Popular Nostalgia

It was Queen Anne who first saw the potential for a racecourse at Ascot, which in those days was called East Cote. Whilst out riding in 1711, she came upon an area of open heath, not far from Windsor Castle, that looked an ideal place for “horses to gallop at full stretch.”

The first race meeting ever held at Ascot took place on Saturday 11th August 1711. Her Majesty’s Plate, worth 100 guineas and open to any horse, mare or gelding over the age of six, was the inaugural event. Each horse was required to carry a weight of 12st and seven runners took part.

This contest bore little resemblance to racing seen at Ascot today. The seven horses were all English Hunters, quite different to the speedy thoroughbreds that race on the flat now. The race consisted of three separate heats which were four miles long (each heat was about the length of the Grand National course), so the winner would have been a horse with tremendous stamina. Sadly, there is no record of the winner of the first Plate.

The racecourse was laid out by William Lowen, who was assisted by a team of helpers; William Erlybrown, a carpenter, Benjamin Cluchett, a painter, and John Grape, who prepared the paperwork for racing. The first permanent building was erected in 1793 by George Slingsby, a Windsor builder. It held 1,650 people and was used until 1838.

In 1813, Parliament passed an Act of Enclosure. This Act ensured that Ascot Heath, although the property of the Crown, would be kept and used as a racecourse for the public in the future. Racing at Ascot was now secure. The precise origin of the Royal Meeting is unclear. It was an event that evolved, perhaps, rather than was introduced at a specific time, but the first four day meeting took place in 1768.

Arguably, the meeting as we know it today started to take shape with the introduction of the Gold Cup in 1807. Gold Cup Day is the third day of Royal Ascot and is traditionally the busiest day of the week. Although you won’t find it in any marketing or promotional literature, it is colloquially known as Ladies’ Day.

The term Ladies’ Day seems to be have been first used in 1823, when an anonymous poet described the Thursday of the Royal Meeting as ‘Ladies’ Day … when the women, like angels, look sweetly divine.’ In the formative years, Thursday was the dominant day in terms of the racing, attracting the largest crowds and, it must be assumed from the emergence of the term, more ladies!

Almost every racecourse markets a Ladies’ Day now, but the great charm of the original is that it has evolved rather than been created. It is the public, not the racecourse, who call it Ladies’ Day.

The Gold Cup is Ascot’s oldest surviving race, and the winning owners receive a gold trophy which becomes their property. Perpetual Trophies are only awarded for three races at the Royal Meeting, the other two being the Queen’s Vase, inaugurated in 1838 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s accession, and the Royal Hunt Cup (1843). For all other races, Challenge Trophies are awarded, which are returned to Ascot and presented each year.

It was at around the time of the first running of the Gold Cup that the roots of today’s traditional Royal Enclosure dress code emerged. Beau Brummell, a close friend of the Prince Regent, decreed that men of elegance should wear waisted black coats and white cravats with pantaloons. Over the years, this has evolved into the wearing of morning suits and equally formal clothes for ladies, who must wear hats.

Although a Royal Stand dates back to the 1790s, the Royal Enclosure that current regulars are used to at Ascot was born in 1845 when King George IV commissioned a two-storey stand to be built with a surrounding lawn. Access was by invitation of the King. In 1825, the Royal Procession as an annual tradition began. The King, leading four other coaches with members of the Royal party, drove up the centre of the racecourse in front of the crowds and this has continued to the present day.

The administration of Ascot has always been handled by a representative appointed by the Monarch. The racecourse was run on behalf of the Sovereign by the Master of the Royal Buckhounds up until 1901 when Lord Churchill was appointed as the first official Representative of His Majesty, a post held today by the Duke of Devonshire.

Viscount Churchill  is reputed to have taken personal charge of vetting applications for entrance into the Royal Enclosure, sorting letters into three baskets marked ‘Certainly’ ‘Perhaps’ and ‘Certainly Not.’ Viscount Churchill loved this task and became notorious for recognising faces in the Royal Enclosure and challenging those who should not be there. For this purpose he was granted special access to the Divorce Registry, as those on it were not permitted access to the Royal Enclosure.

In the days before actors were allowed in the Royal Enclosure, King Edward VII asked a young Charles Hawtrey, father of the actor who later became famous for his part in the “Carry On” films, if he would be seeing him at Royal Ascot. Hawtrey, also an actor, explained that rules prevented it, whereupon the King took it upon himself personally to send Hawtrey the necessary badge. When Ascot came, Hawtrey entered the Enclosure to the great surprise of Lord Churchill, His Majesty’s Representative at Ascot, who said: “I don’t remember sending you a badge.” Hawtrey explained that this was not surprising as he hadn’t – “King Edward did!”

King Edward VII’s mother, Queen Victoria, was known to have frowned upon her son’s general and unparalleled enthusiasm for good living and, of course, racing, but on his accession in 1901, the new King closed the Royal Stand completely for the Royal Meeting due to the death of his mother and requested that all those who attended within the Royal Enclosure wear black.

