A Lady in London

With my year as the Face of Ascot behind me, I wasn’t sure when I would next make it back to the races. But at Royal Ascot in June my boyfriend and I were introduced to the executive director of Gloucestershire’s Cheltenham racecourse. He kindly invited us to spend a day at the races in Cheltenham, an offer which we took him up on over the weekend.

As anyone who was in England on Saturday can attest, we chose the worst day of the year to go to an outdoor event. We woke up on Saturday morning to pouring rain and heavy wind, hoping that it would turn to sunshine after a few minutes as the weather tends to do in these parts. Unfortunately, we weren’t so lucky. As we drove to Cheltenham, we sped through an endless cycle of drizzle, downpour, and dominating winds.

We had a bit of luck when we arrived at the racecourse and found a small break in the rain. Unfortunately, the mud on the ground had more staying power than the water in the sky, and we arrived at the entrance in a long line of racegoers with soiled shoes and freezing feet.

The rain started back up again as soon as we entered the grounds, and we made a somewhat indirect beeline for the well-hidden Royal Box, which was where we were to enjoy lunch. Guarded by an older man in a military uniform, the Royal Box was somewhat intimidating at first glance. But as soon as we gave our names—which were, in this case, Mr. and Mrs. My Boyfriend’s Last Name…sigh—the stoic guard broke out a genuine smile and told us to enjoy our day.

We headed up a small staircase into the Box and were immediately greeted by the executive director. He introduced us to a number of Lords and Ladies, an MP, a local government councillor, and a number of other people with very interesting-sounding jobs. All of them were very welcoming to the foreigners from California.

We sat down to a very impressive lunch at 12:30, enjoying smoked salmon, lobster, and fresh crab for starters, and then a whole array of roasted meats and fish for mains. Between courses we took a break to watch the first race, which we completely forgot to place any bets on. It was still a treat to watch, though, as the setting is absolutely beautiful. The bright green fields of the course were offset by a stunning mountain backdrop, complete with a tiny rainbow that appeared compliments of inclement weather.

After dessert, which I’m sad to say I missed (not by choice but by my inability to eat my mountains of roast beef, poached salmon, and gratin dauphinoise quickly enough), we placed bets on the remaining races and spent a lovely afternoon conversing with new acquaintances, watching the races, and exploring the racecourse.

The duration of the last of those activities was somewhat truncated by the weather, which was somehow timed to get exponentially worse every time we stepped out the door. We got enough of a chance to walk around, though, and discovered that while Cheltenham racecourse is a world apart from Ascot racecourse in a cultural sense—trusty tweeds took the place of fancy frocks and race watchers stepped in for people watchers—the spirit and excitement of the races proved universal.

Back at the Box, we watched the final races, enjoyed tea with an MP, and made our rounds to say our good-byes at the end of the day. On our walk back to the parking lot we watched the rain grow from a light mist to an absolute waterfall, and couldn’t help but laugh as we hurtled ourselves into our car, drenched to the bone and covered in mud. It was certainly a different ending from my last day at Royal Ascot, but it was nonetheless a thoroughly amusing end to a great day at the races.