Royal Ascot 2025: Dates, schedule, history & odds

Royal Ascot is the jewel in the flat-racing crown of Britain, the premier stage for equine superstars to compete for the sport's most prestigious prizes amid unmatched pageantry.

For one week in June, Ascot Racecourse in the Berkshire countryside is the central attraction on the British sporting landscape.

From the arrival of the Royal Procession as the clock strikes two each day, through an array of top-class races on the track - this is a sporting institution intrinsically linked to British summertime. 

Royal Ascot date

Royal Ascot takes place across five days in mid-June each year, beginning on a Tuesday afternoon and running through until the Saturday.

In 2025, it is scheduled to take place from Tuesday 17th-Saturday 21st June.

Royal Ascot venue

The meeting takes place at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, the venue for more than a third of Britain's Group 1 races annually and known to attract more than half-a-million racegoers per year.

How to watch Royal Ascot

Fans in Britain can watch the meeting on both ITV Racing and Sky Sports Racing across all five days, while you can also catch it on the bet365 Sports Live Streaming platform.

Royal Ascot history

The Royal Ascot meeting dates back to 1807, when the Gold Cup was first held, and the very threads of thoroughbred racing in Britain are intertwined with the great sporting action that takes place on this turf in June.

The Gold Cup itself has been won an incredible 11 times by the great Lester Piggott as rider from 1957-1982, while trainer Aidan O'Brien's tally of eight wins is also a benchmark.

Four of those wins were achieved by Yeats (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) - a record unmatched – while in 2024 O'Brien sent out Kyprios to win the great race for a second time, becoming only the third horse in history to regain the Gold Cup.

He won in 2022 before a setback meant he missed the race in 2023.

All of the major Group 1 races at Ascot are laced with stories of greatness. Modern-day great Frankel was twice a winner at this meeting, taking the St James's Palace Stakes in 2011 and the Queen Anne Stakes a year later.

Royal Ascot most successful trainer

Irish handler Aidan O'Brien has the record for the most victories at Royal Ascot, with 91 to his name.

He won his first race back in 1997, and he passed Sir Michael Stoute as the winning-most trainer in 2023 thanks to Paddington's victory in the St James's Palace Stakes.

O'Brien added six more wins at the 2024 meeting, including the Prince Of Wales's Stakes with Auguste Rodin and the Gold Cup with Kyprios.

He once more ended Royal Ascot in 2024 as leading trainer, the 13th time in his career the Ballydoyle supremo has managed it.

Royal Ascot most successful jockey

The legendary Lester Piggott still holds the record for the most Royal Ascot winners. Piggott ended his career with 116 wins at the meeting, which explains why he has a statue at the track.

Piggott won 11 Ascot Gold Cups during his career, a record that may never be broken.

He is the only jockey to have ever won more than 100 races at Royal Ascot, while Ryan Moore is next in line with 85 winners.

He surpassed Frankie Dettori (81) in 2024 on route to being crowned leading rider at the 2024 meeting for the 11th time in his career thanks to six wins across the five days.

Royal Ascot famous winners

Some of the world's best Flat horses have competed at Royal Ascot, and Yeats remains one of the biggest names, having won the Ascot Gold Cup four times in a row from 2006-2009.

Stradivarius won the crown three times in a row between 2018-2020.

In recent years, Equiano, Sole Power and Blue Point have all tasted victory twice in the King Charles III Stakes, which is another Group 1 race at Royal Ascot.

What is the dress code at Royal Ascot?

There are different dress code requirements for the various enclosures at Ascot Racecourse.