I’ve only been to the races a few times in my life and even then that was back in Oz in Brisbane admittedly on one of the bigger race days (Melbourne Cup for example) but definitely not at a venue as big or prestigious as the Ascot Racecourse, one of the leading racecourses in the UK, on Ladies’ Day during Royal Ascot.

They say that Royal Ascot is the world’s most famous race meet and it even has royal attendance (we saw The Queen, Princess Anne (I think) and Princess Beatrice today for example.)

Which Seats and Dress Code

Early on we decided to go for the “cheap seats” so to speak – Silver Ring tickets – which had the benefit of not only being cheap but also the benefit of allowing you to BYO food and (though it was too late when we found out) drinks and also the benefit of having a less strict dress code.

As you can imagine getting into the Royal Enclosure you have to pass the strictest of dress codes. Verbatim this is what the website states:

“Her Majesty’s Representative wishes to point out that only formal day dress with a hat or substantial fascinator will be acceptable. Off the shoulder, halter neck, spaghetti straps and dresses with a strap of less than one inch and / or mini skirts are considered unsuitable. Midriffs must be covered and trouser suits must be full length and of matching material and colour.

Gentlemen are required to wear either black or grey morning dress, including a waistcoat, with a top hat.”

Hilarious. If this link still works they actually show you some images of what is or isn’t acceptable. With our not substantial fascinators and bared shoulders there was no chance Pauline and I were going to make it into the Royal Enclosure! Somewhere I also read that you must wear underwear … though how they check whether you’re wearing any or not is a mystery to me!!

Getting There

Getting to Ascot Racecourses is actually fairly straightforward. A train goes there direct from Waterloo (where once you arrive its simply a matter of following all people with the hats and top tail and coats making a bee-line for the train.) Trains departed fairly regularly so the best bet for the train is not to rush on at the last minute but try and get on first as it’s a long journey and, especially as a lady, you don’t want to spend 50 minutes standing up on your high heels. The racecourse is then not too far a walk from the train station though ladies with particular fussy shoes may not be impressed (the trip back down seems much longer by the way due to pain! Ha ha) Although services were frequent to Ascot they seemed less frequent coming back.

At The Racecourse

We arrived at the racecourse relatively early. First race wasn’t until 2.30pm but as gates open at I think 10.30 or 11 you don’t want to be too late in claiming a spot. We came all prepared to lounge on the ground with our picnic rug but to our surprise they had plenty of picnic tables and chairs. Thank goodness because with the windy day I think if we’d sat on the ground I would have ended up wearing most of our food (as it was I wore a lot of Pauline’s wine! Thanks Pauline!) instead of eating it.

The Silver Ring enclosure is gigantic but by the end of the day there was barely a spot left on the lawn. Despite the number of people though the facilities were more than adequate – very impressed with the lavs to be honest. Never had to wait more than a few seconds and they were always clean and well-stocked. We had a good position in front of a giant screen and not too far from the finishing line. It was heaving though so if you wanted a clear view you had to hustle for a spot against the fence or you had to get up on your chairs.

Disappointingly drink was limited .. I couldn’t even get a lemonade and you couldn’t buy bottles of wine and although you could buy champagne by the bottle you couldn’t buy it be the glass. With the cheapest bottle being something over £45 its fair to say we drunk no champagne today.

Still this didn’t stop us having a really fantastic time. As I mentioned we got to see The Queen. We also had a great time choosing our horses – me purely on the basis of their names. I’m sure true punters would look down their noses at us race amateurs but at the end of the day it was all in good fun. My tactic over the six races today was to bet on two horses in each race with a place/win combo and a max. of £10 per race so the most I stood to lose was £60 for the day. Which is a fair expense I think for a whole day of fun. At day’s end I ended up about even though I had a result in 3 out of 6 races. In two of the races it was basically money back and in Race 4 having put a fiver to place on a horse called Fifteen Love (great name!) it paid me back £42.50! If only I’d put something on it to win – at a rank outsider of 28/1 I could have got back £200! Still, I was happy to win a little something.

Departing Royal Ascot

Departing Royal Ascot was something of a mission. With people streaming about all over the place, many of them drunk out of their minds, and rubbish littering the venue it was a challenge. Luckily once outside the track we were able to get a lift on a mini-golf cart for half of the trek so that helped. Also, some girls were handing out bright pink flip flops. Actually we didn’t get any ourselves until we ended up at the pub where I was looking at all the other girls in their flip flops rather enviously. We spotted a guy who seemed to have lots of extra pairs for some reason. Never found out why but I suspect it was his way of getting the girls to come to him. Pauline scored me a pair for which I was most thankful for.

Where we were standing at the pub was actually the pub’s car park and it was rammed. You couldn’t move a single inch and the longer we stood there with our drinks the more crowded it got. Finally we decided it would be best to try and get back to London which was no small feat especially when some girls decided that they would try and push in front of us. Immature much?

Safely back in London once more I had time to reflect on the day and the conclusion was very positive. I had a really great day at the races, even if it involved me putting on a dress – heh heh and it was very good company with Pauline and the boys James and D. We also met up with Jenny who had come along with a few of her friends which was trippy considering just how crowded the racecourse was.