Ruby Walsh: Royal Ascot finale looks tailor-made for Sadlier

An aerial view of the course at Royal Ascot. Picture: John Walton/PA Wire.

I would love to be fishing my top hat and tails out of my wardrobe on Monday afternoon before decamping to Windsor for a few nights in the shadows of the Castle, with my days spent overdressed in the baking sunshine at nearby Ascot. It is one of the rare race meetings I attend purely as a spectator, but it is one I look forward to from the minute I leave after racing on Thursday.

That’s probably a lie, but by Saturday, after dealing with the alcohol-inflicted guilt I will have felt all day Friday after two late nights and three long days, the lure to return, socialise, and watch some of the best racing on offer comes straight back to me. Champagne in the car parks before racing, Pimms for hydration in the afternoon as you watch sprinters, milers, stayers, two-years-olds, and handicappers do their thing before dinner in one of Windsor’s many fine Italian restaurants is my idea of fun.