In 1913, when the Ascot Authority was established by an Act of Parliament, His Majesty’s Representative became Chairman of the Authority with the Clerk of the Course acting as Secretary. Today, as Ascot Authority (Holdings) Limited, Ascot has a formal board comprising the Chief Executive, the Operations Director and Commercial and Finance Director, supported by a Chairman, two trustees and a nonexecutive
director.

In the early 1920s, Lord Lonsdale drove every day from his rented house adjoining the Winkfield Road crossing, up the High Street to the racecourse entrance with outriders, drivers and footmen, all wearing his distinctive yellow livery. The proceedings were so grand that critics claimed he was trying to rival the Royal Procession.

In the 1920s, women were still forbidden to smoke in the Royal Enclosure. Now everyone
is! Inside at least.

Back in 1954, The Queen had a famous Royal Ascot triumph with the brilliant Aureole, who had suffered a minor eye injury a few days before the Meeting. When visiting the paddock just before the race, The Queen asked her jockey, Eph Smith, who wore a hearingaid, whether he would win. The reply came: “Well, Ma’am, we are rather handicapped. The horse is blind in one eye and I’m deaf!”

In 1955, the rules of divorce were relaxed and divorcees were able to enter the Royal Enclosure. However, a redevelopment of the Enclosure shortly before this had added the new Queen’s Lawn, which was by invitation and the Court rules governing divorce still applied. Ascot’s first major redevelopment came to fruition in 1954, with the relocation of the straight mile north to allow more space behind the stands. This was the second such move and even this time around, they didn’t go quite far enough as the track was moved a further 42 metres north as part of the recent redevelopment! Prior to the second move, the straight track cut right through the existing Number 1 Car Park into the current site of Heatherwood Hospital.

The Queen Elizabeth II Grandstand, built by Wimpey, was erected between the 1960 and 1961 Royal Meeting and the Members’ Stand went up between Royal Ascot 1963 and 1964. The Car Parks at Ascot almost certainly play more part in the event than at any other venue – they are far from merely functional with lavish picnics, including butlers, candelabra and silver service not uncommon, especially in Number 1 and 2 Car Parks.

In 1976, Australia’s Dame Edna Everage, alias Barry Humphries, attended with a four foot Sydney Opera House perched on “her” head. Following the successes of Choisir, Takeover Target and Miss Andretti on the track, Royal Ascot is as much an institution in Australia as at home these days, but back then Dame Edna said to the assembled press that she: “wasn’t aware it was a racing event until the other day. I always thought it was an exhibition of gas water heaters!”

In 2006, a Country Life survey found that Royal Ascot is the South of England’s most popular picnic spot and the most popular sporting occasion at which to picnic in the country. Although Ascot likes to think it runs Number 1 Car Park, it is far from uncommon for berths in this much sought after
spot to be passed down formally from generation to generation.

Ascot’s much loved tradition of “singing round the bandstand” or “community / traditional singing” began in the 1970’s under the stewardship of Lady Beaumont, wife of the then Clerk of the Course, Captain Sir Nicholas Beaumont. The now unmissable sing song of British favourites and flag waving after racing was an immediate success with thousands of racegoers staying on and making it an integral part of their day. Now, traditional singing is listed as part of the day’s formal proceedings in the racecard and song books and flags are handed round.

2002 saw plenty of change to the established pattern at the Royal Meeting with additional races named after Royal breeding centres introduced as the meeting expanded to five days to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

In addition, one race name was changed permanently as the newly promoted Cork & Orrery Stakes became The Golden Jubilee Stakes. The racecourse was decked out in red, white and blue flags as the five days in June played a major part in the country’s celebrations.

The racecourse closed for redevelopment in September 2004 – with the Finale Meeting ending
with singing round the bandstand – the first time this tradition has been extended to a nonRoyal
Ascot day.

The 2005 Royal Meeting was staged in York, providing the city with its biggest ever sporting event. The city, region and racecourse threw themselves into the extravaganza, which saw expansion into the Knavesmire so as to accommodate circa 50,000 people each day.

Royal Ascot at York took place with a Royal Enclosure dress code and Royal Procession every day. The bell used to instruct jockeys to mount at Ascot traveled up along with the Brown Jack statue commemorating the Ascot legend. Even the “Greencoats,” who form the ceremonial guard for The Queen at Royal Ascot, came to York. Their garb rather speaks for itself and it is rumoured that the velvet uniforms were originally made from material left over from curtains in Windsor Castle.

Historically, Ascot Racecourse redevelops every fifty years or so, once a generation, and throughout considerable changes the Royal Meeting has maintained its position as a much loved event at the heart of the national sporting and social calendar. The new Ascot, designed by HOK Sport, was officially reopened by The Queen on 20 th June 2006. The 2006 Royal Meeting was, as expected, challenging, and some changes including the integration of a large Royal Enclosure Garden and the raising of a substantial area of trackside
viewing, were necessary in 2007.

However, as the racecourse moves close to major landmarks in 2011, its tercentenary, and 2012, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and London Olympics, its home is a stunning and beautiful new sports stadium, delivered on time and to its £220 million budget. Ascot’s traditions are as strong, strictly observed and loved now as they ever were, the racing goes from strength to strength (Group Ones have more than doubled to seven only three were staged in 1999), and it remains, quite simply, the best summer party in the world.

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