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Download, Britain!
Curses in Ascot - first of all, the competition of riders
Download, Britain! The 300th anniversary of the royal jumps in English ascot is celebrated this year. The first were held in August 1711 under the patronage of Queen Anna. She herself found a place for the future hippodrome - very close to the Windsor castle. And until now, her name is called the first race, which every year opens the royal five -day. Who and what competes in Askot - found out The New Times
But how did he manage to find himself here? It was above my understanding. The fact is that he recently married Rosie M. Banks, a famous writer, and when we saw each other the last time, he was going to a lecture tour of America with her. I remember very well how he poured curses, because because of this trip he did not keep up with jumps in Ascot.
Pal Grenvili Woodhaus. "Jivs and inexorable rock"
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Million rates are made on these jumps. Mostly on purebred horses from around the world. This year, in addition to horses, for some reason there were many bets on Kate Middleton’s sister, the wife of Prince William. Everyone wondered whether Pippa would be on races in a royal retinue: it was on the rostrum, but it seems that they did not take it into the procession. And at the same time they took 5: 1 rates that Prince Harry will be the next boyfriend, and 9: 4, that her husband will have the Duke's title. But this “horse” has a premarital race yet.
The choice of the queen
Huge amounts are placed by gambling fans on the color of the hat that Elizabeth II will choose on the most important, third day, on Thursday, when the golden cup is played out * * The royal five days lasts from Tuesday to Saturday at the 3rd week of June. This year - from June 14 to 18 .. Knowing this, the queen is forced until the last moment to keep her choice in the strictest secret so that no one could use the “leakage of information” for selfish purposes. This year the hat was coral.
The queen has not missed a single June jumps since 1945. And she puts a lot of money - exclusively on her own horses. Her horses had been won twenty times, bringing her double joy and double income - a share in prize money and winning in the totalizator.
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However, her Majesty seems to belong to the entire hippodrome. But it belongs as theoretically as power in the state. In fact, the hippodrome is controlled by a special trust. Moreover, back in 1813, the parliament adopted a law guaranteeing the right to attend jumps to the general public.
Each of the five days begins with the royal procession - the solemn passage of the monarch in a carriage along the main path of the hippodrome. This venture came to the head of the king George IV *** Regent from 1811, and then the fifth king of Great Britain from 1820 to 1830 .. He also came up with a restructuring the stadium so as to separate the royal box. This is an extremely unpopular monarch for his egoism, a dandy by nature, a lover of banquets and ladies, and made jumps in Ascot a fashionable social event.
Life was a success *
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So it became the word "ascot" as a household. We say Askot, we mean the parade and fair of vanity of the British nobility and the upper classes. It is not clear what is more on these jumps - equestrian sports or snob competitions, one of the British newspapers noted.
They say that never anywhere in the world you can see such a crazy concentration of Rolls-Roisy and Bentley, as at the entrance to the hippodrome ascot in the royal week.
These five days are the worst time for lobsters of the world. They are eaten here in monstrous quantities, thousands. Ten thousand bottles of champagne are drunk. And, of course, an unusual amount of strawberries (certainly with cream) is consumed, as well as strawberry crook buns.
And to be on the royal rostrum of the hippodrome in these five days is generally the top of the social triumph. From there, running is best visible, but the main thing is to “be seen” by himself in this magical place. And then - life was a success. But no money will help you get a ticket to the royal tribune without special connections and status in society. To get there, you need either a personal invitation from the palace, or the recommendation of the “club member” of the royal rostrum-the person is considered to be such, at least four seasons that had a cherished breeze.
| Spying for the former Kagbeshnik , and now the owner of a large company Max Zorin, James Bond comes to Askot jumps in Askot in the film “Murder View” (1985). Agent 007 notes that the villain’s horse breaks into the leaders at the last moment and wins the race. Later, having secretly penetrating the secret laboratory of Zorin, the character of Roger Moore finds out that the animal was implanted by a controlled microchip with a special narcotic drug that relieves fatigue. |
In a certain sense, nothing can be compared with royal jumps. This is a strange exception to the rules, here you can do what is impossible in normal life. The taboo is canceled for only five days. So you have to be in time! The elite of the country, which in normal life is supposed to behave quietly and discretely (a great word, meaning - you can’t flaunt your life), suddenly gets the opportunity to "look at people and show yourself." Celebrities from the world of art, the coolest bankers and industrial magnates, politicians and know - all here, darling. And you have to look in all its splendor!
