Horse Racing

Royal Ascot 2025: Date, Time, Location, How to Watch, Purse, Horses

Matthew Lomon, Railbirds Published: Jun 11 2025 15:20

Five days of first-class racing, rich pageantry, and a regal flair only mean one thing in the British summer sporting calendar – Royal Ascot.

The timeless flat-racing tradition returns to Ascot Racecourse in Ascot, Berkshire, England on Tuesday, June 17, running consecutively through Saturday, June 21.

As the preeminent event on the British flat-racing schedule, the 2025 renewal of Royal Ascot comes loaded with 36 races worth a combined £10 million in prize money.

Each dynamic day of racing is ushered in by the Royal Procession, when the King and accompanying members of the Royal Family parade through the famed Straight Mile by horse-drawn carriage.

The 2024 edition of Royal Ascot saw 300,000 spectators pack into the Thoroughbred racing cathedral that is Ascot Racecourse to witness history unfold in real time.

Get on the right side of history ahead of the most anticipated race week – not day – across the pond by brushing up on all things Royal Ascot, courtesy of bet365.

2025 Royal Ascot date

The 2025 Royal Ascot is a five-day racing festival that will take place between Tuesday, June 17 and Saturday, June 21.

The main event, the Group 1 Gold Cup, will run on Thursday, June 19.

2025 Royal Ascot start time

First race post for each day of the 2025 Royal Ascot is 9:30 AM ET.

Post time for the Gold Cup is 11:20 AM ET on Thursday (June 19).

2025 Royal Ascot location and venue

The 2025 Royal Ascot will be held is set at its usual stomping grounds, Ascot Racecourse in Ascot, Berkshire, England.

2025 Royal Ascot purse

The collective purse value across the five days of Royal Ascot races is $10 million.

The Gold Cup carries a purse of $813,000.

How to watch 2025 Royal Ascot, TV channel and streaming

The 2025 Royal Ascot will be broadcast live on Ignite World Racing via Sportsnet ONE.

Television coverage begins at 8:30 AM ET and runs through to 1:30 PM ET.

