Royally Ascot - a week at Ascot
As a first time visitor to the Royal Ascot carnival the first thing that strikes you is just how far the Ascot Race Course is from London proper.
A solid 50 minute train ride from Waterloo station out into the country side North of London is enough time to pour over the Racing Post to find a winner...or in the case of the group of girls next to me enough time to get quite drunk on cans of Extra Dry Gin.The train ride itself is absolutely blissful compared to the bash and crash of the trains at the Spring Carnival in Melbourne or Golden Slipper day in Sydney with most patrons finding a seat in air conditioned comfort as the train chugs its way through paddocks, over rivers and past clumps of houses wedged almost on top of each other.
Once on track the most immediate thing that you notice is just how well laid out the Ascot track is with an enormous parade and presentation ring leading underneath the Royal Enclosure to an expansive rack track proper. A 1600m long straight full of peaks, troughs and undulations is a real test for a horse over the last 400m.
While the Royal Ascot carnival is unique in the British racing calendar it is also a uniquely classy experience with the standard being Top Hats and Tails for gents and ladies elegantly attired. If you are after orange skin, girls spilling out of short dresses and carrying their shoes by the end of the day then Ascot isn’t really going to be for you (I’d recommend Golden Slipper day for that kind of outrageousness).
The other major difference that is noticeably almost immediately is the difference between the Australian Carnivals and Royal Ascot is the selection of alcohol and food available. Verve Clique, Bollinger and Moet & Chandon are the staples of the bars dotted around Ascot, which really makes the Spring Carnival’s bottles of Great Western taste like the dirty, abrasive bubbles they are.
As for the racing from the King’s Stand on the Tuesday through the Gold Cup on the Thursday and the Golden Jubilee finale on the Saturday it’s all top drawer stuff. Big fields that are full of quality horse flesh and minimal interference during the races is something for the racing purists to behold.
Tuesday......tops, tails and flops
Tuesday saw the Australian horses disappoint in the King’s Stand with both Nicconi and Gold Trail finishing midfield. Neither had any excuse, they simply didn’t measure up on the world stage with Nicconi (with Frankie Dettori riding) especially disappointing after getting the saloon passage on the fence and simply not finishing off the race. The race was won by 2008 winner Equiano who was very gutsy in leading from start to finish in the Group One feature.
The well-backed $5 chance got the better of the early duel with Gold Trail and stuck on strongly to win.
In the other major race on the Tuesday glamour mare Goldikova raced to victory in the Queen Anne Stakes. It was her first success at Ascot, and with nine Group One races now etched on her record, her status as the finest UK mare of the past 20 years is now undisputed.
Thursday....everything is Gold
The Gold Cup on Thursday (Ladies Day) is the main event of the week and run over an exhausting 4000m around the Royal Ascot course it is a true test of both horse and jockey. In the 2010 edition, Rite of Passage caused a big upset, outpacing Age of Aquarius in the final furlong to win the Group 1 race. Ridden by Pat Smullen Rite of Passage defeated Age of Aquarius on fast ground by a neck, setting a new course record. Old Mug Punting favourite Purple Moon, trained by Luca Cumani (where was Franchesca..??) and ridden by Kieren Fallon, finished third.
Dermot Weld looked to the Melbourne Cup almost immediately: "It's a race I've always wanted to win. It's one of the great races of the world. We have two for Melbourne as we also have Profound Beauty, We'll have to see what the Handicapper does. It is a long way away."
So from Ascot to Melbourne, the racing world is certainly getting smaller and easier to travel and with an intoxicating mix of quality racing, superb catering and a smattering of royalty and celebrity attending Royal Ascot is a fantastic experience and one that all racing enthusiasts should absolutely consider doing. It’s racing like it was done in the 1950’s....all class.
