History

The history of the Royal Ascot meeting is well know and linked forever more with the monarchy of the United Kingdom.

Royal Ascot a short history lesson

There are only a handful sporting traditions that can compare to the rich heritage and historical past of Ascot Racecourse. Within the last 300 years Royal Ascot has proven itself as a national institution and the cornerstone of the British social calendar as well as being the ultimate backdrop for the very best racehorses in the entire world.

It was Queen Anne who first saw the potential for a racecourse at Ascot, which in those days was also known as East Cote. Whilst out horseback riding in 1711, she came upon a section of open heath, not far from Windsor Castle, that seemed a perfect place for horses to gallop and bound along at full speed.

The original race meeting to take place at Ascot occurred on Saturday 11 August 1711. Her Majesty’s Plate, valued at 100 guineas and accessible to any horse, mare or gelding above the age of six, was the inaugural event. Each horse was forced to handle a quantity of weight of 12st and several runners participated.

This battle bore little likeness to racing seen at Ascot today. The seven horses were all English Hunters, incredibly different to the electrifying thoroughbreds that race on the flat now. The race comprised of three separate heats which were four miles long, each leg was about the extent of the Grand National course, so the winner would have been a horse with significant robustness. Unfortunately there is no record of the winner of the first Plate.

Nowadays the practice does not change – the Queen Anne Stakes continues to be run in memory of the queen who founded the course almost three centuries ago.

The racecourse was outlined by William Lowen, who was supported by a team of workers, William Erlybrown, a carpenter, Benjamin Cluchett, a painter, and John Grape, who prepared the paper work for racing. The first static building was erected in about 1794 by George Slingsby, a Windsor builder. It held 1,650 people and was used until 1838.

In 1813, Parliament passed an Act of Enclosure. This Act made certain that Ascot Heath, although the property of the Crown, would be kept and made use of as a racecourse for the public in the future. Racing at Ascot was now secure.

The authentic origin of the Royal Meeting is undefined, it was an event that morphed perhaps, rather than was launched at a particular time but the initial four day meeting happened in 1768. Arguably, the meeting as we know it today started to take shape with the induction of the Gold Cup in 1807. Royal Ascot was the only race meeting held at Ascot until 1939.

Horses storm up the Straight Mile. And Gold Cup day remains the primary race of the third day of Royal Ascot and is generally expected to be the busiest day of the week.

Despite being established by a Queen and situated on Crown property, the supervision of Ascot has always been maintained on behalf of the Crown by a person appointed by the Monarch.

In 1913, the Ascot Authority was founded by an Act of Parliament. His Majesty’s Representative became Chairman of the Authority with the Clerk of the Course acting as Secretary. Today, as Ascot Authority (Holdings) Limited, Ascot maintains both these positions, but with the fresh appointment of trustees and non-executive directors, a Chief Executive and departmental directors, of which the Clerk of the Course, who is also Racing Director, is one.

The Queen, as an enthusiast and breeder of racehorses takes a sharp interest in the races. Over the years The Queen has had great results with her own horses. The Jockeys riding Her Majesty’s horses can be distinguished because they wear The Queen’s racing colours. These are the same as those of King Edward VII and George IV as Prince Regent – purple body with gold braid, scarlet sleeves and black velvet cap with gold fringe.

The Queen traditionally presents the Gold Cup, which, along with the Royal Hunt Cup and The Queen’s Vase. These three trophies are made every year and presented to winners to keep. Challenge Trophies, many of which are antique, are presented to the winners of the remaining races, and are returned after the year to be presented to the next winners.

I hope you enjoyed this short history of Royal Ascot.

All the best

Richard
a.k.a The Longshot King

P.S. This image is kindly reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence with permission from Canolais