Hamilton Park Racecourse Family Fun Day

On the Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend, we took a family trip the Hamilton Park Racecourse. The racecourse is one of only 5 in Scotland and living only 10 minutes away from it, I really should go more often. It’s always a great day or night out. I have been to a few race days over the years, once with my dad over 10 years ago and I’ve been to ladies day, which is so much fun and had a couple of Christmas party nights there with my work. Hamilton Park Racecourse is very well organised and you are guaranteed to have a great time, especially if the weather is nice. 

The Family Fun Day event is in aid of Cancer Research, a charity close to my heart having lost my dad and my uncle both to cancer. On arrival there is plenty of parking and it’s easy to get to well sign posted and easy to get into. For the family fun day there were lots of children’s fun events to do. The boys tried their hand at crazy golf, the bouncy castle and hook the duck, before we had a snack of burgers and chips from the snack vans. These are no ordinary snack vans, the burgers were delicious. There was also a sweet stall which I thought was a little expensive but then most of these events do have a few items which are above normal price. 

The boys got a goody bag each containing some Hamilton Park Racecourse hats, which we were very grateful for as the dull day turned into a dry day with some strong sun poking through. They loved their hats. They also got a toy horse, which they shared with their little sister. Aria slept through most of the day, but we have the pictures to show her one day. 

There is a park there all year round for the children to play on, with swings and climbing frames. Both boys had lots of fun on this. They also went on some of the small rides, the swings and roundabout rides. 

I wasn’t sure how much the boys would like the actual racing, but they loved it. We got a race book and we picked our horses together. You can see the concentration above, it was a tough task. We went to see the horses going round in the parade ring. The boys were amazed at how big they were and they were so beautiful. They wanted to go and ride on them themselves. Maybe one day. Daddy put the bets on for us and then we watched the race near the finish line. We didn’t pick any winners that day but we had lots of fun watching and picking out our favourite horses. 

We had such a great day, a lot better than I thought it would be. I’ve been there before and loved it, but thought they boys might be a bit bored, but they really did have a great time and loved every minute of it. I wouldn’t hesitate to take them back next year. There was plenty of room to manoeuvre the buggy about. The only problem I had was trying to feed the baby. I had to feed her in the cafe which was a bit noisy with those cheering on their horses. I didn’t seem to disturb her too much. 

Hamilton Park Racecourse is geared towards adults, but on the family day, they really know how to make their little visitors feel welcome. 

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