Ascot pay refunds after being left red-faced by orange sticker blunder

As Ascot prepared on Sunday to issue refunds to their Premier Enclosure customers from Saturday’s Victor Chandler Chase day, I was interested to find out how this public-relations blunder had occurred. Issuing orange spot stickers to those racegoers who failed the new dress code had seemed rather odd.

Smith, plainly dejected, explained that the exercise had been well-intentioned. Clearly, though, it had backfired in spectacular style, with many customers believing they had been issued with 'naughty boy’ badges for not coming up to scratch. Not surprisingly many of those who complained described the experience as “humiliating”.

“The stickers were given out to those racegoers, who had been spoken to [by gatemen] about the new dress code for Ascot meetings. We didn’t want them [the customers] bothered again, so it was a way of identifying them. Strangely enough, it was meant as a customer service. But it has sent out the wrong message, and we apologise,” he said.

It seems a jacket and tie for men and smart dress for ladies are now required to gain entrance to the Premier Enclosure at run-of-the-mill Ascot meetings. This will annoy some racegoers, particularly for jumping during the cold winter months. I am in favour of having a dress code, so long as we all know in advance what it is.

Incidentally, I have noticed that many observers get excessively uptight when it comes to Ascot and its traditions. It truly does not deserve that, even if mistakes have been made.

Graham Wylie, racehorse owner, revels in the fast lane after Sandown Park victory

There were fears that Wylie, a technology tycoon, who has been a regular entry in the Sunday Times Rich List for a decade, had become disenchanted with the racing game following the four-year disqualification of his trainer Howard Johnson last August. The BHA found Johnson guilty of running a horse, who had been ‘de-nerved’ in one leg, and Wylie publicly declared “they treated Howard like a criminal, and he’s not.”

When Johnson did not appeal against his ban, it left Wylie with 60 horses, and a key decision to make, though having already sent six horses to Nicholls, his mind was half made up. In the event, he dispersed almost half his racing stock at the sales and kept the rest.

“I chose the best trainer in England and the best in Ireland,” he declared. He sent 12 to Nicholls, and seven to Willie Mullins in Co Carlow. “And, I’ve also got another 18 in a field somewhere,” he reported.

Wylie has not been to visit Mullins as yet, but he has several times travelled to Ditcheat, and been impressed with what he has seen. He has also been quick to acknowledge that throwing hundreds of thousands of pounds at agents and trainers in an attempt to purchase quality horses does not necessarily always pay off.

“It may minimise your risk, but it is no guarantee that you will get a champion,” he said. Inglis Drever, who won Wylie and his wife Andrea three Ladbrokes World Hurdles, cost £100,000, which was a modest amount for what he went on to achieve at Cheltenham.

Having made that point, he will also keep on buying horses. “I recently bought one in partnership with Andy Stewart, and it has already won for us. I’ve always had the passion for racing,” he explained. That is good news for the sport.

Epsom evacuated after high winds damage grandstand

Epsom’s PR manager, Jonathan Spence, said: “The constructors are going in tomorrow [Wednesday] to assess the damage and make it safe and we’ll have more details then. Hopefully everything will be open again by the end of the week.

Tuesday's card at Ayr, which had passed an early-morning inspection, called because of the threat of heavy rain on already testing ground, had to be abandoned on health and safety grounds. The PA system at the course was not working and officials called off the meeting because of concerns about the safety of the crowd.

Ayr’s head of public relations, Iain Ferguson, said: “The problem is a tree that is about to fall. It is close to a Racetech truck.

“On health and safety grounds they had to move [the truck], but that meant we would have had no scanner and no PA system. You are not allowed to race without a PA system and that is why we’ve had to abandon.”

Chepstow’s fixture on Friday is already under threat and an inspection has been called for 8.30am on Thursday as the track is waterlogged and further rain is forecast at the course. The jumps meeting at Lingfield could be in jeopardy as parts of the course are waterlogged.