What Is It Like to Attend the Royal Ascot?

If you are thinking of attending the Royal Ascot for the first time this year, you are in for a treat!  The Royal Ascot is one of the most exciting racing events of the year worldwide, with 300 years of tradition and pageantry.  The event launches on Tuesday, June 20^th, and runs through Saturday, June 24^th.  Here is the schedule for those days:

• Tuesday:  Queen Anne’s Stakes.  Every year the Royal Ascot launches with this great event, a tradition that honours the royal founder of Ascot racecourse.

• Wednesday:  The Prince of Wales’s Stakes.  The highlight of the day is the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes, established in 1862.  This is considered the most important race of the Royal Meeting.

• Thursday: Gold Cup Day.  This long distance race runs two miles and four furlongs, and is a true test of stamina.

• Friday:  The Coronation Stakes.  This is a race for three-year-old fillies from all around Europe.  Another big event on Friday is the King Edward VII Stakes, previously known as the Ascot Derby.

• Saturday:  This day features the second leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, and is the most valuable sprint race in Britain together with the Newmarket Darley July Cup.

The Royal Ascot is a very posh event; Saturday is the most laid-back, casual day, but every day features great show and pageantry not only on the track, but off of it as well.  The Royal Ascot is famous for its detailed dress code.  The racecourse has even put together an official dress code guide.  If you plan to attend this year, this guide can help you pick out what to wear.  If you will not be able to make it, it’s a great way to see the current Royal Ascot fashions for ladies and gentlemen.  While the fashions are current, in many ways they can seem like a trip back in time.  Gentleman wear top hats and ladies wear beautiful wide-brimmed hats.  Suits and dresses are required, and even children dress formally to attend the races.  The Royal Ascot doubles as a fashion show for anyone who loves the Ascot style. 

The Royal Ascot is known for its fine dining as well.  Membership in the Royal Enclosure is open by invitation only, but nonmembers are able to dine in the Royal Enclosure Fine Dining restaurants.  These include the Parade Ring, the Windsor Forest Restaurant, Panoramic, and Trackside Restaurant.  There is also fine dining in the Grandstand Enclosure at On 5, Carriages Restaurant, Sandringham, Royal Ascot Village, Royal Ascot Pavilion, and The Queen Anne Rooms.

If you are able to attend the Royal Ascot, it is an event you will remember for the rest of your life.  If you can bet on the races, you will have even more fun and excitement!  Remember, if you cannot attend in person, you can always watch this year’s races in June on ITV and wager online.