Royal Ascot 2026

Royal Ascot is a five-day meeting of high-quality Flat racing at Ascot racecourse in Berkshire. It is the highlight of the Flat racing calendar in Britain and a major social occasion. It is attended each year by the Queen and other members of the royal family. Find the full details about Royal Ascot Festival here

Royal Ascot takes place between Tuesday, June 16th and Saturday, June 20st.

Royal Ascot will be broadcast live on terrestrial television by ITV Racing on ITV and ITV4. Coverage starts at 1:30pm and will end at 6:00pm each day. Sky Sports Racing (channel 415) will also be showing all Royal Ascot races live.

The first race of the day is at 2:30pm, on each of the five days.  Coverage starts on ITV at 1:30pm or you can watch all the action on Sky Sports Racing (channel 415) or streamed directly via bookmaker websites/apps.

Royal Ascot takes place at Ascot racecourse, which is located in Ascot in Berkshire. The full address is Ascot Racecourse, High St, Ascot SL5 7JX.

The 2026 Ascot Gold Cup is the feature race on Thursday, June 19 and will be run at 4.20pm

Royal Ascot takes place over five days in June each year. For 2025 it runs from Tuesday, 17th to Saturday, 21st.

Royal Ascot is a Flat meeting.

Frankie Dettori is the leading jockey at Royal Ascot. Next best is Ryan Moore, with 66 wins, and that pair are well clear of third-placed William Buick.

Total prize-money for the 2025 Royal Ascot meeting is £10m, the same figure as 2024's meeting. However, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes will be run for £1.5m, up from 1.25m in 2024, making them the richest race ever run at Ascot. The total prize-money for the five days of Royal Ascot has steadily increased in recent years. In 2023 it was £8,652,500. This is an increase not only from 2021, when it was worth £6 million, but also back up from the £3.7 million on offer in 2020, which was halved from 2019 due to the financial constraints following the coronavirus pandemic. Traditionally, Royal Ascot is the most valuable race meeting in Britain.

A total of 300,000 people attend Royal Ascot across five days. In 2024 a record 66,000 people were present on Saturday.

No, Royal Ascot 2026 will currently go ahead as per usual. All the action will also be broadcast on TV and available to stream online.

Yes you can! Just make sure to buy your ticket early to avoid disappointment.

You can watch every race at Royal Ascot live on the Racing Post app when you place a bet of £1 or more on the race. Alternatively, the action will be broadcast on ITV from 1:30pm each day or Sky Sports Racing (channel 415).

Follow our step-by-step Royal Ascot betting guide.

Read the experts' advice about the Royal Ascot dress code and etiquette protocol.