A group of four Ascot Racecourse 'Spagnoletti' boards used for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes during the De Beers race sponsorship, wh
£200 - £300
A group of four Ascot Racecourse 'Spagnoletti' boards used for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes during the De Beers race sponsorship, when placed vertically read: DE BEERS DIAMOND DAY; THE KING GEORGE VI; & THE QUEEN ELIZABETH; DIAMOND STAKES, the first a black painted wooden sponsor's raceday board with white lettering, the other race boards painted white with black lettering, each 25.5 by 200cm. Provenance: The Ascot Auction, Graham Budd Auctions at Sotheby's Olympia, London, 17th May 2005, lot 33. These raceday information display boards were originally consigned to auction by Ascot Racecourse during the new grandstand renovation project in 2005. They were known as Spagnoletti boards, the mechanism which displayed them being named after its inventor Charles Spagnoletti, whose work was chiefly for the Great Western Railway.