Ascot apologises for 'naughty boy badges'

Colonel Sanders

Ascot apologises for 'naughty boy badges'

ASCOT apologised on Saturday after racegoers who failed to comply with the stringent new dress code for the premier enclosure had orange stickers affixed to their badges or clothing.

One racegoer who wished to remain anonymous dubbed the stickers “naughty boy badges”.

The new rules, which require male premier ticket holders to wear a jacket and tie, were not being enforced, meaning racegoers who failed to comply were not being turned away.
However, the stickers being handed out on the way to the enclosure areas effectively served to identify dress that would be unacceptable to the course at future meetings.

Ascot door staff said they were being handed out to allow stewards to track who had or had not been informed their attire failed to meet premier standards.

The policy met with mixed reaction from racegoers, with some were angry to be judged inadequately dressed in what they regarded as smart wear - and many more took to Twitter and racingpost.com to express their disapproval.

By the end of the day Ascot officials appeared to have realised the folly of their stickers and head of PR Nick Smith said: "I totally admit in retrospect it was a mistake to make people wear stickers and we unreservedly apologise."

This is quite strange I must admit

RFC are supposedly trying to attract younger race goers but this is massively OTT for jumps meetings in winter. I'd have left the racecourse rather than walk around with an orange sticker on my person

I've never been to Ascot because of perceived snobbery and won't be back to Newbury in a hurry after the attitude I saw the stewards give some people at the gate

Colonel Sanders

Premier Admission Dress Code - New for 2012

A day at Ascot Racecourse is very special. Most racegoers dress up for the occasion and this is an important part of the Ascot Raceday experience.

In Premier Admission, Gentlemen should wear a jacket and tie, smart trousers or smart jeans, no trainers. There will be an announcement on the day allowing jackets to be removed, should the weather be hot. Ladies should dress for a smart occasion; hats are encouraged but not compulsory. Children should be dressed smartly.

Here's the official dress code FWIW. The bolding is my doing

This would definitely engender an elitist atmosphere and I can't imagine young people flocking to try a new sport

While the lager louts are a huge problem in some English race courses (especially summer flat meetings) rather than tackle that (It's ok to engage in a drunken fist fight if you're properly dressed) they've decided on a policy that will alienate a large number of people

im invisible

They're allowing the jeans wearing riff-raff in these days?

Richard Hillman

Its a big drive for the royal ascot festival. They didn't go about it the right way but I believe in what they are trying to do. I love the tradition of Royal Ascot. They should try and preserve it. Attaching stickers to people isn't the way to go about it though.

Hulk Hands

Did they merely hand people the stickers to inform them their attire was unacceptable, or force them to wear it? One is acceptable imo, the other not.

Anyway, this Kind of elitist dress is traditional in racing, but is dying out. If one enclosure in one race course in the country wants to keep the tradition, let them. It's not as if people still can't watch the racing elsewhere at the track

TheMilkyPirate

They forced them to wear them as far as i'm aware.

Clowns anyway, What a way to attract new people to the sport eh?

hucklebuck

At least Aidan O Brien can take off his jacket when he is hot now:P

Harry Angstrom

A major gaffe on Ascot's part. I read today that they're refunding all tickets to the premier enclosure from Saturday. I can understand this sort of thing happening during the Royal meeting but a jumps meeting on a Saturday in the middle of January???

Why does British racing continue to shoot itself in the foot? First we have those morons from Racing For Change, then we have the idiotic new whip rules and now we have this. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that British racing was now being run by the so-called "animal rights" nutters in order to make the sport as unpopular as possible.

UrbanSea

Couldn't agree more Harry. Fair enough for the Royal meeting, but not at this time of year for the working class jumps meetings

Shelflife

Its this elitist/class sh*te that gives racing a bad name, im quiet happy to wear a jacket and tie on a racing day out but being forced to wear one is just stupid.

Ive no problem with having a basic dress code ie you cant walk about topless or in a string vest but when you arrive at ascot in smart casual gear (trousers and shirt) and are told that to gain admission you have to hire and wear a skanky tie that makes you look like a tit is just stupid.

some of the steward are little hitlers , at york one year roasting hot and we are having a drink at the bar and a steward slithers up and says to put your jacket back on, i reply that its roasting in here as there is no air con and that someone will pass out if they enforce the jacket rule to which he replied if you refuse to put on your jacket you will be asked to leave.

another time i stood at the door getting some fresh air and turned to go back in and was stopped by a steward who had seen me standing a the door and asked for my badge, i told him it was on my jacket just inside, sorry no badge no entry, i said look you can see my jacket from here, jobsworth wouldnt budge or come with me as far as my jacket. i had to ring my mate to get him to bring my jacket out.

we are not seen as customers merely inconveniences that must be tolerated and kept in our place wil they quaff their champagne.

they are totally not in tune with reality over there.

UrbanSea

They sounded like a right shower of bastards. Especially the second fella