If you’re into racing, or even if you’re not really but you like a good day out with something going on in the background, you’ll know that not all racecourses are the same. Not even close actually. I’ve been to a few over the years and they’ve all got their own thing going on, their own crowd, their own feel to the day. Here’s my take on the three best ones for a proper occasion.
- Ascot Racecourse So Ascot is the big one isn’t it. Everyone knows Ascot even if they’ve never watched racing in their life. Royal Ascot in June is just one of those things that happens every year and the whole country sort of tunes in whether they mean to or not. The King comes down the course in a carriage, the hats come out, and it all feels very grand and very British in a way that’s actually quite hard not to enjoy even if that wasn’t what you were expecting. The fashion is a genuine thing there by the way, not just something magazines go on about. Women planning their Royal Ascot outfits will start months before the day and honestly that’s not being dramatic, that’s just being sensible. The dress code in the Royal Enclosure is stricter than people expect and it does get enforced so it’s worth actually reading it rather than assuming you’ve got the gist. Get it right though and there really isn’t much better than a sunny afternoon at Ascot with a good hat on.
- Cheltenham Racecourse Right so Cheltenham is a bit closer to home for me and I might be biased but I think the Festival is one of the best sporting events in the country full stop. It’s four days in March and by the end of it, Gold Cup day especially, the atmosphere is something else entirely. People are genuinely emotional, horses they’ve followed all season running the race that matters, it gets to you even if you didn’t think it would. Fashion wise it’s a completely different thing to Ascot. Nobody’s turning up in a floaty silk dress, you’d be frozen and you’d look a bit lost. It’s coats and boots and layers, maybe a bit of tweed if you’re feeling it. The Irish come over in huge numbers every year and they bring this incredible energy with them that just lifts the whole week. Cheltenham without the Irish contingent would be a completely different event and not as good, I’ll say that plainly.
- Aintree Racecourse Aintree is interesting because it’s got two completely different things going on and they’re both brilliant in their own way. The Grand National first, which is just one of those races that grips people who don’t even follow racing. The fences are huge, the field is massive, it’s completely unpredictable every single year. Watching it live is a different experience to watching it on the telly, it’s louder and faster and a lot more nerve wracking. Then there’s Ladies Day which is just brilliant fun honestly. The fashion gets bold up there, really bold sometimes, and nobody’s being shy about it. People have put proper thought and money into their outfits and they’re there to have a good time and it shows. There’s a warmth to Aintree that I really like, it doesn’t take itself too seriously in the way some of the southern venues can, and that makes for a brilliant atmosphere. My cousin went a few years back thinking she wouldn’t enjoy it and now she tries to go every year.