HATS OFF to it! Royal Ascot runs until Saturday, and there are few venues that can match the rich heritage and 300-year-old history of Ascot Racecourse.

As well as now being a national institution and a centrepiece of the British social calendar, it’s the stage for the best racehorses in the world.

Tradition, pageantry, fashion and style all meet at one of the most beautiful racecourses in the country, but the horseracing is pretty outstanding too.

Facts about Ascot 1. It was Queen Anne who first saw the potential for a racecourse at Ascot three centuries ago.

2. The first race meeting ever held on Ascot Heath took place in 1711. 3. The first four-day meeting took place in 1768. 4. It was around the time of Ascot Gold Cup in 1807 that the roots of today’s dress code emerged.

5. 300,000 racegoers visit Royal Ascot every year.

6. Only formal day dresses with a hat or substantial fascinator are acceptable. Miniskirts are unsuitable, while midriffs must be covered. Gents must wear morning dress.

7. The Gold Cup remains the feature race of the five-day meeting.

8. The picnic tradition can be traced back to the very earliest meetings.

With the arrival of the motor car came the picnic in the car park.

9. Butlers, candelabra and silver service are still in evidence at picnics.

10. The fifth day of Royal Ascot used to be called Heath Day until 2002.

11. The longest Flat race in Britain is the Queen Alexandra Stakes – just short of two and three-quarter miles.

12. Royal Enclosure entry is by sponsorship from an existing badgeholder who has attended for four previous years. Divorcees were not accepted until 1955.

13. Each day follows the same format with the Royal Procession making its way into the parade ring from 2pm. The first race of six each day is at 2.30pm and the finale is at 5.35pm.

14. After racing each day, racegoers are invited to celebrate as they sing favourites around the bandstand.

15. Admission into the Silver Ring and the Grand-stand is from £15 to £69.

Those granted entry to the Royal Enclosure pay £90.

16. In 2010, 35,000 strawberry scones, 35,000 rounds of sandwiches, 30,000 eclairs, 1,400 lobsters and 1,400 kilos of smoked salmon were washed down by 50,000 bottles of Champagne and 8,000 bottles of Pimm’s.

17. In the 1920s, women were not allowed to smoke in the Royal Enclosure. Nowadays, nobody can.

18. The racecourse closed for 20 months in 2004 for a £220m redevelopment. The 2005 Royal Meet was held at York.

19. The racecourse has 13,398 car parking spaces.

Up to 400 helicopters and 1,000 limos attend.

20. The legendary racehorse Yeats won the Ascot Gold Cup four times between 2006 and 2009.

21. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the routes from London to Ascot were notorious haunts for highwaymen who targeted wealthy racehorse owners.

22. The King’s Representative at Ascot in the early 1900s, Viscount Churchill, would sift through Royal Enclosure applications, marking them ‘certainly’, ‘perhaps’ or ‘certainly not’.

23. The most successful current trainer is Sir Henry Cecil (72 winners).

24. The most successful current jockey is Frankie Dettori with 44 winners.

25. In 1799, the Light Brigade was called to the racecourse when a row over a bet developed into a riot.

26. 2,400 cleaners work around the clock.

27. The gatemen at Royal Ascot wear bowler hats.

28. Gay Kelleway was the first woman to ride a winner – Sprowston Boy in 1987.

29. London brewer Fullers launched a special ale to mark Ascot’s 300th year.

30. In 1971, the Queen’s representative, the Duke of Norfolk, was taken aback to read in The Times and the Daily Telegraph that hot pants would be allowed in the Royal Enclosure.

The following day, that mistake was corrected.