Rose Hall, our lovely English correspondent, spent her week at Royal Ascot and wrote exclusively  for SAHorseracing of her experiences. (image Rose pictured with Frankie Dettori) 

There truly is nowhere else like Royal Ascot. Not only is it the best racing with the best horses in the world but it is seamlessly organised in a sensational looking building and a track that is nurtured and cared for with military precision. The poor Clerk of the Course must have had nightmares leading up to the week as the weather here in the UK has been horrendous, the grass has grown as we have had masses of rain and so plenty of cover but the rain just keeps on coming and we started the week with the going as “soft”. Unheard of since 1971 apparently. At least he can play around with moving rails and finding new ground for the main races but still a logistical nightmare, especially as the rain continued to fall during the week and the sun failed to shine to dry it up. I have never spent a whole week at Ascot and been so cold. On saying that it is still the most amazing social and racing experience and one I would urge you all to book for next year. Yes its extremely expensive for those that earn in Rands but you can’t take it with you so make some memories.

Having “done” Ascot for many years and experienced it first hand at all different cost levels, from being a poor student to being treated to a helicopter ride in and the Royal enclosure I would say it is still great fun to experience on a budget. In fact probably the best fun of all is to be had in the old “silver ring’ now knows as the Queen Anne ring. Only there can you take your own champagne and food. One bottle each mind so make sure you get the non-drinkers allowance in as well, this saves you the 50 pounds in the Grandstand and 100 upwards in the Royal Enclosure. The picnic will save you another few hundred and not having to hire fancy hats and Morning suits with Top hats will save the next 300 plus. 500 pounds plus saved already! You will still get to the see the Royal Procession as the Queen and her guests drive down the whole length of the course and into the Parade ring. The view in just as good and the vibe almost better than the “posh” end. The vibe continues after racing as music is allowed down the “ other” end and the band strikes up after racing for a mass singalong around the bandstand. You won’t get to see many celebs but thats not likely anyway as they tend to just flit in, take the elevator to private boxes and stay there all day. With everyone being so security conscious these days its pretty difficult being a celeb and so they would rather just not draw attention to themselves. Anyway I am sure that is not the reason why you would come all the way over to England. Come to experience what we do best here, Royalty, Pomp and ceremony and the best racing. Royal Ascot is about horses, fashion and pageantry but its also about Britain and what we think is great about it.

My highlights of the week were winning every single race on the card on Day 1, absolutely unheard of as I am not know for my gambling skills and then of course the Gold cup. The Gold Cup for so many reasons, the cup being in honour of the Queens 90th birthday, Aiden, the Maestro showing us what makes him a great trainer and Ryan Moore displaying his skill like no other. Both trainer and jockey went on to finish the week as leading trainer and jockey. Aiden scored his 51st winner with Order of St. George and an amazing 7th Gold cup success. The 17th runner field was the biggest we have seen at Ascot since the second world war and Ryan opted to just sit at the tail end of the field. The race did get messy for Moore though and it took a brave horse to cope with everyone moving positions and in a tight bunch going downhill. However this was no flinching violet and the horse lived up to his tough military name and at the 2 marker switched out and powered home. Maybe not the spectacle of a Yeats win but still a great, brave horse and now the plans will probably be the Arc. As Aidan pointed out the Melbourne cup would probably not be in his sights as he would likely be weighted too heavily for the trip to be worthwhile.

The other highlight amongst a whole week of great moments was Her Majesty winning the Hardwicke Stakes on Saturday with Dartmouth. Sir Michael Stoute, Knighted for his services to Tourism in Barbados, and Olivier Peslier provided the Royal Winner at Royal Ascot and a wonderful result on the last day of a wonderful week. Racing always throws up a mix of emotions, the Queen herself having lost a horse during the week but it always throws up the”right” result. Nobody ever complains about the going, the bias, the draw, the mistakes, they all just get on with it in true British style and at the end of the day the ones that stick at it, work hard, invest heavily with time and money make their own luck and succeed. Ascot is that sort of place