The Undefeated

From 19-23 June this year, Royal Ascot, one of the world's oldest and most prestigious race meets was held at Ascot Racecourse in the UK. Ascot Racecourse dates back to 1711, when it was founded by Queen Anne. Fittingly, its inaugural race was Her Majesty's Plate, for a prize of 100 guineas. The early version of that race was open to any horse, mare or gelding over six years of age and consisted of three heats, each of which was four miles long. Today, races at Ascot have been mightily shortened from those early ordeals. Here is an interactive timeline with historical highlights of the past 300 years. 


Royal Ascot is considered the "pinnacle" of the racing calendar at Ascot. During her 60 years as the UK's reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II has never failed to attend the meet, arriving each day in a horse-drawn carriage, often with other members of the Royal Family in attendance. A timelapse of the procession can be seen here. Once the Royal Procession has passed before the stands and the Royals have been comfortably settled in their sky box, the day's activities are officially launched.


Press coverage is often focused more on those who attend and how they are dressed, as if the meet were a fashion show, and attendees are only too happy to conform to the rigorous dress code. Those who remember the film, My Fair Lady, will no doubt remember the Ascot Racecourse scenes. A memory jog can be found here. And yes, the men do still wear top hats and tails. Other than dress length modifications, the women's coordinating dresses and hats are still very much de rigueur and l'ordre du jour. That 19th century Ascot crowd would feel quite at home at Ascot today - insofar as style is concerned.


But the real stars of the show, IMO, are the horses and their respective entourages, including owners, trainers, jockeys, grooms, stablepersons, etc. There were many gallant horses who ran, not all of them winners. As usual, there were many associated human interest stories. But over the course of the five-day meet, there were two standout horses: Frankel and Black Caviar.


Frankel is a British thoroughbred colt, undefeated in ten starts prior to the Ascot meet, who has been the highest-rated racehorse in the world since May 2011. At Ascot, he extended his winning streak to 11, adding a convincing victory in the Queen Anne Stakes, as shown here. Once Frankel turned on the speed, there was no question as to the outcome. Wow!


Black Caviar, on the other hand, is an Australian thoroughbred mare, rated as one of the top racehorses in the world. She had 21 wins to her record before making the 10,000+ mile journey to Ascot to race outside her native Australia for the first time. Her target was the Diamond Jubilee Stakes. Her fans in Melbourne, Australia were clustered around a large TV screen after midnight their time, hoping to see her add a 22nd victory to her record in real time.


Well, for a few heart-stopping moments, no one was sure exactly what had happened. She was in the lead until the last couple seconds when two French horses rushed up and it looked as if one of them might have just beaten her. It also seemed as if her jockey had misunderstood where the finish line was and had started to relax instead of continuing to urge her on. Thankfully for her fans worldwide, Black Caviar had just managed to keep her head in front, as shown here.   


For Black Caviar, however, being undefeated throughout her career has had a price. The latest word is that she apparently suffered two muscle tears and bruising to her hindquarters - exactly when and how are not clear. That she was still able to run - and win - in the circumstances is very impressive. Best of all, it appears that her racing career is not over yet, although she will have a good, long, and well-deserved rest before she races again.