Musselburgh putting on the glitz for Ladies Day

Musselburgh Racecourse attracted its largest Edinburgh Cup attendance last Saturday with a total crowd of 6131, up by 1000 on last year.

Now the East Lothian course will consolidate that success and celebrate 10 years of Ladies Day with a modern day record 9000 capacity attendance at the Stobo Castle Ladies Day on Saturday 14 June.

Ladies Day sold out in record time this year and hundreds of disappointed racegoers were unable to get tickets for what has developed in to one of the most sought-after Scottish sporting and fashion events of the summer.

Competition off-track will be as fierce as on the turf with thousands of elegant woman – and men – dressed to kill for Scottish racing’s premier race day. The most stylish dressed lady of the afternoon will pick up a £3000 cheque in the Debenhams Queen of Style event and there is range of exclusive prizes in other Fashion in the Field contests.

Glamorous hats and fascinators aside, a fascinating contest gets underway at 3.35pm with Musselburgh’s richest ever race, the £100,000 William Hill Scottish Sprint Cup, which is televised live on Channel 4.

Musselburgh Racecourse commercial manager, Sarah Montgomery, said: “We’ve invested a lot in to making the course look fantastic on our 10th anniversary Ladies Day. When you tally up the huge amounts race goers will spend individual to look the part and on food, wine, champagne cocktails and not to mention limousine hire and transport to and from the course, it’s easy to see the huge boost this event gives to the local economy in East Lothian and the benefits of having this showpiece race day on its doorstep.”

Stobo Castle Ladies Day Top Ten Anniversary Facts

· More than 1000 bottles of bubbly – £50,000 worth – will be sold on Ladies Day

· An estimated £800,000 will be spent by racegoers on outfits, hats, shoes and accessories

· Around £10,000 has been spent on floral displays and decorating the course

· Free bottles of water will be given away to prevent people dehydrating

· Guests are free to bring own picnics and food but all liquids are banned

· Stobo Castle Pamper Zone will provide free hair and make-up ‘touch ups’ and mini-massages

· Vitals items like sunglasses, plasters, sun cream, ponchos and flip flops will be on sale for those who forgot to bring them

· No-one will go thirsty – on top of seven permanent public bars there are two marquee bars, an Edinburgh Gin pop-up bar, Pommery Champagne pop-up bar, two ice bars and eight mobile drinks units.

· Donations will be taken to support the Missing People charity which will be match funded by Stobo Castle

· The Twitter hashtag for following Ladies Day is #ladiesday10

Gates open on Ladies Day at 10.30am and the first race is at 1pm. Musselburgh is also racing on Friday, 13 June when gates open at noon and the first race is at 1.50pm