Royal Ascot
June 23, 2012
The big day
has finally arrived and while I am excited about it because Ascot is so famous
with so many beautiful people there, I am also quite nervous because I am not
really a dress up kind of person. The
gates open around 10:30 or so but the first race isn’t until about 2:30 so we
think if we go around noon, we should be fine.
My hubby had kept me worried during the week by asking me if I was sure
the Queen would be there on Saturday. I
was pretty sure that was the plan but we are so hoping to see her and if she’s
not there, I was going to be devastated as we missed her by one day at the
Royal Windsor Horse Show and have missed her by a day or a few hours at other
places we’ve been.
So we put
on all our finery. I feel like I am
wearing a corset or close to it but it is what is necessary for the fancy
dress. My feet aren’t on fire yet but
they will be by the end of the day. We
pack a carry bag with a pashmina and spare shoes for me, the camera bag, an
umbrella and a couple of disposable ponchos and finally I throw in a hoodie
although it is definitely not Ascot quality.
It’s only for an emergency.
We drive to
the train station and get our tickets.
The platform is full of people going to Ascot. You can tell by what people are wearing what
kind of tickets they have purchased, for the most part. Men in morning coats and top hats are in the
Royal Enclosure and there are a few of them on the platform. Men in suits are in the Grandstand and women
with fascinators rather than hats are in the Silver Ring, the lowest priced
tickets. The trains today are pretty much dedicated to
going to Ascot but we are lucky enough to get a seat. There is only one stop and then Ascot.
If one has
claustrophobia at all, this would not be a good place to be. Getting off the train and walking the
footpath to Ascot and up the hill through the gates, we were very crowded and
pushed together. It spaced out a little
once we got inside. I was using my cane
today and it helped get people out of my way (Not because I was hitting them
with it but because they were kind enough to move) which helped my arthritis a
lot to only move in a fairly straight line.
We get to
the gates of Ascot and we’re in. No
worries. There are places right away to
bet or to buy a programme or to get drinks.
We find some information ladies and ask if there is a map because we
really don’t have any idea where to go.
They advise us to get the programme but one also tells us that the queen
will definitely be in the parade ring at around 2:30 and suggests we go there
around 1:50 to get a good place to stand.
The
programme is great because it has a map and lists all the presenters of the
different races plus the horses, jockeys, owners, trainers, etc. I notice the Queen is presenting the winner
of the third race which is the Diamond Jubilee Sweepstakes Race. We decide to get something to eat first and
make our way down a ramp to eat at the restaurant which has tables and chairs
for people. So many others are eating
where they stand or sitting on grass or eating as they walk. I’m not coordinated enough anymore to do
that. It is the only place we are able
to sit that entire day.
My hubby
gets us both a fish and chips plate but due to my underwear, I am unable to eat
too much of it. Hmmm. Maybe I should be
wearing corset like underwear all the time as a food control measure – LOL. I am anxious to get back to the parade ring
because if the Queen is going to come through at 2:30 (my hubby thought 2) then
getting there at 1:50 would not give us time to find a good place to
stand. I was right. When we walked back to
the parade ring, it was full and I had to wiggle my way into a blank spot and I
don’t think the people behind us were very happy about it. Then some drunks came to stand behind us and
they were so much into the party mood that they were just about shouting in our
ears so we slowly inched our way over and over away from them until we were far
enough away to be able to avoid them. My
ears weren’t so assaulted then and they weren’t falling against us as they
laughed and joked. They must have
arrived at gates opening time and hit the bars immediately. Guess I am really getting old too because
they didn’t look near old enough to me to be drinking! LOL. Turning
into my parents more and more!
The cameras
pick up the Queen and her carriage and escorts entering from somewhere. As we haven’t even seen the track yet, we’re
not sure exactly where she is coming from but she’s coming! I am so excited now that I’m just about
bouncing up and down. She’s going to do
the outside stands and enclosures first and then turn into the parade ring and come
around past us. It seemed like it was
taking her a long time watching via the big screen monitors but again, don’t
know the track so couldn’t tell where she was.
