The Royal Ascot Festival

Updated: 2025

While a particular day might feature one or two races that grab the spotlight, there’s no other horse racing occasion quite like the Royal Ascot Festival when it comes to the sheer number of prestigious events. Held annually in mid-June at the historic Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, England, this five-day festival is condensed with an impressive array of high-stakes races. The distances themselves offer a good variety, and the events see all ages and both genders of horses represented.

Furthermore, no other sporting occasion throughout all of Great Britain attracts such a crowd of light as the Royal Ascot Festival. The Festival has a close and intimate association with the Royal Family, who makes a point of appearing throughout the occasion. You also see an assemblage of apparel like no other, as those who attend the event must observe a strict and formal dress code.

Regarding the racing, numerous leading figures—who range not only across the British racing scene but also from the global stage—appear at Royal Ascot to vie for the substantial purses. The event offers a multitude of betting opportunities for punters, who are sometimes known as gamblers. In England, however, they are more often known as punters. And they love the Royal Ascot Festival. Even if you can't physically attend Great Britain, you can still participate in betting. There are a wealth of horse racing betting sites that offer odds for the Royal Ascot Festival.

The Setting for the Royal Ascot Festival

Ascot Racecourse has existed since 1711 when Queen Anne founded it. This royal connection has remained with the track throughout its history, mostly because it is only six miles from Windsor. Having the appearance of having the royal stamp of approval has kept it going even while other tracks have faded away during the three centuries since it was formed.

Even now, the Royal Enclosure is the place where the stars associate with royalty and take in the races. Those races happen all year long at Ascot, with only one part of them—the Royal Ascot Festival—mixing together both horses and high society. In recent years, Champions' Day, which rivals the best end-of-year championship races in other countries, has also been added to the Ascot social calendar, in large part because the race that gets run on Champions' Day—and on which this year's large purse is likely to be upwards of 400,000 British pounds, or about $670,000—hasn't got a name. In large part, that's because the race itself doesn't have a damn clue what it's running for.

Origins of the Royal Ascot Festival

Starting with the very beginning of the race track, festivals have ridden in along with them. A certain festival has even been given the rare privilege of appearing in the English calendar, a privilege not accorded to many things that don’t rattle, clang, or chime when the English strike twelve. 'It is a good thing,' says my friend, 'to have something to look forward to in the life of that bridge-building. It is a good thing indeed to have a Presbyterian festival. And so, here follows a few notes on the life of the Royal Ascot Festival.

Yet, the working populace undeniably has a spot at the festival. After all, a law passed in 1813 made certain that the course would forever be a public one. That meant the most everyday sort of individual who was placing a bet at Royal Ascot had just as much opportunity as the individuals with crowns to make the outcome of the festival swing in their favor.

Royal Ascot Festival Traditions

As mentioned earlier, the British monarchy, represented by the Royal Family, makes itself felt at the festival. Each afternoon during the festival, just before the onset of racing, the Royal Family arrives at the event, paraded before the crowd, in a horse-drawn carriage pulled by Windsor grey horses. They take up residence in the Royal Enclosure, presumably cheering on the horses with names like Sunshiny Day and All Star One.

However, this event has an exacting dress code. The Royal Enclosure—entry is by invitation only—requires men to wear a black or gray morning coat and a top hat. Ladies must wear proper dresses, and no fascinators are allowed. The other areas of the track aren’t quite so forbidding, but if you want to be seen and to enjoy the atmosphere at the Royal Ascot Festival, it’s probably best to be dressed smartly. There are no such restrictions for the betting public, however, as all bets placed from home over the internet allow for unfettered freedoms.

Racing at the Royal Ascot Festival

Until now, we’ve discussed all the dazzling details surrounding the Royal Ascot Festival, but the heart of the matter is the horse racing. On each of the event’s six days (Tuesday through Saturday), there are half a dozen Equine Olympics to watch, and at least two or three of them are mixed up in the very definition of what main events are all about.

Out of 30 competitions held over the festival's five days, 18 of them are classified as Group events. That places them among the top races in the world. Of course, even among top races, there is a distinction to be made. Group One races are the highest echelon. They are the races that really see the best horses competing against one another. Over the course of the festival, there are 30 races, but only a handful of them would you call among the very best in the world. Only the aforementioned Group One races fit that particular bill.

This is how the schedule typically pans out, with purse amounts given in British pounds and based on the latest iteration of each event.

Amazingly, seven of the eight races in this group have some form of existence at Ascot that stretches back to the 19th century. The Commonwealth Cup is the only event that isn't a true relic of racing history; it's a relatively new addition to the Ascot schedule. Here are a few details behind each of the races.

The Queen Anne Stakes

This event was first run in 1840 to honor the woman who ensured that there could be racing at Ascot in the first place. It’s not a race for the horses that do their best running in the distance races; it’s a race for the older milers that just might be fast enough to win one of the middle-distance races not quite far enough to be called a distance race. And they also might not be fast enough to win a sprint.

Winners at the Royal Ascot festival have included some of the most notable horses in recent memory, and this race is no exception. Goldikova, the three-time Breeders' Cup Mile champion, took the Queen Anne in 2010, and Frankel, who retired unbeaten, obliterated the field in 2012. And the American-trained mare Tepin, who's been in the conversation as the top female turf horse for the last couple of years, has starred as part of back-to-back years when she's been named that.

The King’s Stand Stakes

The first all-out sprint happened in 1860. The distance came about because rain had made most of the course unfit for competition during the inaugural edition of the event. Thus, only a five-furlong stretch of the course remained dry enough for the competitors to run on.

Since the race can be won by any horse older than three years, it is possible for a horse to win it more than once. In the most recent stretch of history, a couple of steeds have accomplished that. Equiano took first place in both 2008 and 2010, while Sole Power surged past competitors to win in consecutive years, 2013 and 2014.

