Queen Elizabeth II will be the star of the show when 300,000 racegoers descend upon Berkshire to watch Royal Ascot unfold this month. It is the richest and most prestigious meeting in the British calendar and the royals descend en masse to add an extra touch of glamour to proceedings. Racing fans and punters can look forward to five days of captivating action, featuring eight Group 1 races and 19 Group races in total. Many of the world’s leading runners, jockeys and trainers will be there to battle it out for glory and it should be another thrilling spectacle. Its heritage is one of its key strengths and it is always worth looking back through the history books to gain a sense of just how special this meeting is.

Royal Ascot Origins

Queen Anne founded Ascot Racecourse in 1711 after noting the potential area’s potential while out hunting in nearby Windsor Forest. The inaugural race was called Her Majesty’s Plate and it offered the princely sum of 100 guineas to the winning owner. Royal Ascot quickly became a key event in the court social calendar. That ended when Queen Anne died in 1714, but King George II’s third son, the Duke of Cumberland, was a keen sportsman and he resurrected its fortunes in 1749. It gained traction throughout the second half of the 18^th century and the first permanent stand was erected in 1793, holding 1,650 people.

The Ascot Gold Cup began life in 1807 and that marked the origins of the modern day Royal Ascot Festival. It is now the centrepiece of the meeting and one of the world’s most prestigious races. The course’s future was secured by the 1813 Act of Enclosure, which mandated that it would be maintained as a public racecourse. Ladies’ Day began on a Thursday in 1823 and that tradition is still upheld, as are the royal processions that began in 1825. Beau Brummell, a friend of the Prince Regent, began the tradition for wearing fine garbs to the festival when he decreed that men should wear black waistcoats, white cravats and pantaloons. These events laid the groundwork for Royal Ascot to become a world-famous meeting that combines the finest elements of sport, fashion, tradition, pomp and ceremony.

Growth in Popularity

The St James’s Palace Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes, Coronation Stakes, Golden Jubilee Stakes and the Prince of Wales’s Stakes were launched between 1834 and 1868, and they have all gone on to become Group 1 races. An Act of Parliament established the Ascot Authority in 1913 and that saw His Majesty’s representative, Lord Churchill, become the chairman. The meeting became known as Royal Ascot and it continued to evolve throughout the 20th century. The Queen Elizabeth II Grandstand was erected ahead of the 1961 meeting and the Members’ Stand went up three years later, vastly increasing the capacity.

A £200 million redevelopment was unveiled in 2006 to make the course fit for the modern era. The Golden Jubilee Stakes was renamed the Diamond Jubilee Stakes in 2012, to mark the 60^th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. The Commonwealth Cup began in 2015 and that also holds Group 1 status. There are just 36 Group 1 races in the entire British flat racing season, so to have eight of them at Royal Ascot highlights its importance.

It now takes place over five days, it generates a huge amount of media buzz and the royals arrive each day in a horse-drawn carriage. It is a huge economic force in the region and the meeting is also massive from a betting perspective. It has become Britain’s most popular race meeting by a comfortable margin and it continues to go from strength to strength. The course even featured in a Bond film, as 007 locked horns with Christopher Walken’s villainous Max Zorin there in A View to a Kill.

Notable Winners

Frankel was the highest rated racehorse in history and he produced some of his finest moments at Royal Ascot. His victory in the 2011 St James’s Stakes was a nail-biting affair as he edged Zoffany by three-quarters of a length, making it the narrowest win of his career. He returned the following year and blitzed a star-studded field in the Queen Anne Stakes to earn an unprecedented rating of 147. His trainer, Sir Henry Cencil, saddled a record-breaking 75 winners at Royal Ascot and Frankel was the best of them all.

In 2018, Sir Michael Stoute became the all-time leading Royal Ascot trainer when Poet’s Word got the better of the heavily fancied Cracksman in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. It was his 76th triumph at the meeting and Stoute, who failed to record a winner in 2017, said: “It’s a relief because we were stuck on it last year. Henry did most of his training when it was a four-day meeting, so I’ve had an advantage. No-one respected him greater than I did as a trainer.” He did not have to wait long for a 77th winner, as Jersey Stakes gave him a double on the day.

Lester Piggott also looms large over Royal Ascot, as the famous jockey rode a remarkable 116 winners there over the years. In a career spanning 41 years at the meeting, he landed no fewer than 11 Gold Cups and dazzled throughout with his genius. Among the current crop, Frankie Dettori leads the way with 49, and nobody is ever likely to match Piggott’s tally.

Memorable Moments

Royal Ascot is the scene of many of the greatest moments in British racing history. Yeats won four Gold Cups in a row between 2006 and 2009 and the racecourse unveiled a statue of him in the parade ring in 2011 as a fitting honour for arguably the greatest stayer of all time. Ryan Moore lit up the festival in 2015 when he rode a record-breaking nine winners. Brown Jack won a seventh consecutive Queen Alexandra Stakes in 1934. There was the fairy-tale of Attraction, who was born with crooked forelegs and written off as a racehorse, only to go on and win the Group 1 Coronation Stakes. Aussie racing fans will always remember Black Caviar’s magnificent triumph in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes after travelling 10,500 miles to compete.

The meeting has delivered all manner of magical moments over the years, but it is hard to top the 2013 Gold Cup. It was the first time in the entire history of Royal Ascot that a horse owned by a reigning monarch won the biggest race of the meeting as Queen Elizabeth II’s Estimate romped to victory. She has owned 22 winners at the meeting, but none had ever landed the top prize and Estimate’s narrow victory over Simenon sparked scenes of jubilation in the stands. “For a lady that has given so much to this country to win what is probably, after the Derby, the most historical race in the calendar, it gives me so much pleasure to know that she has got such enjoyment and happiness from it – it was an amazing event,” said John Warren, the Queen’s bloodstock adviser.

Royal Ascot Today

The original crowds at Royal Ascot would surely gawp in astonishment if they could witness the behemoth it has become. It attracts 300,000 spectators and millions more watch on at home or in betting shops across the land, while it is broadcast in 200 countries. The prize money stands at £7.3 million, making it the most lucrative meeting in the calendar. Some 400 helicopters and 1,000 limos carry wealthy visitors to the racecourse. The organisers bring in 6,500 temporary staff, hire 26,000 pieces of temporary furniture and go all out to provide a memorable experience for their guests. The racegoers will get through 240,000 teacakes, 56,000 bottles of Champagne, 21,000 jugs of Pimm’s, 3,500 lobsters and 25,000 spears of asparagus.