Hundreds of staff were putting the finishing touches to Ascot racecourse on Monday ahead of the five-day Royal meeting. The champagne is on ice, a variety of crustaceans have been plucked from the seabed and transported to Berkshire and the famous grey horses that lead the royal procession are ready to be harnessed. The most valuable, historic and glamorous show on turf is good to go.
So it was a little jarring, to say the least, to spend an hour on Monday lunchtime in the company of assorted heavy-hitters from the racing industry and a pair of racing-friendly MPs from either side of the House, hearing warnings of a “triple whammy of challenges” that, according to a report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Racing and Bloodstock which was published on Monday, “present no less than an existential threat to the sport”.
