Royal Ascot starts on Tuesday allowing an audience of 12,000 to attend every day, as part of a test event. This is British racing’s biggest crowd for 15 months, since the pandemic.
The Queen is expected to attend on the opening day of the five day meeting. And the event will begin with three top level Group One races on the first day.
The horses in action on the first day include Palace Pier with 50 year old jockey Frankie Dettori, and Battaash. On Thursday Dettori is hoping for a record-equalling fourth Gold Cup for trainers John and Thady Gosden, riding Stradivarius.
Meanwhile, Rachael Blackmore, the first female jockey to win the Grand National in April, will ride for the first time at the race at Ascot. She will mount trainer Emmet Mullins’ horse Cape Gentleman, currently at odds of 8-1.
The event is highly anticipated as it is the biggest fixture in the British racing calendar since the Cheltenham Festival in March 2020. Last years’ Ascot was held without spectators due to restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic.
To gain admission to the event racegoers must have a negative Covid-19 test. Top hat and tails will remain part of the dress code for men in the Royal Enclosure.
The stakes
Strong favourite for the opening Queen Anne Stakes is Palace Pier, with the Dettori-Gosden combination. Battaash is looking for the second win in a row in the King’s Stand Stakes, with Jim Crowley.
Dettori is favourite for leading jockey at the fixture for the third consecutive year. He has an impressive tally of 73 Royal Ascot victories, and hopes Stradivarius can match Yeats by winning a fourth Gold Cup.
Trainer Jim Bolger’s horse Poetic Flare, winner in the 2,000 Guineas, runs in the St James’ Palace Stakes. Before the meeting, 79 year old Bolger dropped a drugs bombshell, claiming there was “a Lance Armstrong” in Irish racing. He added that he knew who the drug cheats were. More details are likely to follow on this.
Fresh from his victory at the Derby on Adayer, jockey Adam Kirby is hoping to repeat his success at Royal Ascot. He partnered Nando Parrado last year, and in 2016 managed a remarkable Group One double just hours after the birth of his son Charlie. He hopes “this year will be as lucky”. It is every jockey’s dream to win the Derby at Ascot, and he hopes he can achieve another one. At a height of nearly 6ft, Kirby is tall for a jockey, and finds it a constant challenge to keep his weight down.
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