Royal Ascot allowed racegoers to ‘come out of hibernation’

LONDON: Ascot chief executive Guy Henderson has voiced his gratitude to all who played their part in ensuring this year’s Royal meeting allowed thousands of racegoers to “come out of hibernation”.

Royal Ascot was chosen as part of the government’s Events Research Programme and was therefore permitted to host a crowd of up to 12,000 spectators per day.

The track allocated 50,000 tickets across five days, with Saturday inevitably the busiest day as nearly 11,000 attended – including the Queen.

Henderson described the week as “absolutely wonderful” but has also pointed out the next hugely important step is that all who attended should conduct their coronavirus tests which will assist in critical government data to inform future easing of pandemic restrictions.

“First of all, it was a real boost to be accepted as part of the government’s Events Research Programme,” he said.

“Thank you to everybody for cooperating with all the procedures. The most important thing after the event is for people to do their five-day PCR tests, because the data from that will be really helpful to the government in future plans.”

The Queen did not attend each day of the meeting as she previously has. But the Royal Family were still represented throughout the week, and the Royal colours collected two placings courtesy of Reach For The Moon and King’s Lynn on Saturday.