Ascot Racecourse

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I have tried, I honestly have. I have been a few times now, and when the sun has been out, I have actually found myself sort of liking it but today I couldn't believe how many people told me how much they detest the place. Most of them were there either on a freebie or were a member, but I have to say, that the whole experience was quite depressing. At first I thought it may have just been the weather but it wasn't - the staff (most of them) were just plain miserable.

To make matters worse, when I got home there was a message from Ascot Hospitality asking if I would I be attending this year? :brows:

Ascot Management have got everything so sadly and badly wrong. It is totally geared towards hospitality with those people that love their racing, just not really catered for anymore.

So sad, as I loved the "old" Ascot, and I did (honestly) try and look at the positives about having an airport terminal masquarading as a stand at Ascot but it's wrong, all totally wrong. The staff made it worse today. They were mostly miserable and really finding it difficult to hide their disdain - especially in the Members!

Not many people present today. It may have been due to the weather but more likely that people are now actually voting with their feet. It wouldn't surprise me if there were equal number of staff to visitors today. I certainly wouldn't have gone today had I had to pay and it's literally walking distance from my house.

I am not saying I will never go again BUT it is certainly never going to figure on my list of top 20 racecourses in the UK.
 
I quite agree, during Royal Ascot it's depressing for one set of reasons, and for lesser meetings it depressing for another! I didn't feel in the slightest tempted to go today, and other than a big jumps meeting I can't see that I shall feel tempted anytime soon. The old Ascot in spite of its size had a sort of intimacy and charm which has been lost entirely in the new concrete extravaganza
 
I hope they are making a packet out of the hospitality as real racer goers are soon going to be in really short supply and I cannot believe they are covering their costs at the moment. So sad to have ruined such a lovely course and believe me I have really tried to be positive about it. Maybe I will feel better when I go again and I have got a frock on and the sun is out? shrug::
 
I think I saw the back of Alex Ferguson today. In fact I am 99% sure it was him. Not sure if he had a runner or whether he was just on a jolly!
 
He's just turned up at the Chelsea game, so he's clearly having a day out! He knows how to enjoy himself. A quick visit to Ascot races in the rain, and then off to watch The Blues - who are in front.... at the moment!
 
What with Ascot and now Great Leighs, it seems to be the fashion to build grandstands from which it is very difficult to actually watch a race.

An interesting concept, but one that I find hard to understand.
 
Venusian, as has been recounted several times in the last 10 days in the Racing Post, partly because I emailed Pippa Cuckson at Great Leighs with the reservations about the viewing at the course espressed by yourself and otheres on here:

The stand which Holmes bought from Ireland in order to provide somewhere for racegoers to get under cover had to be placed where it is on the infield, because the council requisitioned the part of the site where the stand was to be built for a 4-lane bypass. This action was the subject of a huge compensation claim, and was a large part of the reason why the development of the course got so behind

It's still intended to build the main stand [which has already won a design award!] on the other side of the track, in which case the existing stand can be dismantled and moved further into the infield. I've also suggested building a 'viewing tower' which is now also a possibility! They are well aware that current viewing isn't ideal and fully intend to address the problem.

I'm going tomorrow and will find out what current thinking is - plans are currently subject to change according to how the facilities are being used and how racegoers move around - and according to what people say they want.

The main thing is that they are getting huge support from all the top trainers esp those in Newmarket - see tonight's card - and they are very keen to take on board what everyone has to say, *so long as they have been to the track and experienced what it's like*
 
Originally posted by Headstrong@Apr 30 2008, 10:27 PM
The stand which Holmes bought from Ireland in order to provide somewhere for racegoers to get under cover had to be placed where it is on the infield, because the council requisitioned the part of the site where the stand was to be built for a 4-lane bypass...

...It's still intended to build the main stand [which has already won a design award!] on the other side of the track....
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So, why hasn't the "main stand" been built then?

They've had plenty long enough to do it.

Apart from Bangor-on-Dee, all modern racecourses have hit upon the idea of having a grandstand in place, on the correct side of the running rails, before the first meeting takes place. Why change a winning formula?
 
