MEDIA CENTRE - Off The Wall

Phil’s Travels – Royal Ascot, England (06.25)

Phil’s Travels – Royal Ascot, England (06.25)

The second day of Royal Ascot (one of the highlights of The Season) was the first day of a forecasted official heat wave. It was hot. Waterloo Station was comfortable enough but the train to Ascot was not air-conditioned. It was very hot. The station had a good smattering of fancy dresses, hats (top and hatinators), suits (morning and lounge) and lots of well-spoken ladies and gentlemen. Most unusual for Waterloo. An even more unusual sight was when we were crushed altogether on an airless train. The one-hour journey was most uncultured.

The British countryside though was glorious under global-warming skies, bright blues to the horizon and beyond and brilliant sunshine.

The Ascot dress code required me to wear a colour-matching two-piece suit, tie, shoes and ankle-covering socks. It was a sadists event. One could compare it to driving an F1 car in overalls in Singapore in summer. I was going to lose many pounds in unnecessary sweat.

Ascot was huge and very impressive and drew in quite the fashionable crowd. Milliners must make their whole annual revenue in just these few days. The celebration of headwear was remarkable.

Lunch was tasty, the wine poor and the venue was hotter than outside. No air-conditioning, no fans, no ventilation. Just stagnant, warm air. We went outside to cool off!

At some point I lost track of my hosts and fellow guests and ended up exploring on my own. I got very lucky. First, I wandered over to the Pre-paddock to look at the horses up close. They seemed a lot smaller than I was expecting. Next as I wandered to the main grandstand I heard the National Anthem and a big crowd had gathered. I went for a look-see. Below the crowd was a lower-level courtyard area full of grass, bushes and carriages. The carriages were carrying Royalty, HRH KC2 and the Prince of Wales amongst others. I took a quick video as evidence to show the family.

Royal greetings over, I walked into the main grandstand, through a doorway and down to the track. I found myself right by the finish and watched the first race clatter over the line (photo evidence below).

It was as I was wandering around seeking my hosts among an ocean of top hats, tails, dresses and hatinators that I came to realise I looked different and that I might be in the wrong spot. I was the only person wearing a lounger. In the end, a nice official chap spotted me and put me out of my misery. He told me, very politely, that I was not permitted in the Royal Enclosure. That I should move on into the next enclosure. I left with haste.

I was eventually reunited with my co-race-goers in the Queen Anne Enclosure (mostly lounge suits like yours truly and the omni-present hatinators). Back in the sauna of our dining room, we enjoyed more food, wine and gossip.

I did not stay for the last race of the meeting. I did not want to get caught in a Twickenham-style crush at the station under a hot evening sun for hours on end. Good plan. The station was only a five-minute walk from the racecourse (under the shade of many trees) and the crowds were sparse. On the platform, we huddled in the little shade available until our carriage pulled in. Blissfully, this train was airconditioned and I was the coolest I had been all day. Heavenly!

At home, I could not wait to remove my F1 race suit and to jump into shorts and a cool t-shirt. Perhaps Ascot could consider amending its code and make the whole Royal experience much more comfortable. It would not have the same feeling of pomp and pageantry though if we all turned up in flipflops. Keep up the good work Ascot.

My lasting impressions? Much better organised than rugby at Twickenham. The grandstand was huge, modern and wonderful to behold. It was so big, there were multiple escalators inside to service the towering levels, corporate boxes, viewing terraces and other areas. F&B was available everywhere (the volume of liquor being consumed had to rival Twickenham on a good day, if not in quantity, definitely in value). I suspect the huge royal box (something of a fishbowl, clad in glass and not open, but shielded from prying plebian eyes below on the terraces by a mirrored skirt) had its own lift hidden away within the structure somewhere clever. Very impressive, very elegant, well laid out. An experience to experience. If you are invited – Go!