Military parade to grace Esher ahead of Sandown Park race day (From Wimbledon Guardian)

Military parade to grace Esher ahead of Sandown Park race day

9:46am Friday 8th February 2013 in Freetime By Laura Proto

A special parade will take to the streets of Esher in support of the Royal Artillery charities.

The parade will accompany the day of racing at the Royal Artillery Gold Cup Day at Sandown Park on Friday, February 15.

Marching troops from 1st Artillery Brigade including those from 22 Battery, 32 Regiment Royal Artillery, will grace the streets.

Men and women from the brigade are permanently on operation in Afghanistan.

The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery will also be on parade, along with the Royal Artillery Band and cadets from Surrey Army Cadet Force.

The parade will start at 10.30am at the top of Esher High Street and will march down the main high street straight to the racecourse.

The Military Wives Choir will return to Sandown Park and perform live, singing a selection of their songs during the racing.

The choir, which is formed of the wives and girlfriends of British servicemen fighting in Afghanistan, was brought together by choirmaster Gareth Malone for the BBC2 series The Choir.

To announce the start of the racing, a 13lb World War I gun will be fired at 12.30pm.

Between races, the Royal Artillery Hunt will be on parade, and punters can head down to the course to mingle with the hounds and hear the calling of the Huntsman Horn.

The feature race, the Royal Artillery Gold Cup, is one of Sandown Park’s oldest races, having been first run in 1863. It moved to the Esher racecourse for the first time in 1878. For more information, visit sandown.co.uk.