Off to the Races!

Last Saturday I joined Craig, Becks, and their friends at the Ascot Racecourse to watch the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup. If any of you have read the novel Snobs by Julian Fellowes then you're somewhat familiar with Royal Ascot. Royal Ascot is the centerpiece of the British social season because it is based on 300 years of tradition and surrounded by a whole lot of pomp and circumstance as it is more of a social event than anything else. Royal Ascot has already passed this year so the race that I attended was a bit more low key. However, this was my first exposure to how the Brits really enjoy making a social event out of things and how class plays such a major role in their lives still today. Although we mainly sat on blankets on the grass area (which is acceptable as we are middle-class), ladies were expected to wear summer dresses and men were to be dressed appropriately for a smart occasion. The upper-class attendants had boxes in the upper levels of the grandstand. Outside of the Kentucky Derby, in America I'd always considered horse racing more of a gambling event than a social event.

The Ascot Racecourse closed in 2004 for redevelopment and recently reopened in 2006 with the highlight being an entirely new grandstand. I have to say that the new building is really amazing just to look at. The racing started at 1:15pm and there were races about every 30-45 minutes lasting for 5-10 minutes. In between the races we'd run over to the betting stations and place our bets on the various horses. After two races I was down 10 GBP and none of my horses even came close to winning, not that I knew anything about the jockeys or the horses. At this point I was about decided that I wasn't going to bet on anymore races and would just enjoy the afternoon. It was one of those unlikely British summer days when the weather was close to 30C and it was sunny and bright out without a cloud in the sky. I looked at the list of horses for the third race and finally decided that there was one horse with a name that I couldn't pass up. I went and put another 5 GBP down for Strategic Mount to win. After a mile and a half race Strategic Mount pulled out from the pack at the last stretch to win the race. It turned out that three of us had bet for Strategic Mount to win on the nose (come in first) and I got a return of 25 GBP.


After the racing Craig and Becks had us all over at their house for a BBQ. There was a variety of their friends from university, work colleagues, and friends from other walks of life. Craig made a variety of homemade sausages for us including beef and pork, pork and herbs, beef and Guinness, and pork and apple sausages (I liked these the best, yum!). There was such an abundance of food and alcohol and I had my first taste of a true British Pimms. Pimms is a very common drink during the summer that includes Pimms No. 1, lemonade, mint, slices of lemons, oranges, and apples and ice. It really reminded me of a Spanish sangria so I think I had a pitcher of it to myself. Thanks to Craig and Becks for their generosity and hospitality and for planning the whole day.

All in all it was a great British summer day of entertainment where we ate and drank ourselves silly into the wee hours of the night. Although I left a bit early as it was an hour drive back to London for me. Here are the pictures of the racing so enjoy!