Dip in crowds a worry

Ascot: Officials at Ascot were on Tuesday counting the cost of a 26 per cent drop in attendances on the first day of the Royal meeting.

Only 40,191 turned up on the first day as Frankie Dettori won the day's showpiece race - the Queen Anne Stakes - on Ramonti. This was a significant reduction on the 54,838 who watched the racing 12 months ago.

The opening of the new £210 million grandstand by the Queen boosted last year's figure and, although a slight drop had been expected, such a substantial decrease will cost the racecourse up to £1m in revenue.

Ascot came in for criticism last year because of problems with sightlines but have since made £10m worth of improvements.