The Chief Executive of Ascot Racecourse Guy Henderson, said at the end of the five-day Royal Ascot meeting: “It has been a fantastic week but I won’t relax entirely until I know everybody has got safely home.”
“We hosted a total attendance over the five days of 295,007 which is very pleasing and my thanks must go to all the horsemen who have brought their best horses to Royal Ascot.”
“We have had some fabulous racing and everybody seems to have had fun. Ascot is Her Majesty The Queen’s racecourse and the crowning moment for everyone, from racegoers to our hard-working staff, came with her winner today.”
“The atmosphere was tremendous when the Queens Dartmouth passed the winning post first in the Hardwicke Stakes and then everybody cheered again when the stewards left the placings unaltered.”
“There has been a real international flavour to the racing, with the quality of the international challengers constantly improving, and it was tremendous to see the American-trained Tepin win the Queen Anne Stakes on the first day, while fellow transatlantic challenger Lady Aurelia could not have been more impressive in the Queen Mary Stakes on Wednesday. Usherette and Qemah were the two classy winners from France.”
“Gold-Fun came from Hong Kong and went very close to capturing the Diamond Jubilee Stakes today, but the QIPCO Leading Jockey Award winner Ryan Moore was successful on Twilight Son who is trained by Henry Candy and owned by Godfrey Wilson and Cheveley Park Stud.”
“We had a record 14 overseas-trained winners, 47 per cent of all the victors this week, with 10 from Ireland, two from America and two from France.”
“We aim to spread the positive message of Royal Ascot ever wider. We are helped by the increase in our social media activities and continued development of the Ascot website. We much look forward to Royal Ascot being broadcast live on NBC in the US in 2017.”
“I would like to conclude by saying a festival like this does not happen by accident and I want to thank all the Ascot team and the nearly 6,000 staff working here for making the week special for everyone.”
William Buick got banned for 30 days for causing interference in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly on Sunday but his ban was doubled when he accused the French stewards of being corrupt.
At the Curragh on Saturday in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Aiden O’Brien’s very smart US Army Ranger has been heavily backed for the race and a big run looks on the cards for the Ballydoyle warrior.
Gang Warfare will go close at Newcastle on Saturday in Pitmans Derby.
Yours In Sport!
The Colonel
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