No jacket required: Ascot relaxes dress code but Chester sticks to its guns

The heatwave prompted Ascot on Friday to relax its strict dress code requiring men to wear jackets in the members' enclosures, but Chester has defended its decision to enforce the same rule for its meeting on Saturday.

With the temperature still in the high twenties as the gates opened at Ascot on Friday, an announcement was made that jackets were not required to be worn. Racegoers in the King Edward VII enclosure were even granted the luxury of being allowed to wear "tailored shorts".

A decision will be made on Saturday about whether the dress code will be relaxed for King George day.

On its website Ascot devotes a page to advising racegoers on appropriate dress. It states: “During exceptionally hot weather, the dress code may be relaxed. However, this is a discretionary decision which will only be made and communicated at the venue on the day.”

Chester, however, came in for criticism on social media over its refusal to follow suit.

The track did abandon the requirement for men to wear jackets at its meetings in June and earlier this month as a result of the heatwave, but the management defended its decision by pointing to the fact that the temperature for Saturday's Stella Artois Midsummer meeting is forecast to reach only 19C.

Sanne Taylor, executive assistant to the CEO, said: "We relaxed the dress code for the last two meetings in June and July because the temperatures were excessively high. They are not expected to be high tomorrow."

In contrast, Lord's Cricket Ground on Thursday tweeted that the normal dress code would be relaxed as a result of the heat.

Ascot and York are also expected to enjoy significantly cooler afternoons for their meetings on Saturday, with temperatures expected to reach around the early twenties. After 11mm of rain fell at York on Friday morning, the going eased to good from good to firm.

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