Inside the glitz and glamour of Royal Ascot: How high-end fashion, thrilling racing and dizzy prices help punters make memories of a lifetime, writes DOMINIC KING
The glitz and glamour of Royal Ascot makes the famous event one like no other High-end fashion is as much a part of the prestigious meeting as the racing As racegoers pursue priceless memories, money seems no object at Royal Ascot
The week begins as it will end: with figures being revealed that take your breath away. Whether it is at an auction, where high-rollers bid to make their dreams come true, in the betting ring or even in the car park outside the course, these are the prices that tell you Royal Ascot is a meeting like no other.
This is the most exclusive racing fixture in the world, an event where money is seemingly no object. At a conservative estimate, these five magnificent days see investments worth more than a third of a billion in the pursuit of memories that will last a lifetime.
It really is out on its own.
Unlike the Cheltenham Festival, which has a narrative that seems to last 12 months, Royal Ascot almost sneaks into public view. Spring and early summer is a frenzy in racing, with a succession of big races, such as the Classics at Newmarket and Epsom, flying at you one after the other.
But that doesn’t mean people aren’t prepared. Trainers earmark races for their horses well in advance, in the same way racegoers plan what outfit they will wear in the most exclusive areas, namely the Royal and Queen Anne Enclosures, where badges cost £160 and £99 respectively.
The glitz and glamour of Royal Ascot makes the prestigious meeting an event like no other
Racegoers, dressed to the nines in their finery, arrive and queue to get in on day five at Ascot
King Charles and Queen Camilla pictured arm in arm in the Parade Ring at Ascot on day four
Last year’s figures saw Ascot, which costs approximately £30m to stage, turnover £110m
Jockey Jamie Spencer chases and sprays champagne on Matt Chapman in Ascot's parade ring
Fashion is as much a part of Ascot as the horses, so much so that luxury women’s clothing firm LK Bennett has a pop up store on site, not far from the winner’s enclosure. Trade this week has, not surprisingly, been brisk.
It’s not just about the ladies, though. Gentlemen can pay anything from £75 up to £925 to have their top hat polished at an Oliver Brown stall or – if they are feeling flush they can buy a new one. The most economical is £500; the most expensive starts at £7,950.
Once inside, food and drink can be as much or as little as you want. Burger and chips is £14 and can washed down with a can of coke (£3.50), a bottle of Peroni (£6.80) or bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne (£125). Dinner at one of Ascot’s 12 Michelin starred restaurants is £3,500 per head.
Vendors walk around selling trays of cigars (cheapest £10, most expensive £50) and Pimm’s is £13 per glass or £39.50 for a jug. With crowds of 60,000 plus on three days, none of these vendors have been short of takers for their products.
To be clear, though, this isn’t an event to see who can lavish the most or one that is aimed to price racegoers out. A ticket to the Heath enclosure, where you can bring your own picnic, is £10 and is situated on the rails by the furlong marker, offering a unique view of the fields thundering past.
And this, in the main, is why everyone descends on this corner of the Royal county of Berkshire. The racing is breathtaking and the prestige of this stage, when pictures are beamed to 180 territories around the world, cannot be understated.
High-end fashion is as much a part of the event as the racing, so much so that luxury women’s clothing firm LK Bennett has a pop up store on site, not far from the winner’s enclosure
Meanwhile, gentlemen can pay anything from £75 up to £925 to have their top hat polished
A member of staff laughs jovially with her colleagues ahead of day five at Ascot Racecourse
A glorious horse drawn carriage with racegoers aboard passes by in the streets on day four
Take what happened with the Australian mare Asfoora in Tuesday’s King Charles III Stakes. Her connections had given no thought to anything other than coming over from their base near Melbourne, to stay for a fortnight, to see her pursuit of history.
Whatever it cost them, no amount of money could buy the feeling that followed Oisin Murphy bringing the sprinter with a breathtaking surge in the final furlong to claim the £390,093.31 winner’s cheque. In total, the prize fund for the week is around £10million.
Royal Ascot wouldn’t match the extraordinary sums on offer in the Middle East, at the Breeders Cup or Japan but that is not the point – everyone with skin in this game knows about the history and heritage dating 217 years and wants a part of it.
Here is an explanation, then, why an auction, staged by Goffs in Kensington Gardens on Monday saw bids being made for potential runners to give them a ready-made contender. This, in many ways, was like going into Fortnum and Mason’s on Christmas Eve and hoping to strike gold.
Kia Joorabchian, the football agent, bases his year around Ascot and his devastation when his best horse, King Of Steel, was ruled out of a shot at the Prince of Wales Stakes by injury in May was huge; it was compounded when his star sprinter Bucanero Fuerte was ruled out on the eve of his assignment in the Commonwealth Cup.
Still, his Amo Racing venture had plenty of runners and, at the auction, he took the chance to bolster his ranks further. Joorabchian paid £480,000 to buy a three-year-old colt called Taraj, who is trained in Ireland by the renowned Dermot Weld and had an engagement in Thursday’s Hampton Court Stakes.
There would be no immediate yield reaped, however. Taraj, under jockey David Egan, was never able to get properly competitive and finished 10th of 12 after being hampered in the straight. There will be better days ahead but none of them will be quite like Royal Ascot.
Winning here, you see, is everything. Some punters are perfectly happy to have £2 with an on-course bookmaker, others take it a bit further. On Friday, Star Sports accepted a £100,000 bet on Fairy Godmother in the Group Three Albany Stakes – the filly obliged at 2/1.
Food and drink can cost a pretty penny too and is a source of significant turnover for the event
A bottle of Peroni costs £6.80 while a bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne is a sizeable £125
A ticket to the Heath enclosure, where you can bring your own picnic, is a reasonable £10
Punting over the week is huge and sources within the industry suggest turnover would be around £100million from Tuesday to Saturday, with the Gold Cup – the race around which the meeting is built – in the top five races for wagering in the year.
Kyprios brought the house down, winning at odds of 11/10, and it all felt entirely appropriate. The atmosphere, boosted by The King and Queen being on course for the majority of the fixture, has been exceptional and almost felt like how things used to be before the Pandemic.
It costs Ascot £30million to stage the event but the return is exceptional, as between 70 and 80 per cent of their annual turnover is generated. Last year’s figures saw Ascot turnover £110million, so it illustrates the importance.
Study the figures long enough and it is enough to make you dizzy but one thing is true: in the pursuit of happiness, whether it is a day out with friends or horse landing a long-term target, some things, really, are priceless.