Royal Ascot Set To Win Back Confidence In Racing

This year's showpiece event aims to leave the sport's recent doping scandals behind and win back the confidence of punters.

為期一周的英國皇家愛斯科賽馬會開幕，吸引了來自世界各地的人前來觀看。英國女王等王室重要成員是皇家賽馬會的常客，其它社會名流也趨之若鶩。人們頭戴造型獨特的帽子，成為一道亮麗的風景線。

皇家愛斯科賽馬會由安妮女王于1711年建立，它是歐洲最為著名的賽馬會，也是英國社交日歷上最為重要的一場活動，參與者的著裝也是各大媒體爭相報道的重點話題。

Best horses from around the world in final preparation for the most prestigious meeting of all -- Royal Ascot. It comes after a scandal this spring that saw leading trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni banned for injecting horses with anabolic steroids. Performance enhancing drugs are illegal in British racing. But in some countries sending runners to Ascot, substances like the anti-bleeding agent LASIKS are a fact of life.If we didn't use LASIKS, it will be like Usain Bolt putting the starting blocks five metres behind the other guys. You know, I'm not prepared to do that. I'm fighting as hard as anybody in America. The change is the rules.

I should be able to go racing in any country and know that not any of the rules in terms of medication, even your objections, you know, for interference. The rule should be standing out, in my opinion, throughout the world.

Britain's leading Acorn VETS is the benefits the drugs are clear. It can never be justified.

They increase aggression. You could argue that they will make a horse keener to race, keener to run. Um, and if they enable it to work harder during training, which they probably do, then you can get it fitter during the training period. I think you have to be pretty a callous sort of person to be prepared to expose your horse to unnecessary risk for your own ends.

The modern Royal Ascot is an international meeting with runners from countries with much more liberal rules on the use of drugs. Despite this, the authorities here believe the public can have confidence in every horse that passes the winning post.

Each horse that travels has to send in advance to the British Horse Racing Authority a schedule of what treatment that horse might have received in the previous, quite a long time, time before it comes. And then when the horse arrives, they are tested by the British Horse Racing Authority there.

So as the attention turns from scandal to runners and riders, British racing is hoping a week of clean sport, though it may take longer to wash away the troubles of recent months.

Paul Kalsol, Sky News.