Thw most important places for horse racing in Spain — and virtually the only ones — are Mijas (Andalucia), San Sebastian (Basque Country) and Madrid.

So this sport is only available to a very restricted crowd and horses are synonymous with the Spanish kings, princes and some dukes, who regard horse riding as a hobby.

And it comes across as a similar story for those who go to Down Royal.

Well dressed people, a wedding-style menu for lunch and bets of thousands of pounds with around 50 bookmakers.

You only need a few hours at a horse race to realise the huge amount of money being spent in one day.

The prizes for the winning horses’ owners can reach £40,000, depending on the race! And the number of bookies, as you call them, gives you some idea of the amount of money people invest in betting.

Like most people, I arrived by car but there was someone who landed in a helicopter and parked next to some cars! A great way to come to the race meeting.. and a terrific way to attract attention.

The wedding-style meals were waiting for the guests at 12 noon, once again too early for me to have lunch!

Smoked duck, char grilled fillet steak, green beans, roasted carrots and shallots, a delicious

crème with raspberries for dessert and chocolates with the coffee, all with different sauces and other things.

I don’t know exactly what they were but very nice, anyway.

People were very well dressed, some ladies wearing hats — or what you call fascinators — and big flowers in their hair. Maybe some horses were getting married!

Most racegoers there chose to stay in the Trackside Marquee and watch the races on the screens; it was much too cold to enjoy the races outside and wear those dresses at the same time... I understand.

But they had a genuine reason to dress up; the first 200 ladies yesterday received a Molton Brown gift bag, and for the best little numbers there were two vouchers of £1,000 each to spend in stylish shops .

But although it was very cold, the sun was fortunately out, so a few tried to remember summer days lying on the grass; unthinkable for me, who was freezing!

Meanwhile, the bookies were getting their pitches ready before the race; on the day, thousands of pounds will pass through their hands.

And I tried with a small bet too, just to taste it! There was a woman next to me in the queue who told me: “I hope they will accept Euros”, and I think an adaptation of one of your sayings: “You will never meet a poor bookmaker, and they didn’t become rich by turning down euros.”

If you decide not to watch the races in the restaurant, you can choose between the stands (standing but with a nice view of the circuit) or the grass side, where you can see the horses coming up to the finishing line with the riders in their colourful shirts.

You can also listen to the thunder of hooves approaching, witness some falls in front of you and hear shouts of “C’mon, c’mon”. The grass side was my choice, really exciting!

Some of the big crowd brought their binoculars to follow the race through the country, in those areas which were far from the stands and out of view.

Before betting on a race, you can go to see the horses. Some people observe their behaviour to try to predict if they are likely to win or not. For example, if the horse is very animated or it is sweating, that is a bad signal, they say.

And then it is time to bet on one. The bookies change their prices based on their rivals’ prices and on the races each horse has won before.

Some bookies have a partner who tells them, through hand signals, the competitors' prices.

They can be changed until the last minute! I never stopped seeing people stretching their hands to give them money — but I didn’t see too many bookies stretching their hands to give money back.

I had my first-ever bet – and my first-ever loss.Is this why in betting shops (we don’t have them in Spain) there are four windows in which to pay your bets but only one where you can pick up your winnings.

An easy way to make a living?