At one
point, the band which was in the parade ring with us started playing “God Save
the Queen” which is their national anthem.
It was very patriotic and thrilling to listen and to see everyone sing
the anthem and mean it. It’s always very
heart rendering to me to listen to people sing their national anthem. It was hard to actually hear that people were
singing but you could see the lips moving of everyone around us (except for
that small drunk group behind us) and see the lips moving of the people on the
screen. Listening to anyone sing their
own countries national anthem always makes me proud that people love their
countries. As the anthem ends, we can
see that they are making the turn to come into the parade ring! The young ladies behind me are talking about
the Queen and making comments like “She is so wonderful. She is remarkable”. It was so great to hear them be so proud of
their monarch.
It seems to
take forever for the Queen to enter the parade ring but finally we can see her
lead horses coming in and then there is her carriage! This is it!
We are finally going to see the Queen!
What if she goes the other way and doesn’t come all the way around? I was still very nervous that I would miss
her. Plus, a few minutes ago, it had
started to rain and what if she just went to the other side where she would exit
the carriage and get out of the rain!
Blast English weather!
But
NO! The horses are turning to go all the
way around the parade ring which will take her directly past us. I am so excited that I can hardly see through
my camera view finder. There she
is! Sitting in her carriage with Prince
Phillip at her side and two gentlemen whose names I did not write down across
from her in the carriage. She is wearing
a green hat and coat and stands out in the crowd. Is it some innate English thing that people
know what color she is going to wear and nobody else wears that color? Whatever it is, it makes her very easy to
spot, thank goodness.
As the
carriage came around the Parade Ring, I snap photos and my husband waves. She passes within a few feet of where we are
standing. It is glorious. I have finally seen the Queen and she is
quite a lady. I am very impressed. We wait until the carriages stop on the other
side of the parade ring and watch while she dismounts from the carriage and
walks into the building. She walks without
the aid of a cane or anyone’s assistance.
I can’t even do that on a bad day now!
Now it is
time to go watch some horse races. We
climb up to the grandstand entrance. It’s
hard to tell exactly where we are supposed to go but there are all these signs
that say “Grandstand Viewing” in front of us so I think we are in the right
place. Now is another time where a
claustrophobic person might be in trouble.
It was very, very crowded to get into the building and we were just inching
along and it started raining again harder so people were trying to push their
way into the building but people were nice when they saw I had a cane which is
good as I might have fallen over had they pushed me.
Here’s
where we got the biggest surprise of the day.
Ascot racing in the Grandstand area has no seating. There is one very small section with seats
but mainly, you are expected to stand by the railings in the stands and watch
the race from there. We had both so
planned on sitting down. There wasn’t a
place to sit anywhere except at one or two of the bars and those seats looked
like they were glued to the behinds of the people sitting in them. They had found seats and weren’t leaving them
for anything. So we caught a glimpse of
the racetrack below and then went back inside to watch the race from the
monitors.
Looking at
the map, I figured we could get almost directly in front of the presentation
stand of the parade ring and so I suggested we go over there to be able to see
the Queen again as she was the presenter for race #3. I do like horse racing but I am fine watching
it on monitors if I don’t have a seat. (We’ve
always had seats when we’ve attended horse races in the U.S.) So we made our way back to the Parade Ring
and found a nice spot in front of the presentation stand and could see the
monitors just as well.
Horses were
being brought onto the track and walking around the parade ring. We asked a gentleman next to us which horses
they were and these were the second race horses. Activity at the Parade Ring was quite
fascinating. As the race would end,
people from the Royal Enclosure side would pour onto the Parade Ring and mingle
with the jockeys and the horses. Often it
was hard to see the horse walking on the other side of the ring because there
were so many people on the inside of the ring.
