A Night At The Races

A staple of Surrey’s summer social calendar, a day at the races is always a great outing but it’s also a fun way to spend a winter’s evening. Rebecca Younger watches the ‘sport of kings’ from the Panoramic Restaurant at Kempton Park

- Rebecca Younger

I LOVE racing; it is the last stronghold of sporting fun, enjoyed by people from all walks of life. But racecourses are having trouble packing in the numbers these days, unless there’s a glamorous social event on offer (usually in summer).

However, those with all-weather courses, like Kempton Park, can offer racing all year round and, when you’ve also got a spectacular glass-fronted restaurant, from which to watch the action without the risk of getting cold or wet, you really are on to a winner.

Capitalising on its aptly-named Panoramic Restaurant, Kempton Park is pulling in the punters by vying to make food as big an attraction as the racing.

To cater for special race days, the course has a huge car park but in order to make the most of the evening and have a drink or two, we arrived by train. With the rain clouds looming, we were thankful that the station sits just the other side of the car park – a two-minute stroll from the course entrance.