The Royal Meeting has been patronised by the royal family and the reigning monarch through it’s entire history.  The daily royal procession down the centre of the track in horse drawn carriage is an integral part of each days events and has featured at the meeting since 1825. 

Our current monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II first attended the meeting in 1945 as a 19 year old princess.  Her great love of horses and interest in racing has seen her own 20 winners over the past 60 years with her first winner being Choir Boy in The 1952 Royal Hunt Cup and her most recent being Free Agent in the 2008 Chesham Stakes.

The Queen has become the eleventh monarch to rule since Queen Anne in 1711 and the novelty bet of the week in recent times has firmly focused on the Queens choice of hat colour on Ladies day.

Her majesty’s attendance commands strict rules and traditions especially within the Royal enclosure.  Dress code requires Black or Grey Top Hats and Morning Dress for Gentlemen with the ladies being required to adorn a hat or substantial Fascinator.  The rules don’t stop there for the fairer sex either with strapless, mini skirts, midriffs and any other skimpy garments being a big no in the main enclosures.

Ascot Highlights – Day by Day

The Royal Meeting is laden with ultra competitive racing which takes the form of 30 races over five days with 17 Group races including seven Group 1 events for the equine elite.  It also caters for the less talented colts and fillies with many competitive Handicaps taking place during the course of the week with an average 500 horses during the meeting.

 

Day one on the Tuesday sees some early Group 1 action with the first three races on the card holding that status.  They are The St James Palace Stakes for the best three year old milers, The Queen Anne Stakes for the older generation of milers and The King Stand Stakes, a five Furlong sprint which now forms the first leg of the Global Sprint Challenge.  The Group 2 Coventry Stakes also enhances the day with a chance for the two year olds to shine in the first group contest of the season for that generation.

Wednesday’s card is dominated by The Group 1 Prince of Wale’s Stakes held over a mile and a quarter for the four years olds and up.  However, for many the spectacle and puzzle that is The Royal Hunt Cup, with it’s thundering cavalry charge over a straight mile, marks the start of the big betting races at the meeting.

Although not officially acknowledged in any of the racecourse literature as such Thursday brings the publicly named Ladies Day and The highlight of the meeting in the form of The Gold Cup.  Day three’s action is further enhanced with two Group 2 races including The Ribblesdale Stakes, a one and a half mile contest for three year old fillies.

Friday is Day four and The Group 1 Coronation Stakes dominates the day.  This contest is the sister race to the opening day’s St James Palace Stakes and is run over a mile for fillies.  The Group 2 King Edward VIII Stakes is also featured on the card and is a middle distance contest for three year old colts and geldings sometimes referred to as The Ascot Derby.

The final day of the meeting is now on the Saturday with The Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes named in Her majesty’s honour run over six Furlongs.  This second big sprint of the week forms the second British leg of the Global Sprint Challenge.  The oldest Handicap of the week The Wokingham Stakes has also been moved to the Saturday and provides one of the last major betting contests between Bookmaker and Punter before the meeting closes.