Disappealed
True, for men and women, “shine” consists in different things, in the opposite even. If the ladies are designed to surprise with their outfits, then the gentlemen, on the contrary, should demonstrate the fidelity of the eternal tradition, expressed in a strictly conservative and monotonous form. They should be dressed in all days in the same way as their ancestors dressed and hundred and two hundred years ago. No innovations and variations. Gray or black business card. Be sure - a cylinder, which, in the official rules, can only be removed inside private lodges or restaurants, as well as in the garden. For violation of the dress code, they remove, selecting a transplant sign, it is expelled completely mercilessly, despite the faces. Even the Stewart clan several years ago was asked to leave the rostrum for violating some part in the toilet * * there are other formal prohibitions: they do not let bankruptcy and persons with criminal records. And until 1955, it was impossible to come to Askot to diluted ladies and gentlemen ..
The ladies here, of course, change the outfits every day, not repeating either literally or thematically. No neckline, open shoulders, straps and, God forbid, a mini-cub, of course. The official dress code of the royal tribune categorically prohibits this. But the trouser suit is allowed, provided that (quote from the same rules) “Pants and a jacket will coincide in color and material and costume will be full length”.
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But the choice of dress is another half of the problem. The main thing is the hat. It has long happened that original hats should correspond to the daily change of expensive outfits. On the royal rostrum, the hat is required, according to formal rules. A hat or Fascinator - an interesting English word that comes from the verb to fascinate - to amaze, captivate, but also denoting a cloak, a headdress. In fact, appearing with an uncovered head even on other, less “strict” stands than the royal, is a challenge, an almost revolutionary act. This happens, but perceived as insolence.
For a normal, negant lady, jumps in Ascot give a great opportunity to express themselves in some Fassinator. Photographers from newspapers and magazines of secular chronicles catch ladies with incredible structures on their heads-some sometimes whole plumas or tropical gardens on their heads.
Fashionistas are trying to outline each other and get into lenses. The main day for which you need to part and prepare the outfits beating on the spot is that very third day of the races, the so -called Ladies Day, when the main prize is played - the Golden Cup.
From mud to bunch
In Soviet times, journalists often wrote about royal leaps in Askot - for them it was a great reason to mock the immorality of “heroes that were infuriated with the fat” and speculate about the class character of British society and the state.
It is true that the British still heatedly perceive class belonging, their own and someone else's. Moreover, they have a lot of other ways to recognize it in addition to passing the royal rostrum in ascot - by clothing, by manners and especially in language - pronunciation and intonation. In the British press, you can often find complaints about this. The authors of such articles believe that this is a heavy relic that prevents the country from moving forward. Partly, this is probably true, but historically, it seems, everything was not so black and white. 
Paradoxically, the heightened class consciousness was closely connected with the high social mobility of British society. The elite, like a sponge, absorbed talented people from the lower layers. First from the bourgeoisie, then she learned to scoop up and lower. Moreover, this began from childhood, at the age of 11, when the children of the poor showing high abilities fell into the so-called "grammatical" schools, then opening the doors of the best universities in front of their students and a straight road to the ruling elite. And already many centuries ago, some successful entrepreneur or even an engineer could well count on obtaining a higher aristocratic title and a place in the House of Lords.
| The last time the head of the Russian state visited the jumps in Askot in 1844 - then Nicholas I was in the UK with a state visit. The emperor was named in his honor of the winning horse, and in response he established a new award-the imperial cup, renamed the golden nine years later for obvious reasons-the Crimean war began. Since then, it seems that visiting ascot by Russian leaders is considered a bad sign ... |
Since then, this attitude towards classes has been preserved in British society. It comes from the fact that a person, consciously or unconsciously, is trying on any situation from this angle: “How much is I recognized as a talented and necessary society? How other people are compared with me, did they achieve more, have they rose above me along the social ladder? ” To confirm success, these funny attributes such as cylinders and fasinators served. And of course, the newcomers accepted in the elite were the most terrible snobs, despised by those who were not so lucky. Alas, such is human nature - even in England ... But what, meanwhile, is happening on treadmills? Purebred horses from around the world compete there. The best horses, the best assholes. This year, 500 horses participated in 30 races. Some of the guests are still worried, although there are such that, having painted on the rostrum, then they spend all day in restaurants, bars and so on. For them, the competitions of riders and horses are clearly an optional application to a social event.
 | Prizes to the winners of the races are the largest prize pool at the races of this year - in the competition for the golden anniversary cup. It amounted to £ 400,000. The winner receives £ 227,080, five who came, respectively, £ 86,080, £ 43,080, £ 21,480, £ 10 760 and £ 5,400. Prizes of other races are much more modest (the prize pool, as a rule, is £ 50,000–100,000). |