The winners by a short - and one very tall - head at Royal Ascot

Forget the horses - fashion is the real race at Royal Ascot.

The five-day meeting opened today with a dazzling array of hats, as Gary Lineker's wife went head to head with presenter Anneka Tanaka-Svenska.

Writer Ms Svenska was first over the line with a huge creation made of blonde hair and flowers, by Louis Mariette, closely followed Danielle Bux, who was at the races with husband Gary, wearing a traditional sunhat.

Model Isabella Christensen wore dramatic white and royal purple, while model Veronica Voronina chose black and lime green.

This year Ascot sees its first Boujis runner, as a horse-racing syndicate made up of members at the exclusive London nightclub will see one of their charges race only months after forming. Greensward runs in the Royal Hunt Cup tomorrow.