Epsom Ladies Day 2019

I was lucky enough to be invited by The Jockey Club to sample the hospitality at Epsom Downs Racecourse for one of THE events of the social season – Investec Ladies Day. The excitement builds before you even enter the racecourse, buzzing crowds of people all dressed up, and of course there were hats…lots of hats. Ladies Day is famous for hats and fascinators and there certainly were some amazing creations on display.

The day started with a visit to a beautifully restored vintage bus from English wine producers Coates & Seely. You may not have heard of the brand before, as they are not available at your local supermarket only through specialist distributors and of course their website. They mainly supply to high end restaurants and venues as at Epsom. I tried both their white and rose sparkling wines, absolutely delicious they were too and further evidence (if any was needed) that English wine has progressed in leaps and bounds over recent years and is now truly world class. Coates & Seely are a family run business and talking to them their knowledge and passion for creating fantastic wine shone through.

The Winning Post

We then headed over to The Winning Post restaurant for a spot of lunch. A prime position as the name would suggest, stepping out onto the terrace gives you a perfect view of the final straight and the finish line.

We started with salmon with beetroot and horseradish cream, a great flavor combination and a really fresh start to the meal. The main was steak with blue potato mash, carrots two ways and pea sprouts. A flavorful piece of meat it was too, with a rich tasty jus bringing it all together. Dessert was a lemon tart, with a little fresh fruit, cream and meringue on the side it was not too sharp nor too sweet, but just right. As I chatted to the head chef I found out a little more about their ethos. I was pleased to hear that, as with their wine suppliers, they focus on best of British and favour smaller, specialist producers where they can. When you are serving hundreds of settings at a time it would be easy to bring in the big distributors to provide everything you need, but they are more about supporting people across the industry, including their own staff. It turns out the head chef started his career there as a bottle washer and worked his way up to the prestigious position he is in now. Whichever member of staff I spoke to have the same story, they all felt thoroughly supported in their roles.

Later on we were treated to afternoon tea with scones, jam, cream and sandwiches. Classic British food for a classic British event! As for the racing itself, I did have a flutter on a few races…and lost! Great fun though and the excitement of seeing those horses thundering passed really is a ‘had to be there’ experience. If you’ve never been to the races before it’s a wonderful day out. People of all walks of life coming together enjoying the sport, it’s a visual spectacle, I mean it’s not every day you get to see Frankie Dettori going flying passed is it? You know sometimes it’s not just about the food, sometimes the atmosphere, excitement and venue comes into play and Epsom’s Ladies Day had that in spades. Have you been to Epsom Downs Racecourse? Remember to tell me about your experience in the comments below. Michael Robinson