The jockeys came out here and mounted the horses here and then rode them
onto the track. The announcer was
calling all the shots on when to mount up and go onto the track. Also, the announcer called the following: if
any horse had scratched and was now a non-runner, go place your bets, the odds
are, jockeys mount up, this horse or that horse had special permission to be
walked to the gate, and so forth and so on.
Second race
horses were mounting up and then leaving the parade ring. As the horses leave, the people also flow out
of the ring and towards their spots to watch the race or to bet or to
whatever. I am really thinking that the
people in the Royal Enclosure might have seats!
Another reason to try and get into there next year.
We watch
the race on the monitors and cheer for the horses and then the race is over and
the winners are coming back into the parade ring. The third, fourth, and second place winners
come in first and go to their respective places (signs on the grounds). The jockeys are taking off the saddles and
disappearing into the building underneath where we are standing. Often, someone throws a bucket of water on
the horse. Some of the horses are not
really fond of this and try and prance away from the water. The winner of the second race enters and goes
into the special winners circle. The
jockey is wearing a bright hot pink helmet.
Really? Some owners have no sense
of style in choosing their colors. Maybe
they don’t have much of a choice either.
Don’t know that one. He also
takes his saddle and disappears into the building. We hear the announcer say that the jockey
weights are in and the race is official.
The winning horse has been covered with a blanket and is being led
around in the small winners circle. Next
the announcer states “horses away now please” and all four horses are let
away. The jockey is back and Lady Sarah
Chatto presents the owners, the jockey and the strapper (?) with their trophies
or medals or certificates or whatever. I
think Lady Chatto is the wife of a nephew of the Queen or something like
that. Haven’t figured out the Royal
Family yet and the offshoots or who is who.
Now the
horses are being led into the ring for the 3rd race. There are many more people flowing into the
Parade Ring. There are ladies next to us
very excited about horse #11 who is Black Caviar from Australia. They have small signs in the owner’s colors
and explain to us that Black Caviar has won her last 21 races in a row and this
is her first international race. They
are very excited. The monitors show
people in the stands with Australian flags and waving little “Black Caviar”
banners. Black Caviar enters with a loud
cheer and there is a cameraman walking in front of her with his camera pointed
at her filming every step she takes. He
stays 5 feet in front of Black Caviar at all times. Our new Aussie friends told us the owners
have come over with an entourage of about 120 people. Wow.
Guess if you have enough money for a racehorse, you hopefully have
enough money to hire a plane too! Black
Caviar looks bored with the entire proceedings.
There are
so many people in the Parade Ring now that as the horses pass along the back rail;
we can just barely see them through the crowd of people. The announcer finally states “Jockeys mount
up now please”. It takes a while for all
the jockeys to get on their horses.
Black Caviar’s jockey is one of the last to mount and he exits the
parade ring to a round of applause and almost the entire contingent of people
in the Parade Ring flows back to the stands to go watch the race. We stay where we are because the Queen is
presenting the winners of this race. It
is the Diamond Jubilee Sweepstakes.
Takes a
long time to get all the horses into the starting gate. Some horses apparently aren’t real fond of
standing in those gates but almost as soon as all of the horses are in, the
announcer shouts “they’re off”. Seems to
me he shouts it a bit before the horses are actually moving!
From the
screams and shouts of the crowd, we can barely hear the announcer although as it
gets closer to the end, his voice becomes more and more animated and louder and
louder as well. Black Caviar is in the
lead but towards the end, another horse is gaining on her and it is a photo
finish! What an exciting race! As the monitors slow down the end of the
race, we can all see that Black Caviar has streaked across the finish line just
a nose ahead of the second place horse and isn’t it a shame that I don’t know
that horse’s name!
