Ascot Racecourse

Guy Henderson will retire from his position as chief executive officer of Ascot after next year's Royal meeting, which will be his eighth in that position. Henderson said, "We make this announcement as the process to appoint the next CEO begins. Meanwhile, it remains business as usual as we deliver the remainder of the 2021 racing and events programme and build towards Royal Ascot 2022 in the Platinum Jubilee year. This will be a unique event at Ascot about which we are all very excited." Sir Francis Brooke, Her Majesty's...

Ascot Racecourse will fund the Professional Jockeys Association's Career Ending Insurance scheme for a period of one month while the PJA continues discussions with industry stakeholders to establish a sustainable long-term funding solution. The scheme pays out a capital sum should a jockey suffer a career-ending injury. The scheme was traditionally funded through commercial sponsorship but for the last two years has been paid for out of PJA reserves, assisted for the last six months by a grant from the Horserace Betting Levy Board. Jon Holmes, chairman of the PJA,...

Insurance broker Howden is now an official partner of Ascot Racecourse, the organisation announced on Monday. The five-year deal will run from 2021 to 2025. The insurance broker is well known in the racing industry as they arrange specialist equine insurance solutions for equestrian associations, racecourses, racehorse trainers, stud farms, riding schools and horse owners. Founded by David Howden who is also the president of the Cornbury House Horse Trials, Howden will have extensive branding at every live raceday at Ascot, including the five days of Royal Ascot this year...

Bjorn Nielsen's triple G1 Gold Cup hero Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) halted the longest losing streak of his career with a first success in Wednesday's G3 Longines Sagaro S. tackling two miles of his favoured Ascot stomping ground. Backing up another Royal triumph by snaffling a fourth G1 Goodwood Cup in July, the homebred chestnut was edged out by ill-fated G1 Epsom Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in ParisLongchamp's G2 Prix Foy in September and was not disgraced when seventh back over the same course...

Prizemoney for Royal Ascot in 2021-set for June 15 to 19-will be £6-million, a 66% increase on 2020. Ascot Racecourse also revealed on Tuesday that the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. in July will be worth £875,000, up from £400,000 in 2020 when purses took a massive hit in the midst of the pandemic. Guy Henderson, chief executive officer at Ascot Racecourse, said, "In 2020 we had hoped to offer record prize money of more than £8-million at the Royal Meeting. In the event the pandemic made...

Felicity Barnard has been named to the role of Ascot Commercial Director, the racecourse announced on Monday. Barnard, who will report to Ascot Chief Executive Guy Henderson, will be responsible for devising and implementing commercial strategy for in venue sales and marketing, partnerships, sponsorship, licencing, memberships and new income streams. Ascot Finance Director Ian McGregor is in charge of the racecourse's domestic and international broadcast, media and data rights while a review of how these areas should be developed is underway. Previously, Barnard spent four years as CEO of Tie...

Ascot Racecourse has said it does not expect crowds to return to pre-COVID levels before 2022, and in releasing its 2019 financial results on Wednesday painted a bleak financial picture for the next two years in the absence of continued government support. "Overall, in terms of our long-term financial flight path, we forecast that the Covid-19 pandemic will have set the business plan back at least three years," said Guy Henderson, chief executive officer of Ascot Racecourse. Ascot returned a net profit of £7.3-million last year and a rise in...

Virtual Live Racing, which is a type of virtual racing product that is based on past performance data from previously run real races utilising a racecourse's rich archive and intellectual property database, will launch at Ascot Racecourse, a UK first. The latest CGI technology will be used to create a fully immersive digital racing and betting experience of Ascot. The idea is that VLR's product will offer a no cost, risk free, revenue stream opportunity to racetracks to extend their digital brand distribution to access a lucrative tote betting market....

It's been the best part of three decades since Culture Vulture (Timeless Moment) strutted her stuff at the top table in Chris Wright's blue-and-yellow silks and the music supremo has found a jewel to match that luminary's achievements after David Menuisier incumbent Wonderful Tonight (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) backed up a career best in ParisLongchamp's G1 Prix de Royallieu earlier this month with a game victory in Saturday's G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares S. at Ascot. The bay sophomore was in receipt of a six-pound pull from her...

Not content to rest on her laurels, rider-of-the-moment Hollie Doyle claimed a career-best success when guiding last month's G1 Haydock Sprint Cup runner-up Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) to a dramatic success in Saturday's Qipco British Champions Sprint S. at Ascot. Hambleton Racing Partnership's veteran chestnut, who had previously claimed a first pattern-race triumph in The Curragh's Aug. 8 G3 Phoenix Sprint S., broke like greased lightning from the gates and was in command under a tight hold until allowed a measure of rein at halfway. Looking certain to be...

Ascot's rain-affected British Champions Day opened with the £300,000 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup over the best part of two miles and it was Hollie Doyle, fresh from setting a record number of winners earlier in the week, who celebrated success with a wide-margin tally aboard Barbary Lions 5's 4-year-old gelding Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}). The Alan King trainee's previous best came in July's Listed Tapster S. at Haydock and he earned his place in this line-up coming back off an eighth--behind the reopposing Fujaira Prince (Ire) (Pivotal {GB})--in...

As rain continued to pummel both Paris and parts of England on Saturday, Ascot's card which was set to feature the G3 Bengough S. and G3 Cumberland Lodge S.-including last year's unbeaten G1 St Leger winner Logician (GB) (Frankel {GB})-was cancelled. A Tweet from the course read: "Update--Following over 36mm rain since racing yesterday, today's meeting has been abandoned. The track is unsafe for racing due to waterlogging and false patches of ground."