Royal Ascot 2017 gets underway on the 20th of June with the five day event set to thrill and excite race-goers and TV viewers alike. We’ve picked out eleven interesting facts about one of the greatest sport-meets-fashion events on the calendar.
Fashionistas and celebrity spotters rejoice! It’s Royal Ascot and it’s back for another sensational five days in 2017. Many trainers are currently gearing up for the festival preparing their stable for a shot at a number of the prestigious races on the card whilst the spectators are preparing their show-stopping outfits and hoping the rain stays away.
The appeal of the royal extravaganza is also set to capture the American audience this time around with NBC acquiring the rights to broadcast this year’s festival to the USA.
Here are eleven things you may not know about the much-loved five day festival.
- Royal Ascot attracts a large number of celebrities each year from Geordie entertainers Ant and Dec to former One Direction member Niall Horan. The venue needs to house all of these special guests and it boasts the largest number of private boxes of any sporting stadium in Europe. 222 if you’re wondering!
- Talking of the rich and famous – Royal Ascot has over 400 helicopters and over 1,000 limos arrive at the course each year!
- The oldest race on the current Royal Ascot card is the Gold Cup which was first contested in 1807. Order of St George is the current favorite for the 2017 renewal of the race. Click here to sign up to Sportsbet and you’ll get a full refund if he fails to prevail in the prestigious contest.
- Food is a huge part of the festival with over 35,000 spears of British asparagus ordered ahead of the event and almost 3,000 lobsters consumed across the five days.
- They spent over two years redeveloping and building the new Grandstand which officially opened in 2006. It cost around £200 million.
- The event has a strict dress code which must be adhered to by all visitors. Ladies are forbidden to wear strapless dresses and must wear a hat. Men are required to wear a waistcoat, tie and a top hat as well.
- To enter the Royal Enclosure, you must be sponsored by at least two members who have attended this particular meeting within the last four years.
- The Queen has attended every Royal Ascot since the beginning of her reign and was delighted when her horse Estimate won the Gold Cup back in 2013.
- Royal Ascot is Britain’s most valuable race meeting with at least £1 million/$1.28 million of prize money awarded to owners and trainers on each of the five days of the festival.
- Prior to 1955, there was a ban on divorcees entering the Royal Enclosure.
- Over 25,000 racegoers logged onto the course’s free wi-fi in 2016, with over 30,000 tweets sent.
Whether you’re planning on attending the Berkshire venue for the festival or watching the coverage on television, it is certain to be another memorable festival with fashion and sport meeting to wonderful effective. Royal Ascot is one of the standout weeks on the racing calendar as the historic five day event continues to sparkle and enthrall fans across the globe.
