Ascot also has to reinvent itself, just like the British monarchy. The one that began yesterday is the first festival without Queen Elizabeth II, for whom horses were her great passion, and with Carlos III on the throne and Camila by her side. It is the inevitable search for a new identity.
Thousands of people arrived in trains, cars and buses from early in the morning to the town of Berkshire, near Windsor Castle, with the traditional hats and flowered dresses, designer in the case of aristocrats and people of money, and more cheap in that of the working classes of the East End of London, on a day in which they mix with each other as if the United Kingdom were a paradise of equality. Although only the most privileged have access to the Royal Enclosure (royal enclosure), where the monarch, the queen consort, her court, her family and friends sit.
After a kind of universal deluge fell at night that even caused fears of the suspension of the first day of the festival (it will last until Saturday), the rain gave way to cloudy skies of a normal English day at almost the beginning of summer, ideal for spending a few hours in the countryside, having a picnic, gossiping about how people are dressed, betting and generally losing.
The first was a tribute to Elizabeth II, with the inauguration of an exhibition of photographs with scenes from her almost annual presence at Ascot (she rarely failed), and her rare expressions of satisfaction and joy every time one of her horses won (it happened twenty-four times). In the morning, along with tea and toast, I didn’t necessarily read a general newspaper, but the Racing Post, with the latest news on jockey and equine fitness, programs across the country, forecasts and the status of bets.
Although the Gold Cup is the most valued race at the festival, special interest this year arouses what was previously called the Platinum Jubilee, and from now on the Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. In total, prizes worth twelve million pounds (fourteen million euros in exchange) will be distributed, and it is the last edition that has the participation of the legendary Italian jockey Frankie Dettori, who at the age of 52 has announced the decision to retire . He won a total of 77 races, and in 1996 he won all seven on the show, a mark in the Guinness Book of Records.
The police have taken precautionary measures in case animal or environmental groups try to disrupt the development of the festival with any kind of protests, as happened in the Epsom derby, the Grand National and the rugby league final at Twickenham Stadium, whose lawn was invaded during the match by a Just Stop Oil activist. There are additional security cameras throughout the compound, and more agents than in previous years.
Elizabeth II’s first winning horse was Choir Boy, in the 1953 Royal Hunt Cup, coincidentally the same week as her coronation. And the last Tactical, in the Windsor Castle trophy, in 2020, when the monarch was already in fragile health. Those of Carlos and Camila will run with the traditional purple and yellow royal emblem, and everyone is watching what they do Saga, Circle of Fire and Reach for the Moon representing the new king and his consort eager to enter Ascot with good foot. What pressure!
It was Queen Anne, in 1711, who saw potential in a racecourse on what was then called not Ascot, but East Cote. Four decades later, the event had become so popular among the upper classes that the Duke of Bedford complained that he had come to London and had no one to meet for dinner. It is at the beginning of the 19th century when a dress code was imposed (long black jackets, white ties and pants for men, wedding dresses and hats for women), which in recent editions has been greatly relaxed, and now each one goes as he wants. Although Ascot, with Carlos III or Isabel II, it always remains Ascot.
