Ascot ready for action
Ascot racecourse will finally open its gates again on Saturday when a restricted crowd of 11,000 people will get to see the new grandstand close up.
The course has been closed since September 2004 for multi-million pound redevelopment work and the 2005 Royal meeting was staged at York.
But the long wait will be over for the Berkshire venue this weekend at a fixture that is seen as key to the preparations for the Royal bonanza in June.
“It’s all systems go for Saturday and we are looking forward to it,” said Nick Smith, head of Ascot’s media and PR.
“We’ve been mowing the lawns and putting all the finishing touches to the areas that are going to be opened to the public.
“We’ve been very busy transforming the course from being a building site to an operational racecourse.
“We are not open to the general public on Saturday. 3,000 members of the local community who got their tickets on a local ballot will be coming instead. We actually had to turn down a further 4,000 ticket requests from local organisations,” Smith told At The Races.
“On top of that we have our annual badge holders, sponsors, Royal Ascot racing club members and members of the industry.
“It is a shame we can’t open to the public but we are limited to 11,000 and Saturday is really a test and that is the number we have to have as we are just building everything up towards the Royal meeting.
“It’s a great raceday and we would have loved to have opened the course up to everyone but it is simply not possible.
“We’re virtually sold out for the Royal meeting so we have to be ready and up to our best.
“Obviously there will be some little problems but we would be surprised and disappointed if people did not enjoy the Royal Ascot experience.”
The main attraction on the card is the totesport Victoria Cup with over £85,000 in prize money up for grabs and which has attracted a strong entry of 56 at the five-day stage.
Damian Walker of totesport said: “We’re delighted with the huge entry so a maximum field of 20 looks assured.
“With such a huge entry there should be a maximum field and it will be fascinating to see what sort of draw bias the new track may have.
“We fear Notability, who was a progressive performer last season and handles soft ground well, which is in his favour given the weather forecast for the week ahead.”
totesport Victoria Cup:
Sponsors bet: 6-1 Notability, 9-1 Pride Of Nation, Spectait, 10-1 Game Lad, Munaddam, All Ivory, Mutawaffer, Partners In Jazz, Pinpoint, Zomerlust, 14-1 Coleorton Dancer, Kamanda Laugh, King’s Caprice, Visionist, 16-1 Bahiano, Kenmore, King Marju, Nayyir, Prince of Thebes, Red Spell, Shot To Fame, Turnkey, Vortex, 20-1 bar.
