1999
Royal Ascot Races
Supreme Horse Racing and Fashion on English Soil
Ascot,
founded in 1711 by Queen Anne, is the World's most famous
Racecourse. It was while Queen Anne was out riding on
the edge of Windsor Great Park that she noticed a natural
clearing near the village of East Cote, now called Ascot.
Queen Anne ordered her Master of the Buckhounds, The
Duke of Somerset, to lay out a course for horses to
gallop at full stretch' and so the Royal Racecourse
was born.
The
Queen had extra reason to celebrate Royal Ascot on Wednesday
as her own horse Blueprint won comfortably in a race
named after her husband. The win by a length-and-a-half
in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes netted
its royal owner £27,659. Her Majesty
beamed a winning smile as she walked to the winner's
enclosure, mingling with fashion-conscious racegoers.
The 4-1 favourite,
ridden by American Gary Stevens and trained at Newmarket
by Sir Michael Stoute, was her only entry on the second
day of the Ascot meeting. In the Queen's purple,
gold, scarlet and black racing colours, Blueprint sprinted
to the front of the 18-runner field to win over one
and a half miles. The triumph in the "Sport of Kings"
was also enjoyed by the
98-year-old Queen Mother as the family revelled in their
racing triumph. It was the
Queen's first Royal Ascot winner since 1995 when Phantom
Gold won the Ribblesdale Stakes. Blueprint, who finished
third at Ascot last year, now looks favourite to travel
to Australia for the biggest race Down Under, the Melbourne
Cup.
On Thursday shock winner was Enzeli who won the presitigious
Gold Cup race. Enzeli, who was ridden by Jogn Murtagh,
was set in for a bet of 20-1. The Aga Kahn (owner) and
the Irish trainer were thus much pleased. Invermark
came in second. Frankie Dettori's choice, last year's
St Leger winner Nedawi was sent off the 7-2 favourite
but he finished unplaced.
Ascot
provides one of the most colourful events of the sporting
and social calendar, where the competition for the most
striking hat is as closely run as the racing. Flowers,
frills and even a butterfly show that fashion can easily
go to anyone's head. Brimming with confidence. Ascot
fashion is not always about how outrageous your hat
can be, sometimes a slightly more subtle approach can
work wonders.
Man on the moon
Earlier, moonwalker Buzz Aldrin stood on the Ascot
turf almost 30 years after he had set foot on the moon,
and said he felt more at home with the space race than
horseracing.
"I'm not a horseracing fan; the only race I cared about
was to the moon - and I won that," he said. "The other
race was beating the Soviets - and I did that as well."
Buzz is in Britain with his wife Lois for next month's
30th anniversary.
Ascot,
founded in 1711 by Queen Anne, is the World's most famous
Racecourse. It was while Queen Anne was out riding on
the edge of Windsor Great Park that she noticed a natural
clearing near the village of East Cote, now called Ascot.
Queen Anne ordered her Master of the Buckhounds, The
Duke of Somerset, to lay out a course for horses to
gallop at full stretch' and so the Royal Racecourse
was born.
The
Queen had extra reason to celebrate Royal Ascot on Wednesday
as her own horse Blueprint won comfortably in a race
named after her husband. The win by a length-and-a-half
in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes netted 
Ascot
provides one of the most colourful events of the sporting
and social calendar, where the competition for the most
striking hat is as closely run as the racing. Flowers,
frills and even a butterfly show that fashion can easily
go to anyone's head. Brimming with confidence. Ascot
fashion is not always about how outrageous your hat
can be, sometimes a slightly more subtle approach can
work wonders.
