It was possible to sense a much happier future both for the sport as a whole and also for the Flat’s showpiece event
Perhaps it was just an aural illusion after a year on racecourses with no one there, but it felt as if 12,000 daily spectators at Royal Ascot last week made as much noise as two or three times as many. The return of a five-figure crowd at a racecourse for the first time since March 2020 was an immensely positive and uplifting experience for all concerned, ensuring this was a week that even the weather could not spoil – despite its very best efforts on Friday morning, when a first abandonment at the Royal meeting since 1964 could be backed at 2-5 on Betfair.
It was still drizzling as the last of the spectators drifted away on Saturday evening, but even in the gathering gloom it was possible to sense a much brighter and happier future, both for racing as a whole and also for the Flat’s showpiece event. Most immediately, the final day of Royal Ascot 2022 will form part of the celebrations for the Queen’s 70 years on the throne, with a renamed Platinum Jubilee Stakes being run in front of 75,000 spectators. Her very own King’s Lynn, perhaps, could set off as favourite, having run so well in both the King’s Stand Stakes and the Wokingham.