Ascot Racecourse - home of the famous Royal Ascot meeting

There are eighteen Flat racing meetings that take place over the spring, summer and autumn months, while Ascot also doubles up as a National Hunt racecourse and there are a further eight race meetings during the winter months.

Ascot racecourse is most synonymous with the Royal meeting, a five-day event that takes place during the month of June. Starting on a Tuesday and running through until Saturday, the Royal Ascot meeting features some of the best horses in the world who compete for staggering sums of prize money.

Royal Ascot is the Jewel in the Crown

Royal Ascot dates back as far as 1711 and the meeting is attended by several members of the royal family during the five days including Queen Elizabeth II. Each day of the meeting begins with the royal family members and entourage travelling on the course in a horse-drawn carriage.

On Day 1 of the Royal Ascot meeting, there are three Group 1 races including the Queen Anne Stakes, King’s Stand Stakes and St James’s Palace Stakes. Two of these races are run over a distance of one mile, while the King’s Stand Stakes is a five furlong affair.

On Day 2 of the meeting, we have the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, while Day 3 features the Royal Ascot Gold Cup which is traditionally the centrepiece of the entire meeting although most racegoers regard this is just another fantastic Group 1 race.

On Day 4 of the meeting, we have the Commonwealth Cup and Coronation Stakes which are the Group 1 races, although it should be borne in mind that each day of Royal Ascot has six quality races each day and there are always a large number of entries for each renewal.

The final day of Royal Ascot is on the Saturday of the meeting, with the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, the Hardwicke Stakes and Wokingham Stakes among the quality renewals.

Ascot is a prestigious racecourse and racegoers who attend Royal Ascot are often keen to dress in style, with the men regularly turning out in a top hat and tails. Ladies spend a lot of care in how they dress for the glamorous meeting and this is very much a society affair.

Watch British Champions Day at Ascot

In addition to Royal Ascot, racing fans also enjoy flocking to the same racecourse to enjoy British Champions Day, with this event being the climax to the British Champions Series.

British Champions Day has been in effect since 2011 and Frankel is among the famous horses who have triumphed at this meeting, with the day consisting of several Group 1 races.

There are four Group 1 races in total, with the British Champions Sprint Stakes being run over six furlongs, while there is also the British Champions Fillies’ and Mares Stakes. The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is the showpiece race of the meeting, while the Champion Stakes is run over one mile and two furlongs.

Ascot Hosts Several Other Prestigious Races

There are stacks of race meetings taking place at Ascot throughout the calendar year, with the Holloway’s Hurdle, Clarence House Chase and Warfield Mares’ Hurdle occurring in January. These are National Hunt races and are followed by more high-class races in the February.

There are three high-profile chase races, with the Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase, Ascot Chase and Weatherbys Chase taking place on the second month of the year, while we then go into the Flat season and the first big races of this campaign take place in April.

There’s a big Flat meeting at Ascot which features the Sagaro Stakes, Pavilion Stakes and Paradise Stakes, with the Victoria Cup taking place in May. After Royal Ascot, there is then a big meeting in July which bears witness to the prestigious King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

There is then the Summer Mile Stakes, Princess Margaret Stakes and Pat Eddery Stakes, with the Flat season coming to an end in October when there are races such as the Noel Murless Stakes, the Bengough Stakes, Cumberland Lodge Stakes and Cornwallis Stakes.

Ascot is very much the royal course of England, with the track being situated six miles from Windsor Castle and there are several wealthy members who regularly attend the course and occupy the royal enclosure.