Ascot 'well received' after first race meeting

Ascot has said the £200m racecourse redevelopment was "well received" at its first test run on Saturday 27 May.

Some 11,000 invited spectators turned up at the near completed stadium for a test day before the start of Royal Ascot on 20 June. This is less than a fifth of the venue's estimated 58,000 capacity.

Nick Smith, Ascot head of PR, said he was happy that the stadium was well received, especially the new track.

"Once you have the track sorted you're halfway there, especially with the racing press," he said. "The grandstand is fundamentally sound and that's what we learnt from Saturday."

But he added that there is still work to do, particularly on concourse circulation: "It's really minor things: which bars to open when, that kind of thing. There are, as you'd expect, hundreds of things that need to be addressed before Royal Ascot."