The world’s best racing carnival begins with the appearance of the world’s best horse and ends with the second best thoroughbred on the planet.
In between, five of the next six highest-ranked horses in the world will be sparkling support acts and the Queen will continue celebrating her diamond jubilee at a race meeting she has graced for most of the past 70-or-so years
Frankel, the local champion and the winner of his only 10 starts, gets racing underway for 2012 at Royal Ascot in the Group One Queen Anne Stakes (1600m) and is the 1-5 favourite to make it 11-from-11.
But such has been the almost unprecedented hype surrounding Australia’s superstar Black Caviar, that her bid to win her 22nd race from as many runs on Saturday has caused Frankel to take second billing.
It has also caused something of a headache for Ascot management who have sold more than 5000 tickets for Saturday’s final day of the meeting to Australian visitors who have come to see Black Caviar run in the Group One Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1200m)
The track’s chief executive Charles Barnett also reports that the Australian High Commission in London has put forward a record number of Australian “VIPs” for admission into the exclusive Royal Enclosure.
“More or less the whole of antipodean London is coming,” Barnett said.
For many of the visitors, the experience will be a novel one.
The Royal Meeting, as the five days of racing are known, is a far cry from Melbourne in the spring or Sydney in the autumn.
Where the first of 10 races on Melbourne Cup day jumps away well before noon, the first of six on each day at Royal Ascot is at 2.30.
The VIPs granted access to the Royal Enclosure must also be correctly attired. Morning suit for gentlemen and dresses (no bare shoulders or midriffs and no spaghetti straps), and hats – definitely not fascinators – for ladies.
And except for when they are seated at the luncheon table, or cheering the Queen, gents must keep their top hats on their heads.
After the last another quaint and immensely popular tradition takes place behind the main grandstand – a singalong.
With music provided by a military band, racegoers assisted by song sheets, belt out an hour’s worth of old classics before stumbling off to the train.
On Saturday they will make that trip probably having witnessed a horse from Australia run faster than any other has in the 300 years they have been racing at the Queen’s own racetrack.
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