I quite like Ascot, even if parts of it are quite cold in being so modern. The facilities are certainly very good and strangely enough it's one course where I find the staff very friendly, much more so than at several other tracks.
 
I recently re-visited Ascot as part of a "Short Ascot Racing Break" where for £130 we got 2 tickets to the premiere enclosure, car park voucher and an overnight stay in a very good hotel just down the road in Old Windsor. It was for Countryside Day.

We had originaly been to Ascot on a "blue square racing day" and I have to say that after that experience we were not eager to return - in fact it took us over 6 years! (it was the year that Frankie had his aircraft accident and was the first meeting he returned to ride in).

However I was pleasantly surprised with the new stand and the staff were all very polite and the cleaners were all to be seen sweeping litter etc and overall I found it a great experience and I would highly recommend it to everyone - in fact i am trying to get a group together to go again (but not Royal Ascot!)

I suppose its each to their own but I liked it and would go again - and I found the top tier of the grandstand a wonderful viewing platform. And the fact that you have Totes, Food and Beer on each floor is a great idea!
 
I had a runner at the Royal meeting last year, and I came away with mixed feelings. The owners facility above the pre-parade ring was as a good as always, and is one of the few parts of the course left untouched, so no complaints there given that is where most of the day was spent.

I met up with some friends in the hospitality facility that faces the winning line head on and wasn't much impressed, particularly as the bar was barely stocked. However the staff in there were excellent and sent for the 'bottles' that were missing fairly quickly. As for viewing for owners, it was appallingly bad. If you have a runner you expect to actually see your horse run as an owner. The owners viewing is essentially straight through the concourse at ground level and the few steps in that area aren't sufficient to give a good view of the race. It left me feeling disappointed that Ascot hadn't made better provision when they have such a large new facility. If I have a runner at Ascot again I won't bother watching the race from the area assigned, and actually will think twice about an entry when I can go elsewhere.

It wouldn't put me off as a racegoer however. It has its bad points and it has lost some of its character. But after taking off the rose-tinted spectacles parts of Ascot were in desperate need of the re-build, and whilst the new stand lacks character it is an impressive facility and I have no complaints really. I've never had a problem with the staff there either before or after the re-build, and have generally found them courteous and helpful.

As a jumps venue I reckon they've really cocked it up though. I wouldn't dream of running a horse where you regularly have such a vast difference in the going between swinley bottom and the home straight. They really need to find a solution to the drainage issue they have. One part drains too quickly and the other seems to collect water.
 
But after taking off the rose-tinted spectacles parts of Ascot were in desperate need of the re-build
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I definitely agree. What was there before the rebuild dated from a very shoddy period for architecture. It's a case, perhaps, of an airport terminal replacing a bus station.
 
Originally posted by Venusian@Apr 30 2008, 09:48 PM

So, why hasn't the "main stand" been built then?
They've had plenty long enough to do it.
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No they haven't! - the authorities were building the s*dding road! They have had to go through a whole new planning process as well, as a result. I really don't understand why you are so keen to keep knocking the place, they have had a very tough time largely with things beyond their control, and have had to make the best job they can after having all their layout plans thrown into confusion.

If they had waited til they got the original stand built in the new site on the other side of the track, they would not have opened before 2009 and possibly not until 2010. So they bought this 'prefab stand' - which is quite magnificent btw - and erected that on the inner, where there was no problem getting permission to do so.

The saga of their dealings with the local planning authority are too labyrinthine to go into here, but surely you understand that you can't just go plonking things down where you like. They had outline permission to put the stand in the proper place, then the authorities requisitioned that part of the site for a road; so it was back to the drawing board! The stand now has to go further down the track towards the entrance, as it's the only place on that side of the track which is wide enough.
 
I find the architecture of the new stand impressive and everything is fine until you actually want to watch a race. But overall, the course is ok

The nostalgia for the old stands baffles me. They were ugly, cramped and dated. And how anyone could miss that bloody tunnel is beyond me. I prefer the new Ascot to the old
 
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