What an exciting day.  I have a sore throat from screaming so much.  It was Ladies Day at Ascot so I took my first day of annual leave so far this year and set off with Lara.  I did have a blueberry, banana and Tahini smoothie first to set me up for a day of treat eating and drinking.

We managed to arrive at exactly the same time as our friends who travelled down from Warwickshire which was perfect. I am very lucky to be invited by the same family each year and we have our little traditions which I love.  We head for the same restaurant and enjoy a chilled glass of something.  Still or sparkling? So good to be with our dear friends in such a special place. I had a dressed crab salad, with new potatoes and bread.
It was lovely to spend a day with my girl too. After lunch we went for a stroll.  Here comes the band. Here comes her Majesty and we were at the front 🙂 Unfortunately all my pictures of the Royal family passing were blurry.  I only took a small bag and my small camera which just doesn’t do the place justice.  This picture of the carriages on the way back to the castle show how close we were though. We move around during the day.  For some races we stand at the very front, as we did for the first race of the day. We sometimes stand on the grass in the middle of the enclosure and we ended the day at the top of the grandstand.  The Queen spends the day in her box, which is the black and white curved box in the picture below or in the Winners Enclosure where she hands out prizes, or in the case of today, receives them too 🙂 We had so much fun.Pimms?  Yes please!
It was fun getting dressed up and they have tightened the dress code recently which I am in favour of as it makes the day more special.  I love how this dog wore a fascinator too.

Going to Ascot is always special and I feel very lucky to be invited each year.  It is a wonderful day out spent with special friends.  Today was even more exciting than usual.  The main race of the day is the Gold Cup.  Our Queen owns and races many horses and today her horse won.  This is the first time in Ascot’s 207 year history that the reigning Monarch has won the Gold Cup.

What made it even more exciting was that Lara, myself and 2 others in our party had all bet on Estimate to win.  I probably only gamble once a year when I come to Ascot and always with small stakes.  But that does not diminish the excitement of watching the race.  As the horses race along the final straight the crowd goes wild, roaring and cheering.  You can physically feel the roar, like a wave coming over you, as the horses race by.  It was so exciting.

The crowd here are very fond of the Queen who was clearly delighted with her win.  They played her very happy reaction to the win on the big screens so we all cheered and celebrated again.

Congratulations Estimate and well done for making a fantastic day out, truly memorable.