Are you watching?
I installed Peacock last night and am enjoying it this morning. Royal Ascot is definitely the way to watch racing. No silly talk about celebrities or fashions or recipes or betting odds or infield concerts, just horse talk by horse people. The presenter just interviewed a man named Harry, who I think may be a lord or something and knows the owners of the horses he’s talking about because he’s one of them as he breeds and races horses too.
And all the humans look just as well-turned-out as the horses, without making a big silly embarrassing deal out of how to wear a top hat.
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Watching the replays now.
Dang life getting in the way of watching earlier
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I was delighted to see jockey Hollie Doyle win the G1 Kings Stand Stakes. She rode like a winner!
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Great to see the American filly, Crimson Advocate, and Johnny V win it by a head bob. Nyquist filly out of a Proud Citizen x Horse Chestnut mare. She’s a really beautiful mover and gutsy too.
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I wish that Frankie Dettori were having better success. I hope C&C will have some winners. I’m glad Frankie is riding for them but I wish their horses were running better.
I loved seeing John Valesquez doing so well and looking so happy.
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I would like to add that Johnny V was wearing red, white and blue silks!. That 3/4 shot of her running down the straight; and then the slo mo’s at the end; man she is a beautiful mover. that stretch and flat, sweeping stride with the head held low . She stands out in the entire field of horses. Her stretch and low head carriage is what ultimately won her the race.
She moves like a stretched out greyhound or cheetah on the hunt LOL
Think she’s my favorite horse at Ascot thus far.
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King Charles has his first winner at Royal Ascot, bred by his mum.
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Beautiful run, beautiful ride.
And I love your cheetah comparison. My late nephew-cat walked like a cheetah on the prowl.
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Yay! Beautifully run and ridden.
Years ago I thought the ultimate luxury for me would be have my own washer and dryer in my own home. But repairs and maintenance can be cost-prohibitive.
Whereas the cosy luxury of “Breakfast at Royal Ascot” so far hasn’t cost me a penny and I’m enjoying seeing the elegantly dressed men as well as the beautiful horses.
One trainer was just being interviewed by one of the woman presenters in the pre-parade ring and he was such a classy gentleman (and it wasn’t just his upper-CLAHSS accent). He never took his eyes off the lady to glance around at other people, he wasn’t wearing sunglasses, he gave her his full attention and his mind to replying.
Good man.
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The Queen is smiling down and rejoicing up there! Desert Hero wins at Ascot!
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Frankie Dettori won the Gold Cup aboard Courage Mon Ami. Watched on a TSN channel here in Canada. (They had a one hour program - only found it because my sister was looking for a sports channel on which to watch tennis!)
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Tahiyra easily wins the Coronation Stakes, no surprise, even though she was previously untested over firmer turf.
Why can’t US broadcast & production teams get the kind of camera setups we see from the overseas telecasts? Closeups of the action at several points, several angles - the quality is just superior. One would think getting a similar setup at US racetracks would be simple, given that all of our tracks are flat ovals and the races are all counter-clockwise.
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I wish the US would do racing better.
I do like our post parades, but, that said, I wish our crew would talk more about the horses and jockeys and less about the betting odds.
I love the way the Royal Ascot announcer identifies the horses during the race by their jockeys’ colors. Very helpful!
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That is very conscious decision by the production companies. Betting is very important in UK racing but it certainly isn’t the be-all-and-end-all for participants, not least as betting also happens down every High Street (in so-called “Turf Accountants”) and online - which is a massive problem for prize money in British horseracing. People go to the races because they like the sport, the horses, the social scene, the craic and they may not even place a wager when there. Horses, particularly in jump racing, stay in training for several years and they often develop a following and that is helped by the regular TV coverage. There is also a huge concern within racing about “social licence”, keeping the public on side and ensuring that viewers understand about the horses, the jockeys, the trainers, the horse care, the breeding and retirement, the whole story of racing behind the scenes. It keeps up viewing numbers and also helps keep up attendance at live racing. Frankie Dettori, now in his final season, has been invaluable to racing because his massive personality and sustained success has lifted him into Christian-name-only popular recognition and into sport superstardom with regular media appearances: he was even a Team Captain on “A Question of Sport” I believe, a hugely popular family TV programme. Having royal patronage, such as Ascot, is also crucial to the world’s eyes staying on UK racing and so on the breeding industry.
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King of Steel, bred in KY, looked like a freight train coming down the stretch today to win. Impressive.
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If there is a place you go when you die, I’ll bet QEII is jumping up and down with joy 
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Something I’ve noticed about Royal Ascot is that none of the races have associated corporate sponsorships.
For example, there’s the Qipco 2000 Guineas, the Betfred Derby & Oaks. Is the absence of sponsorship by design to honor Royal Ascot’s place in the lofty echelons of UK racing? Because I’m sure the horsemen would love the purse enhancements that typically come with sponsoring a race.
I see the signs for meeting sponsors, but not individual races.
Signed,
Someone Who Hated “The Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands”
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Damn! Breakdown in the fifth race, the 10f Golden Gate. Coolmore’s Canute, right hind, looks bad.
