name | Ascot |
---|---|
website | http://www.ascot.co.uk/ |
location | Ascot, Berkshire |
coordinates | |
owner | Ascot Racecourse Ltd |
opened | 11 August 1711 |
channel | At The Races |
coursetype | FlatNational Hunt |
notableraces | Ascot Gold Cup |
prev | Aintree |
next | Ayr }} |
Ascot Racecourse () is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races. The course is closely associated with the British Royal Family, being approximately six miles from Windsor Castle, and owned by Ascot Racecourse Ltd.
Ascot today stages twenty-six days of racing over the course of the year, comprising eighteen Flat meetings held between the months of May and October inclusive. The Royal Meeting, held in June, remains a major draw, the highlight being the Ascot Gold Cup. The most prestigious race is the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes run over the course in July.
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.
Ascot racecourse closed for a period of twenty months on 26 September 2004, for a £185 million redevelopment funded by Allied Irish Bank and designed by Populous and Buro Happold. As owner of the Ascot estate, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth reopened the racecourse on Tuesday 20 June 2006.
However upon re-opening, the new grandstand has attracted widespread criticism for failing to provide sufficient raised viewing for patrons to watch the racing, and devoting too much space to money-spinning restaurants and corporate hospitality facilities. At the end of 2006 a £10 million programme of further alterations was announced to improve the viewing from lower levels of the grandstand using an innovative steel composite product ("SPS" Sandwich plate system) to reprofile the existing concrete terraces. However, the upper levels provide far less accommodation for the everyday racegoer than was present in the former stand.
In March 2009 it was confirmed that the main sponsors of Ascot, William Hill would be ceasing their sponsorship deal, citing that the decision by the BBC to reduce live race coverage as the main reason in its decision making process.
In July 2009, Ascot Racecourse also hosted the third round of the UAE President's Cup.
The Royal Enclosure is the most prestigious of the three enclosures, with recent visits from the Queen and Royal Family members. Access to the royal enclosure is restricted with high security on the day. First-time applicants must apply to the Royal Enclosure office and gain membership from someone who has attended the enclosure for at least four years. For existing badgeholders, an invitation is sent out by Her Majesty's Representative to request badges. The badgeholder's name is written onto the badge and can only be used by that person; the colours of the badges vary each day for one day applicants. Those in the Royal Enclosure have the options of fine dining and hospitality and a selection of bars. The dress code is strictly enforced. For women, only a day dress with a hat or fascinator is acceptable, with rules applying to the length of the dress. In addition, women must not show bare midriffs or shoulders. For men, black or grey morning dress with top hat is required.
Over 300,000 people make the annual visit to Berkshire during Royal Ascot week, making this Europe’s best-attended race meeting. There are 16 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.
The racecourse was used as a filming location in the James Bond film A View to a Kill in 1985, where Bond (played for the last time by Roger Moore) was beginning his mission to defeat the villainous Max Zorin (Christopher Walken), whose horses were competing in a race there.
Category:Buildings and structures in Windsor and Maidenhead Category:Sports venues in Berkshire Category:Horse racing venues in England Category:A View to a Kill
de:Ascot (Pferderennen) es:Royal Ascot eu:Ascot Racecourse nl:Ascot (renbaan, Engeland) ja:アスコット競馬場 oc:Royal Ascot pt:Ascot Racecourse fi:Ascotin kilparata zh:雅士谷馬場This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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