The Diary

The Diary: QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot

A day of shocks at Ascot saw 200-1 and 100-1 winners, pink champagne flowing, and Hermès ties aplenty — proof that on British Champions Day, even the losers came out smiling.

Words: Gentleman's Journal

Two wild outsiders picked up barnstorming wins at the QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday — Britain’s richest race day, featuring five elite Group One races. ‘Powerful Glory’ at a stonking 200-1, and ‘Cicero’s Gift’ at 100-1, on what the charming Tote by the Gentleman’s Journal box described as a ‘topsy turvy’ day of racing. Certainly, our lovely vantage point from somewhere high up above the winning post didn’t furnish the gathered guests with many winning tickets—but on a day like that, who could really complain. The food was sumptuous and the wine list deep and dangerous—with bottles of Le Garrus rosé and Moët & Chandon pink champagne to the fore.

Decked out in more jaunty Hermès ties than you could shake a horsewhip at, guests — including Eric Underwood, Mathias Le Fevre, Eleanor Wellesley , Guy Sangster, Sabrina Percy and Noah Sapon — enjoyed the full splendour of Ascot’s quite remarkable hospitality, from the exquisite chicken parfait canapés to the wonderful presence of Vivienne, the de facto maitre d’ of the box. There are surely few better ways to spend an autumnal Saturday than gazing out over the vast, ancient forests of that corner of the world, with that distinctive gold-and-green blanket that rolls all the way to the spiked peaks of The Shard and The City beyond. On QIPCO British Champions day, perhaps, even the losers are winners.