A spot of bother

Someone is in for the high jump. It's a racing certainty.

Last Saturday saw the introduction of a new 'jacket and tie' dress code for racegoers visiting the Premier enclosure at Ascot . Those deemed not to be appropriately attired were approached by officials, informed of their transgression and then branded, very visibly, with an orange sticky dot. This, they said, was a benevolent move to avoid their being repeatedly approached. Excellent! You pay £28 to escape the oiks in the main grandstand only to find yourself branded as one of the oiks in the posh bit. That's what I call a package: a day at the races, fashion advice, tangerine stigma and public humiliation - and all for just £28!

The choice of orange is an interesting one. Visible: yes. Unlikely to blend in with their outfit de jour: would have thought so. But surely, given that it's the Queen's gaff, the tenor of the place and the pen-portrait of the majority of the attendees, a red dot might have been more appropriate - much more in keeping with their socio-economic landscape.

But orange! Orange stickers are part of the vocabulary of ramshackle corner shops, pound stores, market stalls and those vaguely disturbing set-in-aspic petrol stations - the Ms Havishams' of the petroleum world - that one happens across on B roads. They might have gone the whole hog and overprinted them with the legend 'slight seconds' in pricing-gun bold. Or better still used black dots to identify the 'sartorially poxed'.

But it's ok though, because the Chief Executive of Ascot, Charles Barnett, has said that he's very, very sorry and it's cost him £28,000 to do so in the form of refunds for all 1,000 racegoers in the Premier enclosure on that day. That's the least of his worries.

It's all a bit of a mess since some years ago UK Horseracing decided that the sport needed to rebrand itself. It hired brand consultants and conducted research amongst the public and industry insiders. The findings were then presented as part of the launch of the resultant 'Racing for Change' strategy in 2009, to the many authorities, associations, course owners, jockeys and trainers who own and run the sport. The objectives were to convert "irregular" visitors to "regulars"; to broaden the appeal of racing; and to make it more affordable and entertaining. Ascot has managed only the latter.

Press and TV coverage has been widespread and non-stop ever since Saturday. So how many prospects unversed in the lore and etiquette of racing have been put off for fear of being branded 'not quite right'? How many are wondering if all racecourses are like Ascot ? How many of those branded on Saturday will never return? And how many have had their negative perceptions of racing made reality? Ascot - and by extension racing per se - has been branded a snobs paradise and an insensitive one at that, but then it does have previous: it banned fascinators only last week and divorcees were banned from the Premier enclosure until the mid-50's.

Dress codes, rituals, etiquette and traditions are part of the appeal of racing - indeed any sport, club or association. They offer a sense of otherness, ceremony, escape and belonging; albeit a temporary one. It's probable that none of those 'marked' on Saturday would have minded adhering to the new dress code had they known about it. But they didn't. And that's your fault, Ascot, not theirs. And it all seemed to be going relatively well with attendances up and so on. But now the horse has bolted and some would say that you've shown your true colours. You've marked your own card. 

It's a PR non-runner.