Royal Ascot launches high society season

British high society launched the summer season in style yesterday with dedicated followers of fashion traipsing to Royal Ascot for a five-day extravaganza.

For poseurs and party-goers it offers the perfect chance to attract the paparazzi with outlandish hats and extravagant outfits turning one of the world's most famous racecourses into a giant midsummer catwalk.

Derby-winning jockey Frankie Dettori, who famously went through the card at a 1996 Ascot meeting to win all seven races and bankrupt many a bookmaker, hailed Royal Ascot as "the Olympics of Flat Racing."

The ebullient Italian, renowned for his flying dismounts after every big race triumph, said: "For me, Ascot has been the best, luckiest, most dramatic racecourse in the world.

"I enjoy riding here so much. It is like being at home."

But the fillies on the track are just a sideshow to indefatigable socialites quaffing champagne and lobster as they launch into an exhausting summer calendar - the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the Henley rowing regatta and a night at the Glyndebourne Opera.

In the hallowed Royal Enclosure, where admission was once so stringent that divorcees were banned, dandies sweltered in their top hats and tails in a scene that could have come straight out of that classic tale of class "My Fair Lady."

Royal Ascot is given priceless social cachet by Queen Elizabeth, an avid racing fan and racehorse owner who parades down the course every day in an open-top landau.

Gentlemen dutifully doff their top hats as she waves regally to the crowds.

Last year, the queen officially re-opened the racecourse after a £200 million facelift for the track and futuristic grandstand.

It turned into a public relations disaster with Ascot being deluged with complaints about poor sight lines in the stands.

Royal Enclosure stalwarts were outraged at having to mix with the humbler clientele on a more egalitarian track.

Ascot has now spent an additional £10 million trying to iron out the grandstand viewing problems and placating racegoers before this year's meeting.

Back in 1711, it was Queen Anne who first spotted Ascot's potential as a racecourse when riding through the forest near Windsor Castle.

Her foresight is commemorated every year with the Queen Anne Stakes always being run on the opening day.

Decorum is at a premium at Britain's most elegant racecourse and the dress code firmly states "Gentlemen are encouraged to wear a jacket and tie or a suit. Please note that jeans, shorts and trainers are not permitted."

Heaven forbid.