Anyone had DC’s work at Royal Ascot?

[Rollergirl11]

If so what have their experiences been? DD hoping to get some work there this summer.

I did, with an agency called Contract Options. Many years ago, doubt that agency is still going! The regular staff would get the boxes, as tips were great. Easy work, all the snooty lot get pissed and much friendlier as the day goes on.

I did it when I was a teenager. Is she wanting to work in the hospitality side, the operations side, or the betting side? I waitressed the first year then switched to working for the bookies the subsequent years. It’s good fun - tips can be great. There are a LOT of drunk people so you need
to be quite hardy.

My DD worked there for Royal Ascot week one year, and a few other corporate events.

She was in a very swanky place within the Royal Enclosure - the kind of place that is £1000 a head per day.

The training was quite intense, and she now knows how to open a bottle of champagne. She enjoyed the experience but was exhausted by the Saturday. She also wore through her shoes (which were not flimsy to start with).

A family member does and has worked in the Royal enclosure, she really enjoys the experience.

@PortSalutPlease i think it is taking the bets. Oooh hadn’t even thought about tips! So it could end up being very worth her while then?!

I went to uni round there and lots of friends worked Ascot via various agencies - it was a good gig from memory.

Not the answer you were looking for, but please tell your daughter not to be part of the incredibly cruel, unnatural and barbaric world of horse racing.

Luckily my daughters feel the same as me, I’d be telling them straight if they felt otherwise.

Dd did. She loved it, and got loads £ in tips.

@Rollergirl11 ignore the hatred. Someone always has to spoil the fun. These horses are utterly pampered and bred to run. They love it.

It’s a great sport and a great event. Not sure she will get tipped by taking the bets though. Ascot run their own betting shops at the course. Was it them she was looking at? More likely to get tips in the restaurants.

I worked there for a couple of summers in the early 90s so a long time ago. I worked in the kitchens. It was brutal. Long hours with no breaks but the money was good compared to my paltry YTS scheme money.

@OhDear111 its through an agency but she’s been told it’s taking the bets through a terminal for which she will receive training. Needs to be good with money. Does that mean she will be giving out winnings?

Yeah, horses love being forced to run, they love it when their lungs bleed, love to be forced into starting gates, horses have been fatally injured due to this, love having their tails and manes pulled to force them in. They love having been bred to the point that they are so fragile so their delicate bones can break almost on impact.

A horse’s skeleton is not fully developed until six years of age, yet two year olds are raced. They love being whipped, and there is footage of race horses being whipped and punched on the head and neck. They love being sold off to slaughter houses when they can no longer race, they love being cooped up in stables 23 hours a day, when they’re herd animals and need companionship. They love abusers like Ruby Walsh saying “A horse is just a horse, they can easily be replaced”

Since January 2023, over 1000 horses have been raced to their deaths in racing, in the UK and Ireland alone. OVER 1000!!!

Why is that acceptable. I’ll never keep quiet about this abusive blood sport. Not while horses are being harmed.

We talked to a lad who was doing security at the eras at Wembley. He’d previously worked on the bar at ascot and had enjoyed it but said people were quite snotty. But good tips and fun atmosphere.

@BebbanburgIsMine Start your own thread. Total rubbish.

I did it many years ago. Excellent fun and tips! It also gave me quite a lot of customer service skills and confidence which helped with my later (totally unrelated) career.

None so blind as those who do not want to see.

@Rollergirl11 that sounds like she’ll be working for Tote. She will en expected to pay out winnings in cash so she needs to be good at adding up and handling money.

Royal enclosure is the fanciest part so it’s nice for atmosphere but the fancier the clientele, the worse they tip. The bars and restaurants often have
tote betting points in and the tips at those are good, and near the grandstand and parade ring.

No one tips Tote staff. Plus Ascot run their own tote system. You might be working for them. The main thing is understanding the bets if they are running accumulators or complex options with multiple bets. Training will be vital and they have computers to calculate the winnings. Staff just hand it over according to the bet.

Plenty of people tipped Tote staff when I did it. 🤷‍♀️
Its not as simple as “just handing it over” either - thanks to the way the odds work, the winnings can be really random amounts and you have to be very exact and precise as you have to have a balanced till at the end of the shift.

Well yes, but it’s on a computer. As long as you can count money! You don’t have to calculate winnings.

So DD got the job. It’s working with Bet for Ascot. She’ll get a days training. Think it will be hard work but good fun!

Oh dear

A job in a cruel and barbaric industry.

‘Let him who is without sin throw the first stone.’