Before visiting the racecourse, I knew that neither my wife nor I would be given admission because the Ascot racecourse announced its strict dress code for guests on its website. We were traveling to the U.K. in October 2018, and neither brought jackets nor pants that would meet the dress code. But I decided to go to Ascot with her just to see what the venue was like, how people were dressed, and how the atmosphere would be.
When I arrived at the gate, I was overwhelmed by the magnificence of its construction and the greenness of the course. The racecourse was so huge that I couldn’t imagine how extensively it stretched out from my viewpoint.
I watched people in queues in front of the gate who were entitled to the grandstands with feelings of jealousy, and I saw even kids dressed formally being accompanied by their parents. A thought struck me that most visitors never wear such nicely like that in Japan’s horse racecourses except for wealthy horse owners and their family members.
But eventually, my inability to access the stands led to great luck. I noticed that some people walked down the under path seemingly connected to the inner area of the racecourse. They all wore casual clothing. Just curiosity pushed me to follow them, and then I was taken to the area where I could have a broader view of the stands facing the homestretch!
I stood in the inner area facing the magnificent facade of the stands, full of spectators on every floor wearing nice suits, dresses, and hats with a glass in their hand. I found a chamber on a top floor protected with thick glasses through which some noble ladies and gentlemen looked down onto the racecourse—my wife still insists that they must have been royal family members!
Watching the spectators in the stans from the inner area, I got the feeling that I had learned how people in the U.K. usually would enjoy racing days on horse racecourses. Unlike the visitors to Japan’s racecourses, they gather at racecourses not just to bet but also to share time with their friends or family members. Racecourses in the U.K. provide visitors with opportunities for betting, lovely views of graceful thoroughbreds, and the lively greenness of the racecourse. Races are the kind of events given to visitors as triggers for fuss and excitement.
Just before leaving the racecourse, I was talked to by a gentleman who seemed around sixty. He asked where I was from, and I answered that I was from Japan. He got excited and said, “Oh, Japan. Taki, Taki!” I couldn’t imagine who Taki he mentioned would be, but in a moment, I realized the person in question was Yutaka Take, one of the top jockeys in Japan. I was amazed that he knew of Yutaka Take and wondered how he got to know of him. He was impressed when I told him, “Yutaka Take has just achieved a total of four thousand wins recently in Japan.”
It was a profoundly memorable day in Ascot.
the Ascot racecourse on October 20, 2018