New Blog Followers

Thank you to all our new Ascot Blog Followers, as promised we will provide you with 2 complimentary Premier Admission tickets to the Summer Mile Raceday on Saturday 9th July. If you could email marketing@ascot.co.uk your blog name, name and address we will get the tickets sent out as soon as possible.

This offer was only available to new Ascot Blog followers as a result of the twitter and Facebook campaigns.

Queen Anne Rose prose competition winner announced

The 'Queen Anne' from David Austin Roses

Recently, we ran a competition with David Austin Roses to write a piece stating what Royal Ascot means to them. The winning entry was so good, we thought we’d put it on our blog. Here is the master piece from Liz Shaw:

Tradition, heritage, fashion and fun,
Top class facilities, second to none.
Great hospitality, fit for a queen,
The perfect location to see and be seen.
Thundering hooves, excitement and thrills,
Smartly dressed jockeys displaying their skills.
Pageantry, Pimms, punters and posies
Amidst David Austin’s magnificent roses!

‘Queen Anne’ by David Austin, is one of five new rose varieties, which will be officially unveiled in May at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in London (24th to 28th May).

The medium-sized flowers of ‘Queen Anne’ are a beautiful, pure rose pink, the outer petals slightly paler than the central ones. It will quickly form an upright but still bushy shrub rose, with very few thorns. The blooms have a most attractive, rounded Old Rose scent with hints of pear drops. The rose is ideal for rose beds, mixed borders and large decorative planters. This beautiful rose is named after the founder of Ascot Racecourse, in celebration of the tercentenary anniversary of this national institution.

Deciding upon a name for a new English Rose is something David Austin sees as an essential part of the rose breeding process. Rose lovers write to suggest many hundreds of names each year, which are considered for one of his new releases. From so many options, David Austin aims to choose a name that perfectly suits the unique character of each rose. Many of the rose names celebrate people or places that have played an important part in shaping British heritage.

David C.H. Austin says: “‘Queen Anne’ is a rose with a very classic Old Rose beauty. The flowers have something of the charming character of Bourbon and Centifolia roses, which have long been celebrated by artists. The way the flowers of a rose are held on the stem has always fascinated me – this makes a very particular and often overlooked contribution to its overall character.

Win 2 Grandstand Admission tickets to Royal Ascot

This competition has now closed. Thank you for all the #RT.

The Royal Ascot early booking discount, which can save you up to £10 per ticket (excluding Thursday 16th June), ends this Friday 13th May at 6pm. For your chance to win 2 Grandstand Admission tickets to Royal Ascot on Tuesday 14th June re-tweet our twitter message and you will be entered into a prize draw. Ticket start from as little as £17 up until Friday 13th May, so make sure you get yours before prices increase!

Silver Ring tickets are now SOLD OUT for Saturday 18th June!!!

To purchase tickets for Grandstand Admission or Silver Ring please visit ascot.co.uk or call our sales team on 0870 727 1234.

Terms and Conditions

1. The @AscotInsider message must be retweeted prior to 6pm on Thursday 12th May to be eligible for the Prize Draw.

2. Competition closes at 6pm on Thursday 12th May.

3. Offer only open to followers of @AscotInsider on Twitter http://twitter.com/AscotInsider

4. No cash alternative is available and all prizes are non-transferable and non-refundable. Tickets are not for resale and cannot be used for commercial use or use in further promotions.

5. Only 1 twitter follower will win the tickets & will be notified by Monday 16th May.

6. Tickets will be dispatched within 5 working days.

Promoter: Ascot Racecourse, Ascot, Berkshire. SL5 7JX.

Steve Golding's Aged Pecorino and Honey Panacotta Recipe

Steve Golding, Executive Chef at Ascot Hospitality, has opened up his recipe book exclusively for the Ascot blog. The 2nd of his creations we reveal is Aged Pecorino and Honey Panacotta, Poached English AsparagusAvocado, Lime and Shallot Salsa, Pea Purée and Beetroot Crisps(serves 4).





Ingredients

700ml Double Cream
150g Frozen Petit Pois (100g for pea cream, and 100g for plate)
200g Aged Pecorino
2 teaspoons Honey
10g Powdered Gelatine
16 Spears English Asparagus (Cut off 1 and ½ inches of the bottom)
150g Shallots (Finely chopped)
1 Clove of Garlic (Crushed)
1 Plum Tomato (Blanched, peeled cut into quarters de seed and diced)
100g Unsalted Butter
1 Avocado (Peeled)
1 Lime (Juiced)
150g Beetroot (Peeled, sliced thinly and dried out in a low heat oven)
1 Sweet Red Pepper (Cleaned and chopped)
Olive Oil


To make the pannacotta


Melt 50g of butter in a saucepan
Add 50g shallots and ½ the crushed garlic and cook until soft but not coloured
Add 200g of aged pecorino and 575ml of double cream
Bring to the boil and then turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes
Take off heat and put into a blender, blend until smooth and add honey
Pour out of the blender into a clean pan
Soak gelatine in a little cold water until soft
Put the mix back on to the heat
Then add gelatine and stir until the gelatine has dissolved
Pour into moulds and place into the fridge to chill for 2 hours
Turn out using warm water to dip

