Ascot Racecourse

HISTORY

Ascot Racecourse was founded in 1711 by Queen Anne . Its first race, "Her Majesty's Plate," with a purse of 100 Guineas , was held on August 11 , 1711 . Seven horses competed, each carrying a weight of 12 Stone s (76 kg). This first race comprised three separate four-mile (6437 m) Heat s.

In 1813 , Parliament passed an act to ensure that the grounds would remain a public racecourse. In 1913 , Parliament passed an act creating the Ascot Authority , an entity that manages the racecourse to this day. From its creation until 1945 , the only racing that took place at Ascot was the Royal Meeting, a four-day event. Since that date, more Fixtures have been introduced to the grounds, notably the Steeplechase and hurdles in 1965 .

Contemporary racing

According to publicity, Ascot today stages twenty-five days of racing over the course of the year, comprising sixteen Flat Meetings held in the months of May and October. The Royal Meeting, held in June, remains a major draw. The best race is the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes .

Temporary closure

Ascot racecourse closed for a period of twenty months on September 26 2004 for a redevelopment budgeted at £185 million. In the meantime, all racing fixtures have been moved to a variety of other racecourses, with the prestigious Royal Meeting moving to York Racecourse for 2005 . As of March 2006 the official site claims that everything is on schedule to reopen for Royal Ascot in June.

ROYAL ASCOT

The centrepiece of Ascot’s year, Royal Ascot is one of the world’s most famous race meetings, steeped in history dating back to 1711. The royal family who arrive each day in a horse drawn carriage attend the meeting. It is a major event in the British Social Calendar , and press coverage of the attendees and what they are wearing often exceeds coverage of the actual racing. Attendees must wear a morning suit in the royal enclosure, and most people outside of this section choose to wear one any way. The royal enclosure is very exclusive, with people having to be invited to gain admittance, and thus very difficult for aspirant nouveaus.

Over 300,000 people make the annual visit to Berkshire during Royal Ascot week, making this is Europe’s best-attended race meeting. Many of the visitors know nothing about racing, and are there purely for the social side and to drink large quantities of champagne. This leads to a split amongst racing fans, some of whom are glad to see racing in the spotlight, and getting more attention, while others do not like the meeting despite the quality of racing.

Although there are no enormous races at the Royal meeting there are many very good ones, and it is the best flat meeting in the world, with a total of sixteen Group races on offer, with at least one Group One event on each of the five days. The Ascot Gold Cup is on Ladies' Day on the Thursday. There is over £3,000,000 of prize money on offer.

NOTABLE RACES

''Royal Ascot:''

''Other Races:''

King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes

Fillies' Mile

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

Royal Lodge Stakes

Diadem Stakes

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Ascot Racecourse

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