Recently a colleague and his wife went to Ascot's QEII meeting; in return for my marking their card, they agreed to take a few pictures. Out came the best clothes and off to Ascot they went! Obtaining half price tickets through CAMRA (The Campaign For Real Ale), they'd bagged themselves a real bargain before they had even set foot on the the course - £15 for a Grandstand ticket. At the accompanying beer festival on the day, a pint of real ale from the wide selection available cost £2.50, which also struck me as jolly reasonable.
My colleague summed up the day as similar to attending a giant wedding reception but without having to go through the inconvenience of attending the ceremony. Put like that, it certainly made plenty of appeal to me.
The new grandstand was described as 'seriously impressive' (although it looks as though it will be a while before building costs are recouped - the course made a pre-tax loss of just under £11 million last year).
Needles to say, the tips provided by my good self failed abysmally. My colleague's wife however, having attended no more than a handful of meetings, placed £3 of her own money on Joshua Tree 'because I'm a U2 fan'. Not only that, she had the foresight to strike the bet with a bookmaker offering odds of 16/1. Joshua Tree won, SP 12/1.
All in all, a most enjoyable day out at the Ascot races...
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