The Aussies
go wild! They are screaming and shouting. The crowd starts ebbing back into the Parade
Ring by the dozens. The losing jockeys
walk through the Parade Ring to the doors underneath where we are
standing. I’m waiting for the Queen and
suddenly she walks out from underneath where we are standing and walks over to
the winners circle. She’s by herself and
doesn’t even seem to have any minders or handlers or anyone with her. Just makes her way over to the winners circle
to wait for the winner. She is so
small that she is swallowed up in the sea of top hats and if it wasn’t for her
bright green hat and coat, she would have disappeared in the crowd. We all know the Queen is a horse lover and we
heard from the Aussies that she had asked to meet Black Caviar and her owners
if she won.
Finally the
winners enter the Parade Ring with Black Caviar coming last and the crowd is
going wild. Black Caviar is being led by
her owners, I assume, as it was somewhere between 3 and 5 women holding onto
her lead. Her jockey dismounts but I
never saw him take the saddle and go into the building like the jockeys had on
race #2. Maybe they did and I just
missed it.
There is
such a crowd of people in the winner’s circle all associated with Black Caviar
that it is teaming with people and barely enough room to walk Black Caviar
around in a circle. Finally she is
stopped over close to where the Queen is standing and someone must have said
something because Black Caviar bows her head and through the crowd, we could
see that she was right in front of the Queen and the Queen was probably petting
her or talking to her. The fans of
everything Ascot are just going crazy for it all. No one with a camera to broadcast onto the
monitors can get close enough to see what is happening though. But the people standing next to them had
plenty of cell phones out of pockets and pointing in that direction.
It takes a
bit longer but finally the Queen turns to mount the small stage for the
presentations. That takes a while too
and she talks with some people near her.
She is so tiny next to these tall women with 5” and 6” heels and the men
with their top hats. I am so glad she
knows how to stand out in a crowd. I
never lost sight of her in her green coat.
Now there
are these big buffoons who are putting up ladders right in front of me so they
can climb up and get photos of the Queen.
I would so like to push them off their ladders. We had perfect spots to watch and now we are
behind the paparazzi that just don’t care who they offend and who they
inconvenience. We are packed in tight
against the rails in the stands above the Parade Ring so we can’t shift over to
get a better view. So most of my photos
of the Queen doing the presentations have this jerks big blue head in front of
me (he had on a blue jacket). The Queen
poses with the Black Caviar people and then it is time for her to leave as the
race 4 horses are being led onto the track now.
She just walks off by herself and it’s like the Red Sea. Waves of people part in front of her and she
talks to a few as she is walking and then walks underneath us into the building
and she is gone.
How
exciting. How wonderful. How special.
I am so glad we went. As far as I
was concerned, my day was finished. My
husband wanted to see some of the horse racing now in real, not just on the
monitors so we slowly made our way back into the grandstand and down to a small
area where it said there was limited seating.
The seating was so limited and everyone was in a seat and probably glued
to it so they wouldn’t lose their seat.
My hip was about to fall off, it hurt so badly, so we decided it was
time to leave while I could still walk.
As it was, took us about ½ hour to walk back to the train station when
it should have taken about 10 minutes. I
did change into my sandals as soon as we were out of the track and that helped
a lot. And I did have on my pashmina so
I wasn’t too cold anymore either. We had
used the umbrella at one point but it was broken which I hadn’t realized so it
was pretty useless. Good thing we didn’t
need it all day.
All in all,
it was a wonderful day. We got to see
some fantastic imaginations of what defines a hat. We saw some good racing, albeit via a
monitor, and we saw the Queen and Prince Phillip up close and personal. Ascot can be fun but it is a wearing ordeal
for people with bad hips! Still, I want
to do it again.
We’re doing
quite well in our Royal Watching as so far we have seen the main
characters! We still have yet to
see: Princes William and Harry, Kate,
Prince Charles and Camilla, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenia, and Princess
Ann. OK, so we haven’t seen many but the
Queen was the all-important one to see for me and we’ve done that. Wouldn’t mind seeing her again and of course
would be great if she’d invite me to something but that’s about as likely as me
winning the Grand National! Still,
stranger things have happened. Maybe I
should start horse riding lessons. Sigh,
another dream realized during my life in England!
