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Posts Tagged ‘National’

Aintree is the home of the Grand National which is arguably the greatest horse race in the world. No other race comes close to matching the excitement at Aintree Grand National day.

The story of the Aintree race course is also the story of the Grand National. It’s inconceivable now to imagine the Grand National being held at any other race course in England but this looked a distinct possibility in the early post war years. In 1965 the Aintree course looked likely to be sold to a property developer and every year the press warned this could be “The Last Grand National”.

In 1973 the course was eventually sold to property developer Bill Davies who gave a commitment to keep the race going but his heart never quite seemed in it. Attendance at the 1975 Grand National was the lowest in living memory (admission prices had been tripled by Davies) and the Grand National had reached its lowest point and it looked like the end for the great race.

In 1975 a campaign was started by Ladbrokes Bookmakers to revive the ailing Grand National race. Ladbrokes had a deep love for the National and when they took control of managing it they were determined to keep it going. After 8 years of management by Ladbrokes the future of the Grand National and Aintree seemed secure.

Property developer Davies was unimpressed by the swift chances in fortune and still seemed determined to sell the Aintree course. Finally the general public realised that this may be the last chance for the Grand National to be saved and a huge campaign was launched to rescue the race once and for all. Generous donations from the public allowed the Jockey Club to purchase Aintree from Davies. In 1984 distillers Seagram stepped in to provide the solid foundation on which Aintree’s revival has been built. The last Seagram sponsored National was in 1991 when the race was won by a horse which chairman Straker twice had the opportunity to buy; the horse’s name was Seagram!

A subsidiary of the Seagram company, Martell Cognac, took over sponsorship in 1992. During this time the National experienced a big boom. In 2004 around 150,000 people were at Aintree to witness the last Martell backed race. Aintree racecourse now enjoys its most successful period ever.

There is much debate among historians regarding the first official Grand National race held and most who have trawled the newspaper libraries and archives of the United Kingdom now prefer the idea that the first was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse triumphed again in 1837 while Sir William was the winner in 1838.

These races have often been disregarded because of the belief that the 1837 & 1838 runnings took place at Maghull and not at Aintree. However, in the last twenty years several race historians have unearthed indisputable evidence that these three races were all run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid 1860s. To date though, their calls for the Nationals of 1836-38 to be restored to the record books have been ignored.

For three years during World War I, while the Aintree racecourse was closed, an alternative race was run at Gatwick Racecourse on the site of the present Gatwick Airport. The first of these races, in 1916, was called the Racecourse Association Steeplechase and in the following two years the race was known as the War National Steeplechase. The races at Gatwick are not always recognized as “Grand Nationals” however, and their results are often omitted from winners’ lists.

In 1923, Sergeant Murphy became the first American-bred horse to win the Grand National.

In 1938 the American bred Battleship, son of the famous Man O’War, became the first (and so far only) horse to have won both the Grand National and the American Grand National (won four years earlier). Battleship’s jockey was Bruce Hobbs and at 17 years old was and still is the youngest ever winning jockey.

By far the most successful horse in Grand National history was Red Rum. The only horse to win three times in 1973, 1974, and in 1977. He also came in second in the two intervening years, 1975 and 1976.

Don’t do it. Why not? You’ll spend a lot of money and a lot of time getting certified and learning all the latest platforms and technologies. But the reality is that hardware repair is a commodity – a low margin business. And it’s becoming more and more of a commodity service every year as the components become more disposable and more replaceable than repairable. In this article, you’ll learn why consulting contracts with national service organizations are not the best choice.

Computers Are Now Replaceable

Let’s take a $600 consumer-grade PC for example. Who’s going to spend money on an out-of-warranty repair on a $600 PC? Who’s going to spend money on an out of warranty repair on a $400 laser printer? How much money are small businesses willing to spend on this kind of repair?

Low Labor Allowances for Consulting Contracts

Since national service organizations are going to primarily be dealing with warranty repairs on relatively inexpensive hardware, how much labor allowance do you think they’re really going to give up on a $1,200 notebook? Many big hardware vendors are so cash strapped that they’re always on the verge of going out of business constantly. Dell, HP, and IBM are pretty much the only major hardware players that are still in reasonably good financial shape (even if you consider IBM in the hardware business anymore).

The Profit Margin on Repairs in Consulting Contracts

So, what are you going to make on a repair? Fifty dollars? A hundred dollars? $150 or $200 at the absolute most? You’re going to do a lot better by finding small businesses in your area that need high-level professional services on a regular basis.

Consulting Contracts with National Service Providers Aren’t Profitable

Acting as a subcontractor for a national service provider is a really hard way to run a consulting business. Do you want to be in eight different offices every single day, or do you want to be in one or two? Do you want to be billing out at $100 or $150 an hour for high-end network support services and network integration services? Or do you want to be told that you’re going to be allowed a $65 labor allowance to replace a system board, no matter how long it takes you?

The Bottom Line about Consulting Contracts

Repairing and troubleshooting hardware is low-end commodity work. It’s work that can be done by people that are billing out at $20 or $30 an hour. It’s not the high-end consulting you could be doing with consulting contracts. Don’t ever confuse the two.

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the second largest in the world. The tiny island of Rubondo is only a speck in this vast lake; being twenty-six kilometers long and ten kilometers wide. Rubondo National Park consists of a main island with twelve much smaller islands and the expanse of water around them. The islands are forested, with large grass clearings on the main island. The shoreline has narrow sandy beaches reaching out from the forest-edge with some isolated stretches of papyrus.

The eastern shore of Lake Victoria is only a few kilometers from the Serengeti. The best way to get to this island is by charter plane and is a thirty minute flight from Mwanza. This island is a real paradise with the African adventure starting as the light aircraft lands on the grass airstrip, sometimes animals will have to be cleared off the runway. The island is striking in its greenness and the whistles of the African Grey parrot echoing in the forest, truly you have landed in an African paradise. There are only two vehicles on the island and one tented camp.

A trip to Bird Island is a must. There are thousands upon thousands of birds here; among the numbers are cormorants and egrets that return to island daily from their feeding grounds. The sky at times almost turning back with the vast numbers seek their roots high above the Nile crocodiles that bask bellow.

The camp on this island is mordantly priced and quite simple; it is sited under trees close to the lake shore. Guided walks and hikes in search of elephant, giraffe, hippo, chimpanzees; although if chimpanzee are on your agenda you would be better traveling to Mahale National Park. Boat trips on the lake are also fun and there is also some excellent fishing with the Nile perch with some weighing in at more Than 100 kilograms.

This small paradise is ideal for these seeking to get out of the safari vehicle and stretch the legs and explore on foot. The island offers an alternative destination to relax to the beach and discos of Zanzibar.