With the 2025 U.S. Triple Crown season completed, the focus of the horse racing world shifts from Saratoga Race Course to across the pond for one of the most prestigious events on the annual calendar. The five-day Royal Ascot meet begins Tuesday, June 17, at gorgeous Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, England. The royal meeting will bring many of the top horses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a handful from the U.S., together for 35 races with a total of £10,050,000 (about $13.56 million U.S.) in prize money up for grabs.

Royal Ascot is similar to big U.S. events such as the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup World Championships because it’s about much more than just horse racing. The five days are filled with fashion, celebrity watching, and a historic brand of pomp and circumstance tied into the British monarchy (Ascot Racecourse was founded by Queen Anne in 1711). 

This year will be the third Royal Ascot meet with King Charles III on the throne; Queen Elizabeth II, a leading ambassador for international horse racing, served as monarch for 70 years until her death on Sept. 8, 2022. The Royal Procession, whereby members of the Royal Family are paraded by carriage in front of cheering racegoers, celebrates its 200^th anniversary in 2025.

While the entire Royal Ascot experience is a major attraction for throngs of Brits eager to enjoy a highlight of the summer social calendar in person, for most of us Yanks it is the horses, TV coverage, and betting that are the focus. Enjoy ABR’s guide to the 2025 Royal Ascot meeting.

When It Happens:

The meet runs from Tuesday, June 17 through Saturday, June 21. Seven races are carded each day, and the first post is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET (2:30 p.m. local time). The last race each day is scheduled to run at 1:10 p.m. ET (6:10 p.m. local time).

Major Races:

A unique experience in horse racing. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Eight of the 35 races at Royal Ascot are Group 1 stakes (the highest worldwide rating). Three of those Group 1 races are held on opening day, June 17: the Queen Anne Stakes for horses 4 years old and older; the King Charles III Stakes for horses 3 years old and older; and the St. James’ Palace Stakes for 3-year-old colts.

On Wednesday, June 18, horses 4 years old and older will contest the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, and on Thursday, June 19, horses 4 years old and older will square off in a true test of stamina in the Gold Cup at 2 ½ miles.

Two more Group 1 stakes are set for Friday, June 20: the Commonwealth Cup for 3-year-old colts and fillies and the Coronation Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Finally, on Saturday, June 21, horses 4 years old and older will race in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. The King Charles III Stakes on Tuesday is a five-furlong sprint, and the QE II Jubilee on closing day is held at six furlongs – and it’s not unheard of for horses to appear in both of them during the same week.

Four races during the meeting are Win and You’re In Challenge Series qualifiers for the 2025 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, to be held on Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar in California. Winners of these four stakes will receive guaranteed, expenses-paid spots in the starting gate for designated Breeders’ Cup races. The aforementioned Queen Anne Stakes and King Charles III Stakes on Tuesday are Win and You’re In qualifiers for the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF and the Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, respectively. Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes is a Challenge Series qualifier for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf. The Group 2 Norfolk Stakes, a five-furlong dash held as the opening race on Royal Ascot’s Thursday June 19 card, is a Win and You’re In qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Where to Watch:

NBC Sports will show racing from Royal Ascot, with the Tuesday to Saturday races available on its Peacock streaming service. Streaming will begin on Peacock at 8:30 a.m. ET Tuesday through Friday. The entire Royal Ascot meet will also be televised live each day on FanDuel TV.

The races on Saturday, June 21, will be broadcast live on NBC and also on Peacock, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app starting at 9 a.m. ET. 

How to Bet:

Betting on the ponies in the U.K. is different than stateside – you set fixed odds with a bookmaker such as Labrokes or William Hill and go from there. But there’ll be parimutuel pools for U.S. horseplayers via advance deposit wagering (ADW) sites such as NYRA Bets, 1/ST BET, TwinSpires.com, TVG.com, and other entities.

Be sure to keep the time difference in mind: most of the action during Royal Ascot week will be in the morning for East Coast players – and the very early morning for those firing away in the Pacific Time Zone.

Top U.S.-Based Horses:

The American trainer with the best track record at Royal Ascot, without question, is Wesley Ward, who has won a total of 12 races at Royal Ascot starting with two winners in his first trip in 2009. Ward was planning to send highly regarded 2-year-old Outfielder to Royal Ascot off of a 6 ¼-length maiden win last month at Churchill Downs, but the colt will not make the trip after suffering a minor injury training on June 10, per a report in Thoroughbred Daily News.

In the 2-year-old division, America’s best hopes therefore rest on a trio of promising runners not trained by Ward – two from George Weaver’s barn and one trained by Patrick Biancone. In 2023, Weaver’s filly Crimson Advocate earned a spot in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot by winning an automatic qualifier at Gulfstream Park, the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies Stakes, and she provided one of the highlights of the meet for Weaver, his friends and family, and U.S. rooters with a thrilling nose victory.

This year, Weaver’s colt Sandal’s Song will run in the Norfolk Stakes Thursday, June 19, by virtue of winning Gulfstream’s automatic Royal Ascot qualifier for males, the Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes back on May 10. The trainer’s second 2-year-old, Tough Critic, won his debut impressively sprinting on turf at Keeneland in April and will run in the Windsor Castle Stakes on Wednesday, June 18, per a report in Daily Racing Form.

This year’s Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies winner at Gulfstream, the Leinster filly Lennilu, will target the Queen Mary Stakes, which kicks off the card on Wednesday, June 18. Lennilu is 2-for-2 in her young career under Patrick Biancone’s management, taking a Keeneland maiden sprint on dirt and then the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies on turf.

Shisospicy (Coady Media)

A 3-year-old turf sprinter, Shisospicy, has perhaps the best chance to win among U.S. shippers. The gray Mitole filly began her career on dirt last fall and ran well, finishing first, second, and third in three starts. But after she was switched to turf by trainer Jose D’Angelo back in February, she’s reeled off three consecutive wins, including back-to-back scores in the FanDuel Limestone Stakes at Keeneland and the Grade 3 Mamzelle Stakes at Churchill Downs, both held at 5 ½ furlongs. Shisospicy is pointed to the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup Stakes Friday held at six furlongs, per a release from Churchill Downs.

The biggest U.S. star racehorse on the scene next week actually is not a U.S. star anymore. Carl Spackler, who won eight of 12 races in the U.S. and earned more than $1.9 million, is scheduled to begin the globe-trotting phase of his career in Tuesday’s prestigious meet-opening Queen Anne Stakes for new connections. On April 11, Irish-bred Carl Spackler won his 5-year-old debut in eye-catching fashion for e Five Racing Thoroughbreds and trainer Chad Brown, romping by 4 ¼ lengths in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes at Keeneland. That was his third top-level win on these shores in less than a calendar year … and it turned out to be his last, as he was sold weeks later to Chinese billionaire Zhang Yuesheng’s Yulong Investments.

The new owner plans to race Carl Spackler in Australia later this year, but will first pay a supplemental fee to enter him in the Queen Anne Stakes, in which the Lope de Vega horse will compete against some of the best grass milers in Europe under the guidance of trainer Ciaron Maher and with prominent international jockey James McDonald tabbed to ride. In 2016, U.S. champion turf female Tepin memorably shipped to Royal Ascot and won the Queen Anne in a career-enhancing performance. Can “Carl” do the same before he heads down under?