Saturday added to Royal Ascot week

Ascot's Royal meeting will extend to an unprecedented fifth day next summer, to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee. The extra afternoon of racing with the Queen in attendance, on Saturday 22 June, will replace the traditional Heath meeting, and include the Wokingham Handicap and the Cork & Orrery Stakes, while new races to fill the gaps earlier in the week will include valuable handicaps over five and seven furlongs.

The loss of the Heath meeting will not be welcomed by those racegoers who enjoy its low-key informality, but the course was keen to stress yesterday that the Royal meeting will extend to Saturday for one year only. "This will give a large number of people, who may not normally be able to attend during the week, an opportunity to experience this unique Royal race meeting," Douglas Erskine-Crum, Ascot's chief executive, said.

The King Edward VII Stakes, the so-called Ascot Derby, will also move to Saturday, as will the Queen Alexandra Stakes, Royal Ascot's traditional closing event. The Cork & Orrery Stakes will be renamed the Golden Jubilee Stakes, while in keeping with the course's policy for the meeting, none of the Saturday races will be sponsored.

Mason fined £2,400

Norman Mason was fined £2,400, and three of his jockeys banned, by the Jockey Club disciplinary committee yesterday. Ciaran Eddery, Calvin McCormack and Gerard Ryan were aboard three Mason-trained 33-1 shots in a novice hurdle at Bangor on 15 September.

The jockeys failed to ensure their horses obtained the best possible placing, the committee decided. Eddery was suspended for 10 days and McCormack and Ryan for seven days each. The horses were suspended from running in any race for 30 days.