Full event schedule for the 2025 Royal Ascot

Tuesday, June 17

Queen Anne

Purse: $938,000
Distance: 1 mile
Group: 1
Age: 4+
Surface: Turf

King Charles III

Purse: $813,000
Distance: 5 furlongs
Group: 1
Age: 3+
Surface: Turf

St James’s Place

Purse: $813,000
Distance: 1 mile
Group: 1
Age: 3
Surface: Turf

Coventry

Purse: $219,000
Distance: 6 furlongs
Group: 2
Age: 2
Surface: Turf

Wolferton Stakes

Purse: $150,000
Distance: 1 1/4 miles
Group: N/A
Age: 4+
Surface: Turf

Wednesday, June 18

Prince of Wales’s

Purse: $1.25 million
Distance: 1 1/4 miles
Group: 1
Age: 4+
Surface: Turf

Queen’s Vase

Purse: $331,000
Distance: 1 3/4 miles
Group: 2
Age: 3
Surface: Turf

Duke of Cambridge

Purse: $281,000
Distance: 1 mile
Group: 2
Age: 4+
Surface: Turf

Queen Mary

Purse: $188,000
Distance: 5 furlongs
Group: 2
Age: 2
Surface: Turf

Windsor Castle Stakes

Purse: $138,000
Distance: 5 furlongs
Group: N/A
Age: 2
Surface: Turf

Thursday, June 19

Gold Cup

Purse: $813,000
Distance: 2 1/2 miles
Group: 1
Age: 4+
Surface: Turf

Ribblesdale

Purse: $313,000
Distance: 1 1/2 miles
Group: 2
Age: 3
Surface: Turf

Norfolk

Purse: $188,000
Distance: 5 furlongs
Group: 2
Age: 2
Surface: Turf

Hampton Court

Purse: $188,000
Distance: 1 1/4 miles
Group: 3
Age: 3
Surface: Turf

Friday, June 20

Commonwealth Cup

Purse: $813,000
Distance: 6 furlongs
Group: 1
Age: 3
Surface: Turf

Coronation

Purse: $813,000
Distance: 1 mile
Group: 1
Age: 3
Surface: Turf

King Edward VII

Purse: $313,000
Distance: 1 1/2 miles
Group: 2
Age: 3
Surface: Turf

Albany

Purse: $156,000
Distance: 6 furlongs
Group: 3
Age: 2
Surface: Turf

Saturday, June 21

The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee

Purse: $1.25 million
Distance: 6 furlongs
Group: 1
Age: 4+
Surface: Turf

Hardwicke

Purse: $313,000
Distance: 1 1/2 miles
Group: 2
Age: 4+
Surface: Turf

Jersey

Purse: $188,000
Distance: 7 furlongs
Group: 3
Age: 3
Surface: Turf

Chesham Stakes

Purse: $138,000
Distance: 7 furlongs
Group: N/A
Age: 2
Surface: Turf

Royal Ascot history

Royal Ascot, the preeminent exhibit on England’s revered Thoroughbred racing calendar, hails from humble origins.

Starting out in 1768 as a four-day race meet, it took the then quaint Royal Ascot nearly 40 years to blossom into the one-of-a-kind racing experience it is today.

The force responsible for the meet’s tremendous rise in popularity, the renowned Gold Cup (commonly, but not correctly, referred to as the “Ascot Gold Cup”), first provided the warmly received jolt in 1807.

With assistance from its marquee contest, the Royal Ascot took shape as the premier, and only racing event held at Ascot Racecourse. It remained that way until 1939.

The multi-day celebration of racing has abided by its regal moniker over its 250-plus year existence, introducing the monarch and other members of the royal family with the Royal Procession on each of the five race days.

Introduced by King George IV in 1825, the enduring tradition sees the ruling family arrive down the straight mile in the Royal Landaus while the national anthem is played, and the Royal Standard is raised.

In keeping with such rich pageantry, Royal Ascot is Britain’s most valuable race meeting in terms of available prize money (£10 million in 2025).

The prestigious meet also comes with four different “enclosures” for spectators to view from: Royal Enclosure, Queen Anne Enclosure, Village Enclosure, and Windsor Enclosure.

The Royal Enclosure contains a strict dress code and is very limited in terms of access, while the Queen Anne is Royal Ascot’s premier public enclosure.

The Windsor offers a more informal atmosphere, and the Village, which was first opened in 2017, is a happy medium between the Queen Anne and the Windsor.

Assessing Ascot Racecourse – history, track specs, and more

Between its regal origins and unfading status as the epicentre of the British summer social calendar, Ascot Racecourse is in a league of its own.

Founded in 1711 by Queen Anne, who came by the lot of land while scouting for the perfect place to gallop horses at length, Ascot held its first meet on August 11 that very year.

The maiden race featured seven horses and a prize of £50. It was conquered by a horse owned by the Duke of St Albans named Doctor.

Queen Anne’s revolutionary contribution to British Thoroughbred racing is commemorated in the tradition of opening Royal Ascot with The Queen Anne Stakes.

In the years that followed, Ascot Racecourse underwent significant renovations and operational changes, starting with the racecourse becoming a permanent structure in 1793.

Some 46 years later, in 1839, a new grandstand was installed. Nearly 75 years after that (1913) came the establishment of the Ascot Authority, which to this day, manages Ascot Racecourse.

There was no racing at Ascot between 1940-1943 due to World War II, as the facility was commandeered by the army, but later returned in May of 1943.

The first post-war meet landed on May 21, 1945, and was attended by Princess Elizabeth, who was 19 at the time.

She would go on to attend the Royal Meeting from her Coronation in 1953 to 2021. Princess Elizabeth’s banner moment came in 2013 when her filly Estimate won the Gold Cup, marking the first time the main event was won by a reigning monarch.

Today, the venue with a capacity of 80,000 attracts more than half-a-million racing fans each year.

Ascot itself houses two flat courses – used for Royal Ascot and traditional races – and a jumps track, which supports National Hunt racing.

The first flat track is a straight mile course that showcases contests from five furlongs to one mile, while the second flat track, a round course, stages races above one mile, including the stamina-testing 2 1/2-mile Gold Cup.

Ascot, situated about 25 miles west of London, entertains 18 flat race meetings each year.