to the ground, and the people sitting on the hill, placing their feet on these boards, there was no danger of them sliding down the slippery surface of the hill. In the middle of the course was the large marquee for the accommodation of the horses, and the secretary's tent. Besides the pay boxes at the entrance to the different parts of the course, there were boxes some distance from the enclosure, and this arrangement tended to prevent a crush at the gates.

 PROGRAMME AND OFFICIALS. The races were six in number - the Merchants' Handicap (one mile), value 27 sovereigns; Pony Race (six furlongs), value 15 sovereigns; the Licensed Victuallers' Handicap mile), the most important event of the afternoon, which was of the value of 65 sovereigns - winner £50, second £10, and third £5; the Territorial Race (2 miles), value 20 sovereigns; the Coronation Handicap (7 furlongs), value 32 sovereigns; and the Consolation Stakes (6 furlongs), value 13 sovereigns. Altogether the stake money amounted to £230. The officials of the meeting were:- Starter and handicapper - Mr J. Horn, Sunderland; judge and clerk of the scales - Mr W. J. Gibson, Newcastle; clerk of the course, Superintendent Findlay, Aberdeen; and V.S. and measurer -  W. Marshall, M.R.C.V.S. The committee consisted of Superintendent Findlay, chairman; Mr John Thomson, jun., Royal Hotel, vice-chairman ; Councillors Duncan, Esson, Gibb, Guild, Leith, Sangster, and Young; Sergeant- Major John Black (Scottish Horse); Mr Edmund Barrie, Rosehill House, Cornhill; Mr Charles Brown, Earlswells, Bieldside; Mr William Coutfts, Abernethy House, Great Western Road: Mr John Smart Beechgrove House, Mile End; with Mr William Scorgie, solicitor, 29 Union Street, secretary. 

GATHERING OF THE CROWD. The races were timed to commence at three o'clock, but long before that hour people began to gather around the course for the purpose of gaining a good position from which to witness the various events. From two o'clock onward there was a constant stream of traffic from the centre of the city to the racecourse. Over a very wide district surrounding Aberdeen, great interest was taken in the races, and the railway companies offered the advantage of cheap fares to those travelling long distances. Many availed themselves of the privilege thus afforded them, and travelled from Fraserburgh, Peterhead, and several centres in the north, and the large proportion of visitors from the country in the crowd was quite observable. To cope with the traffic to the Links, special arrangements were made by the tramway department. About 30 cars were pressed into service, and these made non-stop runs from the starting point near Market Street to the Esplanade. During the busiest time there was no need to wait for passengers, every car that drew up at the starting point being quickly boarded and filled up. Besides the tramcars, many other vehicles, such as motor cars and cabs, were in use conveying people to the course. The arrangement made by the police was that all carriages must go by King Street and Urquhart Road, set down at the south end of the Broad Hill, and return by Links Road and Cotton Street. After five o'clock the route was reversed, carriages going by Cotton Street and Links Road and returning by Urquhart Road and King Street. After one o'clock no vehicular traffic, other than tramway cars, was allowed to or from the Links by Justice Street, Park Street, or Constitution Street. Hundreds walked to the Links, and on all the roads leading to the Broad Hill and the esplanade the scene was a stirring and animated one indeed.

 AT THE PAY-BOXES. Especially between half-past two and 3 o'clock the men in charge of the pay-boxes were kept working at full pressure, and every minute the crowd gathering on the hillside and the Esplanade was visibly swelling. Prices of admission ranged from 3d to the Broad Hill to 7s 6d to the numbered and reserved seats in the grandstand. Within the enclosure a staff of about 200 policemen and stewards were on duty. An ambulance tent, equipped with the appliances necessary, was erected on the course, and there was a capable staff ready to deal with any accident that might occur. Facilities were also provided for the public getting light refreshments within the enclosure. Throughout the afternoon, during the intervals between the races, music was given by the Tivoli orchestra, under the leadership of Mr Shepherd. 

THE BROAD HILL The spectacle within the enclosure about 3 o'clock was a particularly interesting one, especially to those to whom the sights of a racecourse were unfamiliar. To those of the older generation who frequented the meetings formerly held in Aberdeen the scenes of Saturday were somewhat a repetition of what they witnessed on the Queen's Links over 20 years ago, but to an exceedingly large proportion of the younger members of the crowd the happenings in incidents on the course, with legalised betting in full swing, were something new. Looking across to the Broad Hill from the paddock, the view of the assemblage of spectators on the hillside was a striking one. It was estimated that when the first race started between 20,000 and 30,000 people had gathered on the slopes. While on the northern end of the hill the spectators were more scattered, there was a great expanse of the hillside towards the south in which many thousands of men, women, and children were packed in a great, dense mass, the blackness of which was relieved here and there with patches of white, formed by the light-coloured dresses worn by the ladies. On this part of the Broad Hill not an inch of the grass on the slopes was to be seen. From base to summit the hill was crowded with sightseers, a great, dark, swelling mass of humanity, rising into space until in a configuration corresponding to the outline of the hill itself, it marked the sky-line high above the course. On the left the grandstand was comfortably filled with spectators, while on the other parts of the enclosed portion of the Esplanade there was a large gathering of spectators. Those who did not pay for entrance to the enclosure formed a big-sized crowd in themselves. Around the course, in all those parts where no charge for admission was made, the fencing that enclosed the course was thickly lined with sightseers. and many viewed the races from the north end of the Esplanade.

AMONGST THE BOOKMAKERS. Within the enclosure betting was permissible, and there were many who found the chief interest of the meeting in watching the doings and listening to the cries of the "bookies". Early in the day the bookmakers had fixed their stances, and erected their price-list boards, on which their names were prominently displayed. As soon as the numbers of the horses which were to run in the first race were exhibited the excitement commenced. Although compared with what is to be seen on southern race courses, the betting was limited in extent. Quick the numbers were exhibited, the "bookies" had the numbers on their boards, and were on their feet on their boxes shouting the prices at top voice. "Evens on the field," "evens on the field," was the cry at first, and there was such a jabbering and shouting by dozens of "bookies" that not a few spectators confessed that they could not make head or tail of what it all means. Tips for the races were not awanting, and after the bookmakers started business the "punters" were soon swarming round them putting on their money. Quite a number who do not usually bet risked a shilling or two just for the novelty of the thing, and stuck to the tickets they received in exchange from the bookmaker as to a treasure until the end of the race, when they either presented it to their "bookie" and received their stake money back, plus their winnings, or else tore it up and threw it on the ground as an entirely useless and superfluous article. It was amusing to observe in several instances the anxiety of not a few "punters," when the price of the favourite showed a tendency to pall, to get their money laid with the bookmakers before the price came down still further. After the money had been laid, those who had backed a horse lined up with expectations to witness the race, and as the horses came along the home straight for the winning post there was loud shouting amongst the spectators, many encouraging with lusty voice the animal they had put their money on. Immediately the number of the winner was shown, the bookmakers paid out those who held winning tickets, and then prepared for the next race.

Source : The Aberdeen Daily Journal, Monday July 31st, 1911