York Guides

York's historic Knavesmire has long been dubbed the 'Ascot of the North' and the course finally gets the chance to live up to its name when it hosts the prestigious Royal meeting this week.

Racing began at Ascot in 1711 and the Royal meeting itself has never been staged anywhere except at the Berkshire course. With redevelopment expected to be completed in 2006, it may never be rehoused again.

So for residents of the North and the medieval minster city of York, this year's meeting offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The track's chief executive and clerk of the course, 34-year-old William Derby, has been in command on the Knavesmire for the past three years and was previously employed at Ascot as commercial director.

He said: "The Royal meeting has never been away from Ascot, so this will be very much a unique occasion.

"We have made sure that everything that makes Royal Ascot special - the procession, the presence of the Royal party, the dress code and the top-quality racing - has been transferred up to York.

"For the Royal procession there will be four landaus along with 24 white and grey horses. It has been a huge undertaking, with a great amount of logistics involved, so it will be a wonderful spectacle.

"We are into the implementation stage now. We are counting down the days."

The Royal meeting is expected to bring much more than five days of top-class racing and socialising to York, with the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, estimating visiting racegoers will bring more than £50m into the local economy.

Their spending power does not just incorporate hotel bookings and the rampant trade to be enjoyed by bars, restaurants and pubs, but has a deeper impact on the micro-economic community.

"Local industry was very supportive of the bid and that was manifested through Yorkshire Forward, who represent businesses throughout the region," explained Derby.

"There are a number of stories about local business becoming involved, and for example a firm based in Poppleton won the contract to supply 500 walkie-talkies for the event. That deal is worth £10,000. Another local firm won a £25,000 contract to upgrade our phone system.

"The Marriott Hotel has built a multi-million-pound extension, which wasn't built exclusively for the meeting, but Royal Ascot at York certainly crystallised it.

"There will be about 260,000 people attending the meeting and spending their money on taxis, petrol, corner shops and the like."

Thousands of extra visitors will cause a certain amount of disruption to those who live in the vicinity, and the racecourse and local stakeholders have been keen to minimise this.

"An event on this scale will have an impact on the local community through the five days. We have been conscious to make sure the locals will not be excluded from the event and will not be too inconvenienced by it - but they have been hugely supportive," said Derby.

"We have opened up the Rails Enclosure, which has a 10,000 capacity, to people who live within a five-mile radius of the course and they will be able to come and enjoy Royal Ascot for just £4."

The planning for the arrival of Royal Ascot in the North has been an enormous undertaking for Derby and his team, with the initial planning stage stretching back over two years.

"The decision to award us the meeting was made on August 9 2003, but it has been over two years in the planning as we started putting the bid together in the spring of that year," said Derby.

"As soon as the decision was made, the track-extension plans went into full drive, along with the traffic planning, into which there has been a tremendous amount of work led by York City Council, the Highways Agency and Yorkshire Police.

"Everything connected to the Royal procession and the Royal Household is very different to us, which requires a different emphasis on security and policing.

"In terms of the magnitude of the meeting, the John Smith's meeting would be our biggest with around 40,000 attending, but we will have about 58,000 for the Thursday of the Royal meeting."

It will, no doubt, be a proud moment when the Queen and her entourage turn on to the Knavesmire on Tuesday, and for Derby it will be a moment of personal satisfaction as he and his team finally get to see the fruits of their labour.

"We are very proud of our racecourse and facilities on site and a huge amount of effort has gone into getting this far," Derby concluded.

"It is only now that the long hours that people have spent are beginning to pay off and there is a real buzz around the racecourse.

"We are all so excited and can't wait for it to get under way."