Her Majesty the Queen will visit Musselburgh Racecourse on 8 July to help them celebrate 200 years of horse racing there.
The Bi-Centenary Raceday will be even more glittering with the presence of Her Majesty and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh during the Queen’s 90th birthday year.
A specially commissioned Bi-Centenary Cup will be awarded by Her Majesty to the winner of the feature race.
Bill Farnsworth, Musselburgh Racecourse chief executive, said: “We are thrilled and honoured to host Her Majesty and Prince Phillip in a double celebration of her landmark 90th birthday and the 200th year since racing was established at Musselburgh.
“The Queen is synonymous with horseracing and we are delighted she has decided to visit Musselburgh as part of Holyrood Week and put the Royal seal on our 200th birthday celebrations. We are sure she will see many changes since she last visited in 1995 and we hope to put on an exciting raceday for her and the Royal guests.”
When The Royal Family last visited they brought with them picnics to help enjoy a day’s full programme of festivities.
There will be music from The Regimental Band of The Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Pipes and Drums of The Royal Scots Borderers, accompanied by Royal Regiment of Scotland mascots, Cruachan III and IV.
The Royal party will take their seats in the Queen’s Stand which Her Majesty opened 21 years ago. There will also be an exhibition Harness Race before the Bi-Centenary Cup Race.
Sarah Montgomery, the racecourse’s senior operations and commercial manager, added: “This is an opportunity for families, friends and work colleagues to come to Musselburgh to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday and our own 200 years as a horse racing venue. We are all looking forward to what will be a very special occasion and we could not have hoped for a better way to crown our Bi-Centenary year.”
Community, educational and charity organisations taking part in the Bi-Centenary Raceday include Racing Together, Sporting Memories, Scottish Racing, Great British Racing, and East Coast FM.
The racecourse is offering a £5 discount on the usual £25 admission fee to racegoers booking online and all children aged 17 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult.
For more information and to book tickets please visit www.musselburgh-racecourse.co.uk
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