Consider a Ladies Day theme for your party. Image credit: Unsplash
If you’ve moved to Australia, or you’re going to be travelling there during the festivities, then that doesn’t mean you have to miss out entirely. Many sites are providing free coverage of the action from the historic festival and television companies all across the world are broadcasting too. If you’re determined to enjoy the action this year, then this is our guide to making sure you do it in style.
Many broadcasting companies are offering bars and pubs the opportunity to show the Royal Ascot coverage for free this year. So, if your local happens to open late, or coincide in any way with the race times then it wouldn’t hurt to ask them if they’d be interested in showing it. People love having something to chat about over a drink or two and your local could benefit from a couple of extra customers, plus you’ll have an easy journey back to your place. Of course, if they’re not interested though, then don’t worry, it can be just as much fun sorting things out for yourself.
If you can’t find a suitable venue, then become the venue yourself. This is a great opportunity to invite your neighbours over and get to know each other over a bit of horse racing. As we said before, there are lots of free ways of watching the coverage, so get it up on the big screen for everyone to enjoy. If you really wanted to go for it and get everybody in the celebratory mood then you could suggest a Ladies Day themed fancy dress. Cocktail dresses and fascinators will certainly be a talking point and will help you to feel a bit more at home if you’re a little homesick during the festival. Don’t forget to lay on some refreshments for your guests, you could go down the Australian route with beers and a barbecue, or you could keep things quintessentially British with Pimms, strawberries and cucumber sandwiches. The choice is yours.
For some people, part of the enjoyment of the festival is having a bet on the action and if you’re one of those people then there are a couple of things to bear in mind. The first is to get the maximum value that you can and free bets for Ascot are a good way of doing that. At the moment there are plenty on offer thanks to the huge popularity of the festival.
The second is to do a little research. It can be great fun doing a sweepstake for the big races along with your friends, but if you want to see a return on your bets then the only way to do that is to study some form. If you approach your studying as though it’s hard work then it will feel like it, but instead, approach it like a puzzle to pick apart. Look at each horse in the running one by one, making notes on their strongest and weakest performances, plus any trends you notice, like the ground they seem to like, or if they run better with one jockey over another. Once you’ve done this, give them all a price. If your price varies significantly from the bookmakers then you’ve either made a mistake, or you’ve found a good value horse. Approaching races in this way gives you a better chance of winning or placing, as you’ve put in the leg work and spotted the horse with the potential to do well.