The St. James’s Palace Stakes

What makes St. James's Palace special is that it is only for three-year-olds. This eliminates a lot of the competition, as you can imagine, because almost all of the top horses that run in their country's version of the 2000 Guineas Stakes come to Ascot to run in this. (And just to be clear, the horses are not actually restricted to only running in this race if they're three years old. They're also allowed to run in all of the other stakes for which they might be eligible.)

The superstar Frankel also won this race in 2011. Some all-time British milers, like Tudor Minstrel (1947) and Brigadier Gerard (1971), have been victorious in the St. James’s Palace. In 2000, Giant’s Causeway won as part of a streak of five straight Group One victories; a streak that was finally stopped when he just missed in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, finishing second.

The Prince of Wales’s Stakes

This event experienced an elongated hiatus. It was suspended during World War II and didn’t return until 1968. The Prince of Wales who figures in the title was the future Edward VII since he held the title at the time the race was created in 1862.

The last two-time winners of this event are Mtoto (1987 and 1988) and Muhtarram (1994 and 1995). Probably the biggest star in recent years to make her way to the winner's circle for the Prince of Wales was Ouija Board. The mare, who also won the Epsom Oaks (the distaff equivalent of the Epsom Derby), won two Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf championships.

The Gold Cup

Indeed, as you may have expected from the title, the victorious connections earn the reward of an actual golden trophy for their labors. As the 2 1/2-mile distance indicates, there is a tremendous amount of effort put forth by the equine athletes who take part in this event. For this race, the horseplayers who favor the long-distance runners call them "stayers."

There has never been such a bountiful performer in the Gold Cup as Yeats, who took this event an unparalleled four years in a row from 2006 to 2009. The Gold Cup is also part of the Stayers Triple Crown, of which the other two members are the Goodwood Cup and the Doncaster Cup. The last horse to win all three of these races was Double Trigger, in 1995.

The Commonwealth Cup

This race is the latest Group One event to be hosted at the Royal Ascot Festival. In past years, the Diamond Jubilee—also part of Royal Ascot—was open to both three- and four-year-olds. Once the Diamond Jubilee became a race exclusively for horses four years old and up, however, a new race for three-year-old sprinters was needed.

Muhaarar was the first-ever winner of the Commonwealth Cup, with victory being guided by none other than Dane O'Neill himself. Then came Caravaggio in 2017, who was the very first superstar to grace the race with his presence. His triumph in the Cup was, funnily enough, the sixth consecutive win to start off his career.

The Coronation Stakes

It’s a surprise that this event isn’t held on Ladies’ Day at the Royal Ascot Festival (which is Thursday). After all, it’s the only one of the Group One events which are restricted to female horses. In any event, it has been a major attraction at the festival since its first running in 1840, two years after the coronation of Queen Victoria.

The Diamond Jubilee Stakes

This sprint showcase is the final Group One race of the Royal Ascot festival, but it has worn a number of different names throughout its history. At various times, it has been called the All-Aged Stakes and The Cork and Ornery. For a period, it was the Golden Jubilee, but in 2012, it was rebranded The Diamond Jubilee in honor of that year’s celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

No longer were three-year-olds allowed in 2015. They were instead given the opportunity to join the Commonwealth Cup, along with its sister event—the Diamond Jubilee, which is part of a series called the Global Sprint Challenge. That series is designed to produce Europe’s next top sprinter.

Betting on the 2025 Royal Ascot Festival

Perhaps, you will get the chance to sit in the Royal Enclosure at Ascot one day. More than likely, you will have to content yourself with watching it all unfold on TV. But don't take that as a sign you're being shut out of Acsot betting, as this primer on betting on the festival makes clear.

Choosing Royal Ascot Festival Betting Sites

Included among the most historic and prestigious in all of the sport, the races of the Royal Ascot comprise some of the most elite equestrian events to occur on a regular basis. These are special occasions that cause horse racing fans from all walks of life to hold their collective breaths. Bet on them at any interactive wagering platform you like, but first, please read our text on how to select the best online betting sites for these affairs. Our betting site review process is detailed; our reviews are thorough. We help you find the sites that work best for you.

You should take a very hands-on approach to choosing the sites. In other words, visit the sites and see if they are easy to navigate. If not, you could have the experience of not being able to submit bets or even losing money that is rightfully yours.

Deciding Which Types of Royal Ascot Bets to Make

This choice will depend on how much cash you want to rake in and how much you're prepared to put on the line. If you're the kind of person who likes to make a bet that's somewhat analogous to betting on a single horse in a race (to win or place, which means to finish in a somewhat respectable position in the top three), then you'll generally find that making such a straight bet requires you to risk quite a lot of your bank.

The reason for this is because winning straight bets is generally much simpler than winning other types of wagers. But even if you stick with straight bets, they can still bring home some succulent profits, especially when you’re betting on underdogs. Let’s now take a look at the different types of bets.

Coming up With a Strategy for Picking Winners

The majority of individuals construct their horse race betting strategies through a lengthy process of trial and error. Yet with even minimal research on the internet or a foray into the depths of a racing form, you can easily elevate your selection methods and handicapping skills to a level that will yield at least some profitable results. After all, it is the betting on Royal Ascot that makes it one of the world’s most prominent horse racing events.

From there, you can begin to examine critical elements. Several of these are the types of classes each horse has run in during previous races; their riders, who have a big say in how the horse performs; and the horse's lineage, which is especially important in the case of equine athletes. Better to bet on a horse that has an ancestor who also won important races. When selecting the Royal Ascot winners, you can also look at success rates and other factors. It is competitive, and it is also an art.