Royal Ascot

Lisa Perrin has been appointed a Non-Executive Director of Ascot Authority (Holdings) Limited by Ascot Racecourse. Her role will begin after Royal Ascot (June 14-18). She replaces Guy Davison, who started in his Non-Executive Director role in July of 2015. Currently the Managing Director of International Production for ITV Studios which she has held since 2020, Perrin is responsible for their production labels across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, the Nordics and Israel. Perrin had previously held senior leadership roles at Endemol Shine Group culminating in her position as CEO,...

In the concluding part of the series reflecting on the Queen's long attachment to thoroughbred racing and breeding, John Berry considers the prospect of a royal Derby runner in the year of the Platinum Jubilee The most significant addition to the royal roster of trainers came in the autumn of 1966, when some of that year's yearlings were sent to the West Ilsley stable of Major Dick Hern. This was the start of a wonderful partnership, which in time saw Hern become as synonymous with the royal string as formerly...

A significant milestone in British history is reached on Sunday as the Queen becomes the country's first monarch to reign for 70 years. Throughout that time, Her Majesty has remained a fervent supporter of the Turf. In the first of a three-part series, John Berry looks back at the Queen's strong ties to horseracing. Racing, the king of sports, has been the sport of kings and queens since the dawn of time. In Great Britain, the monarch's love of the sport can be traced back at least 500 years to...

Group 1 winner Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), who had been aiming to defend his title in the G1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June, will remain benched for 2022, but could still make a comeback in 2023, according to co-trainer Charlie Johnston. The news was first reported by Racing Post. "We felt that to be ready in time for Ascot he'd have to go back into work now and as it's really only eight months since the injury was sustained-we don't feel it's quite long enough," said Johnston. "We've...

A bespoke Ascot world feed has been added to a new two-year agreement extension between Ascot Racecourse and RaceTech. The agreement covers a full range of high grade technical and broadcast services , such as photo finishes, across all 26 racedays in the calendar, including Royal Ascot in June. There will also be live tracking and timing graphics on Ascot TV. The world feed, which will be available on all five days of Royal Ascot, QIPCO King George Diamond Day and QIPCO British Champions Day, will be distributed to various...

Crowd capacity numbers will be reduced at Royal Ascot beginning in 2022, Ascot Racecourse announced on Thursday. After feedback from racegoers attending the smaller scale Royal Ascot in 2021, attendance caps will be instated across the Royal Enclosure, Queen Anne Enclosure, and Windsor Enclosure for the five-day meeting from June 14-18, 2022. In addition to reducing capacity in the Royal Enclosure by 1,000 guests (-7%) to 12,500, a new area for circulation has been added-the Royal Enclosure Gardens. The Queen Anne and Windsor Enclosures have been reduced by 4,150 (20%)...

New Zealand's Horse of the Year Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel {Aus}) could appear at Royal Ascot this year for the G1 Queen Anne S. The four-time Group 1-winning mare, who is owned by Brendan and Jo Lindsay of Cambridge Stud, will trial next week and will target the same trio of races she did last Australian autumn-the G3 Bellmaine S., G1 Futurity S. and the All-Star Mile-before a potential intercontinental trip. Cambridge Stud Chief Executive Henry Plumptre told SEN Trackside, "We have been talking to Nick Smith at Ascot and we...

Vivien Currie, who has been chief executive of Hamilton Park Racecourse since 2008, will success Guy Henderson as chief executive of Ascot Racecourse following next year's Royal Ascot meeting. Currie led the development of a commercial focus at Hamilton, which included improving the racecourse experience for participants and fans and the building of an award-winning hotel on course. Currie, who is trained as a chartered accountant and spent time with Ernst & Young and Damovo, was also previously chief executive of Livingston FC. Sir Francis Brooke Bt., The Queen's representative...

Coolmore and trainer Wesley Ward have started to put together a 2022 schedule for their star grass sprinter Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) and it's likely to include at least two trips abroad. With an eye on showcasing the colt and future stallion to as many people as possible around the world, Coolmore is planning on running Golden Pal in the June 14 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, as well as a yet-to-be-determined race in Australia. Golden Pal has raced twice in Europe, finishing second in the 2020 G2...

Ascot Racecourse will offer record prizemoney of £15.64-million across its flat and jumps programmes in 2022, up nearly £2-million (14.4%) on 2019, the last year that planned prizemoney was distributed before the pandemic. These figures exclude the industry partnership QIPCO British Champions Day. Royal Ascot on June 14 to 18 will offer £8,652,500, up 18% on 2019. Royal Ascot Tuesday will be the meeting's first-ever card to reach £2-million in prizemoney, and the G1 Prince of Wales's S. and the G1 Platinum Jubilee S. (formerly the Diamond Jubilee S.) will...

The 2020 financial results were announced by Ascot Racecourse on Wednesday. Total turnover was down by 77% due to COVID-19 restrictions with only two racedays being held with spectators and another 18 run behind closed doors. There were also five lost racedays due to the pandemic and one abandonment due to inclement weather. Pandemic insurance and support from the UK Government through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and business rates relief prevented a pre-tax loss of over £31 million. In addition, the staff were restructured to adjust to pandemic trading...

To borrow from Charles Dickens, the past week can be encapsulated in one line: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  Actually, let's face it, when it comes to bad times it hasn't just been this week, has it? Events of this year in particular have made it harder to love racing as we rock from one unsavoury incident to the next courtesy of some of the sport's leading trainers in Europe and America. The image that can now just be described as 'that photo',...