Written by Henry Birtles and read by broadcaster Clare Balding, enjoy a specially commissioned poem for Royal Ascot 2017.
Spinning on its own Axis, where seas of silk lap graceful shores,
A world like nowhere else exists
Where quintessential currents run and elegance and power converge,
And tales of timeless greats are spun and showstoppers emerge
A world for all to celebrate; light years away from ordinary
A world which deftly radiates its realm; and bows to the extraordinary
Where earthly rigours found outside and lived outside are left outside
And wishes wished are realised through all the finer tastes this land will grant
To let its spell enchant; to walk its walk once through those golden gilded gates
To gaze at beauty styled and beauty stitched on graceful form adorned
To know that bay imperious Horse immortalised and cast in bronze is Yeats
That headlines here accomplished render sporting moments starred
This Kingdom...smiling Green Coats kindly guard; this universe beyond three centuries old
Such elements, such pieces of a jigsaw wrought to mould this multi-coloured globe
A blazing beacon to the most majestic sport of all where heroes rise and heroes fall,
And Royal Ascot’s world stands tallest of the tall
