RACEGOERS get the best of both worlds at Haydock Park on Saturday.
It's the first major race of the 2003/4 jump racing season coupled with high class Flat racing.
The two-mile Merewood Homes Swinton Hurdle, which is worth £70,000 in prize money, attracts not only a quality but also a competitive field. This year, Scottish Champion Hurdle winner In Contrast heads an initial entry of 36 horses.
Gralmano, second to Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer's horse Intersky Falcon in the Swinton Hurdle a year ago, attempts to go one better in 2003.
The French Furze invariably runs well at Haydock and is sent down from Cumbria by trainer Nicky Richards for a race that's always fast and furious.
The first race on the BBC televised card is the Merewood Homes Long Distance Hurdle in which former Haydock Champion Hurdle trial winner Deeno's Beano - from the yard of Champion Trainer Martin Pipe and ridden by Champion Jockey Tony McCoy - bids to enhance his impressive record at the racecourse.
After the Swinton Hurdle - the last National Hunt race at Haydock between now and October - the action switches to the Flat. The feature event of the rest of the afternoon is the seven-furlong Merewood Homes Spring Trophy, worth £32,000 in prize money.
*The first race on Saturday 3 May is scheduled for 1.10pm. Last race is at 4.25pm. Admission is £7 to the Newton Enclosure, £14 to the Tattersall Enclosures, £23 to the County Enclosure, and £35 to the Premier Enclosure on the top floor of the Centenary Grandstand. Discounts on Tattersalls admission are available through local pubs and The Sun newspaper. Accompanied children under 16 enter free. Senior citizens and students, with appropriate identification, enter Tattersalls and the Newton Enclosure at half price.
More details about racing at Haydock are available on the web course site www.haydock-park.com.
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