NEWTON ABBOT - English Riviera Course

Forget the racing the exhilarating coastal railway journey from Exeter to Newton Abbot is a trip of a lifetime. The line is never more than ten yards from water; beside the River Exe with its armada of little boats, beside the English Channel, through tunnels carved into the cliff face, before turning west by the River Teign to quietly roll into Newton Abbot station.
The racecourse, a mere fifteen minutes stroll from the station is gloriously unpretentious. It is enclosed by the railway line, the Teign crossed by disused canals, it feels like an island. Hence the terrain is flat, the oval circuit is 13 miles with a short run-in on the chase course. There is no members enclosure, admission for Tattersalls is £10.00 - £5.00 for the Silver Ring. The races are contested by mostly moderate horses and on fast ground front runners can go clear and stay in front at times.  Leading trainer is the ubiquitous Martin Pipe who, at the time I went, had trained 91 winners at the track since 1994.		Front runners have a natural advantage at Newton Abbot.
The Paddock is situated just behind the Grandstand...		On the June Saturday night I visited, dying sunshine had replaced earlier showers, there was a small crowd, because no doubt, holiday makers preferred to watch Brazil live on T.V. in a World Cup local leviathan. Martin Pipe was in attendance to saddle D’Naan in the first race, a 2 mile handicap chase, ridden by champion jockey, Tony McCoy. D’Naan was a moderate, though winning selling handicap hurdler, who had been well beaten on his chasing debut at Exeter (a nearby contrasting course, high on Halden Hill). Even allowing for the Pipe/McCoy factor - a 6/1 form chance usually starts around 4/1 on their reputations alone, I had forecast earlier that D.Naan would start around 7/2, the gelding having a well documented breathing problem.
In the paddock, situated behind just behind the grandstand, giving racegoers easy access D’Naan confirmed my feelings, that  he could probably be tailed-off by looking thoroughly sour. I decided to back dual course winner Caspian Belugga, who was thriving in the paddock, and was a good jumper, a front-runner, but would prefer faster ground. To my amazement, after a short stroll to the course bookmakers in front of the grandstand, I found that they made D’Naan 7/4 favourite. I quickly backed Caspian Belugga at 5/1, climbed the stands to watch the race clearly.			...the course book makers in front of the stand.