To make the pea cream


Melt 50g of butter in a saucepan
Add 50g shallots and ½ the crushed garlic cook until soft but not coloured
Add 30g peas and 125ml of double cream bring to boil then turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes
Take of heat and put in to blender,
Blend until smooth then pass to one side ready for dressing plate


To cook the asparagus


Put on pan of water with a pinch of salt
Bring to the boil then add asparagus
Cook for 2 minutes
Drain and run under cold water until chilled

To make the avocado salsa

Put avocado, lime juice, diced shallot and blend
Blitz red pepper with a little oil then pass through a fine chinois to make the dressing

To serve


Place the pannacotta in the middle of plate
Place 3 sticks of asparagus each side
Place the tomato around the bass of the pannacotta
Dress the asparagus with pea cream
Put the beetroot crisp on top of the pannacotta
Place 2 teaspoons of the salsa each side Dress around the plate with the red pepper dressing

See and be seen

The seventh and final part of our occasional series of retrospective photographs from the past 300 years of Ascot history looks back at the Ascot of today.

The popularity of Ascot soon meant that racegoers demanded the best views that they could afford. Three centuries ago, just as today, the most highly sought after stands have not only been those with the best view, but the places where the most fashionable people in society have gone to be seen.

For those not invited to the more exclusive stands and boxes, the Grandstands have provided the best view of the action. The original 18th and early 19th century stands were temporary structures, but through time have become larger and more sophisticated buildings including all the comforts that racegoers demanded.

In 1961, the Queen Elizabeth II Grandstand opened at a cost of £1 million, containing 280 private “dining rooms.” Ascot has genuine claims to having pioneered private corporate hospitality boxes within what was a ground breaking structure at the time. The Grandstand that you see today (pictured) was a slightly more expensive building to construct at 220 times the cost of its predecessor and it has been short-listed in the category of Sports Venue of the Year in this year’s prestigious Sport Industry Awards.

Sophia Loren leads the field

The Italian screen legend graces Royal Ascot

Part 6 in our occasional series of retrospective photographs from the past 300 years of Ascot history looks back at Sophia Loren at Royal Ascot in the 1960s.

The Ascot Royal Enclosure has always played host to famous international figures. But whereas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries they were most likely to be foreign royalty and international statesmen, in modern times you are equally likely to see some of the biggest names in Hollywood, dressed and styled by some of the biggest names in couture fashion.

In 1922, the Times cor;respondent was writing that “Ascot is notoriously the best place in England to see beautiful women in beautiful clothes”, and as a stunning Sophia Loren so elegantly demonstrated in this exquisite and classic white ensemble, things have remained unchanged ever since.

Steve Golding’s Textures of Lamb Recipe

Steve Golding, Executive Chef at Ascot Hospitality, has opened up his recipe book exclusively for the Ascot blog. The first of his creations we reveal is Textures of Lamb (serves 8).

Ingredients

1 x 8 Bone Rack of Lamb (Trimmed and cut into cutlets)

8 x 150gm Neck Fillet of Lamb

8 x Baby Shank of Lamb

3 x Baking Potatoes (Peeled)

16 Baby Carrots (Peeled)

500g Samphire

1 x Whole Garlic

16 x Dried Morels (Place in water overnight)

2kg Plum Tomatoes

200g Shallots

1 Head of Celeriac (Peeled)

100g Butter

6 pints Beef Stock

2 large Onions (Peeled)

2 large Carrots (Peeled)

2 Leeks (Cleaned and washed)

Meat prep
· Seal lamb cutlets in a hot pan and set to one side then cook in oven on 180ºc for 8 mins just before serving
· Trim neck fillet and seal
· Place in an oven dish ready to braise
· Dice 1 onion, leek and large carrot and put over the top of the neck fillets
· Trim lamb shanks and seal
· Place in a separate oven dish ready to braise
· Dice 1 onion, leek and large carrot and put over the top of the of the lamb shanks
· Put 3 pints of beef stock in each dish and cover with foil

To cook the neck fillet and shanks place in the oven on 160ºc and cook for about 1 hour until soft. When cooked remove from oven and drain each dish and set to one side keeping them hot. Then reduce the stock from both dishes until thick, ready to use as your sauce.

Vegetable Prep
· Take the peeled potatoes and cut into 8 round discs about 2cm thick and 4cm wide, seal in pan and cook in oven until soft
· Blanch plum tomatoes and peel
· Dice 200g shallots and the tomatoes, and chop 2 cloves of garlic
· Place the shallots garlic and tomatoes in to a pan and cook over a low heat for about 20mins until it looks like a chutney then take off the heat
· Take the peeled celeriac and chop
· Place on the stove and boil until soft
· Take off the heat and drain
· Mash in to a purée with a little butter, salt and pepper
· Wash samphire and cook in a little butter in a pan until soft but still green add a bit of pepper
· Blanch baby carrots in water until cooked
· Drain the morels and heat in a little of the sauce

To Serve
· Use a rectangular plate (12inches in diameter)
· Plate round potato first
· Place a small amount of Samphire
· Next to that place a small amount of the tomato chutney
· Place the cutlet on top of the potato, the neck fillet on top of the samphire and the shank on top of the tomato
· Each side of the neck fillet place a baby carrot and a morel mushroom
· Then on top of the neck fillet place the celeriac purée
· To finish pour over a little sauce