‘No. They go back to Windsor Castle by car. But the procession will happen again tomorrow and every day until Saturday, although with different guests.’
Some of the crowd remained to watch the horses parade for the first race, but many of them dispersed to secure a viewing point in the grandstand.
‘Come on,’ I said. ‘Let’s go and find some seats.’
I boldly took her arm and steered her across the parade-ring concourse into the huge steel and glass grandstand. She didn’t object.
We took the long escalator up to the fourth level and went out to the seats at the front reserved for Royal Enclosure badge holders. Most were already full, but we managed to find a couple free, side by side, in the second row.
‘The first race is called the Queen Anne Stakes,’ I said to Toni. ‘It’s always the opening race of Royal Ascot and is named after Queen Anne, who started horseracing here back in 1711.’
‘In 1711?’ She was amazed. ‘But that was even before the United States was created.’
‘It certainly was, and Ascot is not the oldest racecourse in England — not by a long way. That accolade belongs to Chester, where horseracing has been held continuously since 1539. That’s more than eighty years before the Mayflower sailed to America with the Pilgrim Fathers.’
‘Chester knows all about Chester.’ She laughed.
‘I think my dad actually named me after Chester racecourse. He was mad about his racing. And especially about its history. When I was a kid, he used to quiz me all the time about all the racecourses — you know, their dates and such.’ I sighed. ‘I suppose I should be grateful that I’m not called Epsom or Ascot.’ I sighed again.
‘When did he die?’ Toni asked, correctly reading the cause of my sadness.
‘Years ago,’ I said.
I paused briefly, but then I decided to go on.
‘I was only fifteen. He and my mother owned a boat on the River Thames. A cabin cruiser. They had it for years. When I was a boy, we used to holiday on it every summer, chugging up and down the river. I absolutely loved it, jumping off with the ropes and working the locks.’ I smiled at the memory. ‘Then, one day, Mum and Dad decided to go out for a short jaunt when I was at school, and the boat blew up.’
‘Blew up?’
‘Yeah. An investigation later worked out that there had been a leak in the fuel system, which had caused a large petrol and air vapour mix to accumulate in the hull, under the floorboards. When my dad went to start the engine, the vapour exploded. Killed them both instantly.’
‘Oh my God, how awful.’ She had tears in her eyes.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said quickly. ‘I shouldn’t have told you. I didn’t mean to upset you.’
I really didn’t know why I had told her.
I never told anybody.
Georgina knew, of course, but no one else. I’d never even spoken about it in such detail to my own children, yet here I was telling the whole story to a complete stranger.
‘I’m very grateful that you did tell me.’ She put her hand gently on my arm. ‘So what then happened to you?’
‘My grandparents collected me from school later that afternoon, and I went to live with them.’
‘Do you have brothers or sisters?’
‘No, just me.’
‘I’m so sorry.’ She stroked my arm.
‘Thank you,’ I said, putting my hand on hers to stop it moving. ‘But you don’t need to be. It was a long time ago.’
‘Are your grandparents still alive?’
‘Oh no. They’re also long gone. But they lived until I was in my early thirties. And they were both at my wedding.’
Now there were tears in my own eyes.
Thankfully, any further conversation on the matter was interrupted by the arrival of the twelve horses for the first race, appearing from the tunnel beneath the grandstand, their silks brightly contrasting with the lush green turf.
‘Can we go have a bet?’ Toni asked.
‘We’ll lose our seats if we do. You can’t reserve them. Let’s have one on the second race.’
The Queen Anne Stakes was run over a mile, just like Potassium’s race, but in this case it was the straight mile, as opposed to being on the round course that would be used later. And this race was for horses aged four and over, of either sex, while Potassium’s was restricted to three-year-old colts.
The runners made their way slowly to the start, way off to our far right, close to where the King’s carriages had entered the course less than half an hour previously.
‘In the States,’ Toni said, ‘the horses always race past the grandstands from left to right as you look out, yet here they’ll be going the other way. It’s very confusing. Like all your stupid cars driving on the wrong side of the road.’
I laughed. ‘In this country, which way the horses go varies from racecourse to racecourse. At some they go one way, and some the other.’
‘But I’m sure they go from left to right at Royal Ascot in the film My Fair Lady. I love that film. It’s one of my favourites. “Come on, Dover! Move your bloomin’ arse!” ’
She shouted it out loud and received some very strange looks from those around us, just as Audrey Hepburn had done in the film.
I was so enjoying being with Mrs Toni Beckett that I was forgetting all my other troubles, but that didn’t last for long.
The phone in my trouser pocket vibrated for a moment.
I took it out and read the home screen notification.
Remember, Potassium must lose. Fix it.
‘What’s that?’ Toni asked.
‘Nothing. Just someone wishing me luck for later.’
I quickly stuffed the phone back into my pocket, hoping desperately that Toni hadn’t read the message.
Chapter 19
I watched the first two races, with Toni Beckett, from the seats on level four, even having a small bet on the second, which sadly lost.
I had told her to back the horse Owen trained, and it had finished eighth of the twenty-two runners, out of the money in more ways than one.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I’m not a very good tipster.’
‘So should I bet on Potassium?’ she asked.
‘His price will be pretty short,’ I said. ‘Probably best to keep your money in your purse.’
‘Don’t you expect him to win?’
Had she seen the message?
‘I hope he wins,’ I said. ‘But I never expect anything in racing. And I’m afraid I have to go now, to start getting the horse ready for the race. You can come with me if you want, but you will have to stay well away from the horse, and I don’t have a paddock pass for you to use.’
‘That’s fine,’ she said. ‘I may just wander about on my own for a while. I’m used to doing that. I’ll see you later, back in the car park with Mr Spencer.’
I stood up to go.
‘Good luck,’ she said.
‘Thanks.’
I left her sitting there alone in the grandstand seats.
Why was I worried that she was cross with me for leaving her?
Potassium looked magnificent as he was led around the pre-parade ring, his well-groomed coat shining brightly in the afternoon sunshine.
There were only eight runners in the St James’s Palace Stakes. So Owen had been right about Potassium’s supplementary entry frightening some of the competition out of the final declaration. The connections of the others must have decided to find an alternative race to run in rather than go up against the Derby winner.
Owen appeared with Jimmy Ketch’s saddle and waved the lad to bring Potassium over to one of the saddling boxes. I went to join them but stayed out of the box because Owen had brought his assistant with him to help.
I watched as the two of them went about their business, not forgetting to fit the weight cloth securely under the saddle. In this race, all the runners carried the same weight, nine stone two pounds, plus the allowance for the safety vest.