Attendance at Royal Ascot in 2013 was 279,452 (280,268 in 2012).
Public Grandstand capacity has been phased down by 3,000 since 2011. 25,000 ticket holders were previously using the public Grandstand area and the maximum on any given day now is 22,000.
Additionally 2,000 of those ticket holders actually use new club areas – The Furlong Club and The Pavilion Club were introduced last year. The combined effect of the recent changes is an enhanced experience for Grandstand ticket holders.
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Ascot has the largest number of private boxes (222) of any sporting facility in Europe.
Michelin Star Chefs Tom Kerridge and Atul Kochhar will be in action at this year’s Royal Meeting alongside Ascot’s Head Chef, Steve Golding, to provide unrivalled fine dining options to the 35,000 expected hospitality guests over the week.
Ascot welcomes visitors from every postcode in the UK during the Royal Meeting.
All 30 races at Royal Ascot will be shown live on Channel 4 and, through Pitch International and GBI Racing, pictures are distributed to approximately 200 countries worldwide.
330 Chefs will work across 12 restaurants and the private boxes at Royal Ascot 2014.
There are 175 stable boxes at Ascot Racecourse to accommodate an average of 100 runners per day but the boxes are nearly always full, with runners for the next day’s racing (approximately 60) also accommodated.
700 bales of shavings and 500 bales of paper are used for stable bedding over the week.
Approximately 1,000 members of the worldwide media are accredited to Royal Ascot.
There are 13,398 car parking spaces at Ascot over 10 Car Parks.
45,000 guests taking afternoon tea last year consumed 1,000 kilos of clotted cream along with 50,000 macaroons, 30,000 chocolate éclairs and 7,000 punnets of berries.
A bespoke loose-leaf tea blend has been specially commissioned for Royal Ascot this year. Tea connoisseur Henrietta Lovell, owner of the ‘Rare Tea Company’ has developed the blend to accompany the Royal Ascot Afternoon Tea menu for this year.
630 panels of picket fence, over 1.5km, will go up around the site.
250 in-house stewards, many of whom traditionally choose to wear bowler hats, and 600 stewarding staff supplement the circa 80 permanent Ascot staff for Royal Ascot.
Approximately 400 helicopters and 1,000 limos descend on Royal Ascot every year.
At Royal Ascot 2013 racegoers enjoyed 51,000 bottles of champagne; 125,000 glasses of Pimms; 174,000 pints of beer; 5,000 kilos of salmon, 7000 Cornish and Folkestone crabs, 2,900 lobsters, 2,400 kilos of beef sirloin, 3,700 rumps of English lamb, 10,000 Angus steaks.
There are 2,400 cleaners working on a 24-hour cycle during the week and there are 300 mobile toilet facilities installed temporarily for the week.
In 2013, Ascot Racecourse recycled 547 tonnes of waste during the year as part of its commitment to being a green and sustainable environment by reducing its impact on the carbon footprint.
In September 2013, Ascot was voted best flat racecourse and third best jumps course (Large Racecourse Categories) in a Racehorse Owners Association survey.
Allison is the Publisher of Eclipse Magazine. She loves going to the Races and is learning to bet (despite being officially the worst bettor in the History of the Universe), there’s a lot more to learn…
