Royal Ascot reflections: Ed Chamberlin on the great meeting

Going into Royal Ascot last week, like so many others, we at ITV were approaching the meeting with some caution, fearing it could be a low-key renewal because of recent crowd numbers, the cost of living crisis and of course being the first meeting without the late Queen Elizabeth II.

I’ve talked before too of what a challenge viewing figures are these days.

But what a contrast one week on as Royal Ascot 2023 delighted and delivered in spades.

The Royal in Royal Ascot is so important, but Tuesday’s procession was low-key, the King and Queen both looked nervous and the crowd seemed rather subdued.

Then on Wednesday as the first carriage passed our presentation point by the paddock, one sole voice called out for ‘three cheers for the King’ and in that moment the atmosphere changed.

The crowed seemed to roar their approval and among the royal party the King, in particular, seemed to relax. From there he looked as if he was really enjoying the meeting, which hasn’t always been the case.

For him to own a winner at his first Royal Ascot was a special moment.

Zara Tindall was visibly moved as she came across to join us on ITV, saying how proud her grandmother would have been to see Desert Hero win the King George V Stakes. It was wonderful to see the late Queen’s legacy live on as the breeder of the winner while all around the racecourse there were nods to the key part she played in the meeting’s ongoing success.

Ticket sales improved throughout to a point where I’m sure they could have sold a lot more but for the cap on attendances.

I can’t emphasise enough how important having the connection between Ascot and the King is to the health of the meeting. It’s absolutely vital that Royal Ascot stays in the mainstream of British life and sport, especially when you look at the recent problems the Derby and Grand National have faced.

Racing was front and centre on both the front and back pages of the newspapers all week. That’s vital and at ITV, we can play our part in keeping the action in the public consciousness and showcasing its enormous popularity.

Another important factor for me last week was the success of the overseas raiders.

It wasn’t quite at Cheltenham Festival levels, but Ireland had a week to remember and even more important was the fact that America were on the scoresheet in the Queen Mary via George Weaver’s Crimson Advocate.

We need horses to keep travelling over to compete across the five days. Nick Smith does such a brilliant job in attracting them and it really gives a point of difference to the fixture.

We need to keep Wesley Ward engaged and likewise the runners we had from France, Spain, Norway, Hong Kong and Australia.

Let’s hope next year the final piece in the jigsaw falls into place with engagement from Japan.

We must also talk about Frankie. People within racing slightly roll their eyes, but his importance to the sport cannot be overestimated.

Who else could have knocked the King off the front pages of Friday’s newspapers?

I’ve never seen him as subdued as he was when we spoke to him after his final ride on Saturday. It had been a draining week for him and one that simply won’t be the same without him in action.

That said I did feel a little sorry for Ryan Moore who produced masterclass after masterclass to secure a tenth leading jockeys’ award.

However, the one person who won’t be bothered he didn’t get the headlines he deserved is Ryan himself.

The enduring image of him at Royal Ascot was the one of him seeming to fall asleep in the stewards’ room during the enquiry into the Hardwicke Stakes. A very clear indication on his feelings over whether riders should be called to give evidence…

As brilliant as Ryan and Frankie are, it shows just how special Lester Piggott was with his 116 Royal Ascot winners at a time when there were fewer opportunities at the Royal Meeting.

My favourite aspect of the week was how the love is being shared and passed down from generation to generation.

For example, the Aga Khan’s daughter, Princess Zahra, was there to bask in the glory of Tahirya’s Coronation Stakes win; it was wonderful to see Prince Saud bin Khalid enjoy Coppice’s win for Juddmonte in the Sandringham. And Sheikha Hissa was on hand to welcome back Mostahdaf after his brilliant display in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes with another big day for the resurgent Shadwell Estates team.

It offers great hope these huge operations can continue to flourish as racing needs them.

Coolmore were champion owners for the week and Aidan O’Brien leading trainer – full marks to all - while Godolphin and Charlie Appleby had a week to forget. Class is permanent though and the master of Moulton Paddocks will be back.

And what a week for the smaller operators too.

Mick Appleby’s Big Evs won the Windsor Castle and with a really poignant story behind his name. Winning owner Paul Teasdale said: “I named Big Evs after someone very special, a man who I knew for 40 years, but he died in November. He was Paul Evans – we called him Evs and he was a big guy. We went racing together for 25 years and so to win this means so much.”

Tom Clover was overjoyed as Rogue Millennium landed the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes for his team, Archie Watson worked miracles all week and what a performance from William Muir and Chris Grassick to bring Pyledriver back from his spell on the sidelines to win the Hardwicke.

But nothing eclipsed Julie Camacho beating all the powerhouses in the Commonwealth Cup with Shaquille.

What an incredible performance it was too under arguably the ride of the week from Oisin Murphy, captured perfectly via the incredible JockeyCam footage we showed on ITV.

It was a brutally hard week for punters and ITV7 players – which shows the competitive nature of the racing over the five days. The races were so deep with so many good horses in them.

From ITV’s perspective it was a very successful week.

A huge audience means it’s impossible to please everyone and as always, we take plenty of criticism on social media!

But what sums up our progress is that in 2016 the audience share for the final day of the meeting was 6.2%. On Saturday it was 14.8% which in numbers is 1.3 million people watching racing on a red-hot Saturday afternoon.

That shows how far we’ve come.

During 30 hours of broadcasting there’s bound to be a mistake or two, of which I am often guilty, and I regret referring to the apparent lack of a cost of living crisis while talking over pictures of one swanky picnic in Number One Car Park.

We were trying to show the high-end of Ascot too and it was a tongue-in-cheek comment directed at the party, but I understand how these things can be spun on social media nowadays and apologise for any offence caused.

I’d like to pass on a huge thank you to our television crew as well as the staff at Ascot – and not to forget all the stable staff and grooms who worked so hard covering so many miles in the heat all week.

This remains a monster event. It was one we feared might be swimming against the tide this year, but somehow it still manages to go from strength to strength.

It was everything we could have hoped for – and more.

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