Given that the year 2016 will see The Queen celebrate her 90th Birthday, Ascot Racecourse has announced its intention to honour the occasion by renaming the G1 Ascot Gold Cup to The Gold Cup in Honour of The Queen's 90th Birthday. Her Majesty's Representative at Ascot, Johnny Weatherby, said, “The Gold Cup, recently won of course by The Queen herself, is the historic centrepiece of Royal Ascot, and is very much the race which resonates most with the public. For this reason we are delighted to be celebrating The Queen's 90th birthday in the race title of The Gold Cup. Royal Ascot also announced a new initiative which seeks to reward the significant and often unheralded role breeders play in the prestigious meeting.
Guy Henderson, Ascot's chief executive added, “For the first time, all breeders of winning horses at Royal Ascot will receive a memento of their achievement. Appropriately, owners, trainers, jockeys and stable staff are already recognised after races. For breeders, which are sometimes smaller operations, that recognition is less obvious but just as important. Therefore, we will be awarding Royal Ascot-branded Strawberry Dishes to all winning breeders.”
David Redvers, owner of Tweenhills Farm and Stud and manager of Qatar Racing voiced his support of the initiative commenting, “Ascot should be applauded for recognising the importance and the role of the breeder. To be responsible for producing the winner of a race at Royal Ascot is a notable feat for any breeder. Furthermore, the diversity of races at the Royal Meeting from 2-year-old races over sprint trips to long distance races for older horses gives all types of breeder a chance to succeed at the world's premier race meeting.”
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