No worries for Libaud

Eric Libaud is unconcerned about the change of surface for Vision D'Etat as the Royal Ascot winner prepares to encounter Tapeta for the first time in Saturday's $10m Dubai World Cup.

The French raider is the 9-2 favourite with Coral to confirm his Prince Of Wales's Stakes win over Twice Over and follow up his Hong Kong Cup triumph in December. However, both of those victories came on turf and the five-year-old will be racing on Michael Dickinson's all-weather surface for the first time this weekend.

"I have no concerns over the change of surface," said Libaud. "It is not a surface which is foreign, it is soft enough and the European horses did well during the Carnival. The horse travelled here very well. He likes to travel and does so very easily."

Although down the field in the Prix de l'Arc d'Triomphe over a mile and a half, he appreciated the drop back in distance to this weekend's trip of a mile and a quarter in Hong Kong, where he beat Collection by three-quarters of a length.

Libaud added: "The horse did his final piece of work in France last Thursday and I think he is as well as before Hong Kong. In fact he may have even put on weight."

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Royal Ascot: Types of Tickets

There are two types of tickets available to buy for Royal Ascot – Grandstand Admission and Silver Ring.

Grandstand Admission includes the following:

• Access to seating on the Grandstand from where you can watch the races
• Further viewing areas at ground level and lawn level
• Opportunity to watch the Royal Procession
• Access to the Parade Ring and Pre-Parade Ring
• An assortment of places where you can eat, drink and place bets.

Silver Ring Tickets include the following:

• Viewing areas from which to watch the races and the Royal Procession
• Over 2,000 seats available from which to watch the racing
• Eating, drinking and betting opportunities
• Big screen TV’s
• Entertainment every day in the form of live music.

The Races

Out of a total of 30 races, Royal Ascot features 16 Group races across the five days, and each day features at least one Group One race. Group One races are held in the highest regard and include ‘Classics’ and other races of major international importance. As already mentioned, there’s the Ascot Gold Cup, plus other Group One races include the King’s Stand Stakes, St. James’s Palace Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes, Prince of Wales’s Stakes, Coronation Stakes and Golden Jubilee Stakes.

Other famous races include the Queen’s Vase and the Royal Hunt Cup, and the winners of these, along with the Gold Cup, have their trophies presented by the Queen. Interestingly these three trophies are actually re-made each year so that the winners get to keep them, unlike with the other races where the winners have to give the trophies back after a year.

Ascot Racecourse

Ascot Racecourse is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races, the same number as Newmarket. The course is closely associated with the British Royal Family, being approximately six miles from Windsor Castle, and owned by the Crown Estate.

Ascot today stages twenty-five days of racing over the course of the year, comprising sixteen Flat meetings held in the months of May and October. The Royal Meeting, held in June, remains a major draw, the highlight being the Ascot Gold Cup. The most prestigious race is the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes run over the course in July.

History

Ascot Racecourse was founded in 1711 by Queen Anne. The first race, "Her Majesty's Plate," with a purse of 100 guineas, was held on 11 August 1711. Seven horses competed, each carrying a weight of 12 stones (76 kg). This first race comprised three separate four-mile (6437 m) heats.

In 1813, Parliament passed an act to ensure that the grounds would remain a public racecourse. In 1913, Parliament passed an act creating the Ascot Authority, an entity that manages the racecourse to this day. From its creation until 1945, the only racing that took place at Ascot was the Royal Meeting, a four-day event. Since that date, more fixtures have been introduced to the grounds, notably the Steeplechase and hurdles in 1965.

Ascot racecourse closed for a period of twenty months on 26 September 2004, for a £185 million redevelopment funded by Allied Irish Bank and designed by Populous and Buro Happold. As owner of the Ascot estate, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth reopened the racecourse on Tuesday 20 June 2006.

However upon re-opening, the new grandstand has attracted widespread criticism for failing to provide sufficient raised viewing for patrons to watch the racing, and devoting too much space to money-spinning restaurants and corporate hospitality facilities.At the end of 2006 a £10 million programme of further alterations was announced to improve the viewing from lower levels of the grandstand using an innovative steel composite product ("SPS" Sandwich plate system) to reprofile the existing concrete terraces. However, the upper levels provide far less accommodation for the everyday racegoer than was present in the former stand.

In March 2009 it was confirmed that the main sponsors of Ascot, William Hill would be ceasing their sponsorship deal, citing that the decision by the BBC to reduce live race coverage as the main reason in its decision making process.In July 2009, Ascot Racecourse also hosted the third round of the UAE President's Cup.

Royal Ascot

The centrepiece of Ascot’s year, Royal Ascot is one of the world’s most famous race meetings, and dates back to 1711. The Queen attends the meeting, arriving each day in a horse-drawn carriage. It is a major event in the British social calendar, and press coverage of the attendees and what they are wearing often exceeds coverage of the actual racing. The Royal Enclosure has a strict dress code—male attendees must wear full morning dress including a top hat, whilst ladies must not show bare midriffs or shoulders and must wear hats. Outside the Royal Enclosure the dress code is less severe, but many people choose to wear formal dress anyway. To be admitted to the Royal Enclosure for the first time one must either be a guest of a member or be sponsored for membership by a member who has attended at least four times. This continues to maintain a socially exclusive character to the Enclosure. Over 300,000 people make the annual visit to Berkshire during Royal Ascot week, making this Europe’s best-attended race meeting. This leads to a split among racing fans, some of whom are glad to see racing in the spotlight, and getting more attention, while others do not like the meeting despite the quality of racing.

There are 16 Group races on offer, with at least one Group One event on each of the five days. The Ascot Gold Cup is on Ladies' Day on the Thursday. There is over £3,000,000 of prize money on offer.