Royal Ascot Betting Guide
For five days every June, the world gets to feast its eyes on the best of British culture as the Royal Ascot Festival takes place. Yes, when the warm English sun shines down in June each year, it serves as a call to the world’s fastest horses, most talented jockeys, and best-dressed punters to make their way to Ascot, in Berkshire for a festival like no other. It attracts over 300,000 visitors every year, with countless others watching from the comfort of their sofas.
With such popularity, it's unsurprising to see the number of people betting on it growing each year. And that's why we've put together this guide to help you better understand the event and how to bet on the races that take place there. So, whether you are new to betting on Royal Ascot or you're an experienced punter looking for some more information on the upcoming event this June, you've come to the right place. Keep reading to discover further details about the Royal Ascot races, the types of bets available, and more.
Royal Ascot Races
The Royal Ascot Festival is a five-day event that takes place every year in June at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire. It hosts over 30 races during the course of the event, delivering horse-racing fans plenty of action from some of the best thoroughbreds on the planet. The 2023 edition will take place between 20th-24th of June.
Each day will start with a Royal Procession, where the Royal Family arrives. There is a mixture of different races on display at the festival, ranging from sprints over shorter lengths to those that test horses over longer distances. The longest of all the contests over the five-day event is the Group Two Queen Alexandra Stakes which covers two miles, five furlongs, and 143 yards. While the shortest is the Group One King's Stand Stake which covers just five furlongs.
One of the standout features of the event is that it actually has eight Group One races, the highest category of flat racing. This is almost a quarter of the total number of Group One races that take place in Britain. The other standout feature is the prize pool.
The Royal Ascot Festival has a massive prize pool for its races, sitting at over £9.5 million. The minimum amount that can be won on any race is £100,000 but the highlight for many is the £750,000 that can be won on the Queen Anne Stakes.
We'll take a quick look at that race and some of the other big Royal Ascot races in more detail below:
Queen Anne Stakes
For many, the Queen Anne Stakes is one of the most exciting races at Royal Ascot, because it is the first race of the festival and sets the pace for the rest of the event. It's a Group One race that is open to both colts and fillies that are aged four years or above, covering a distance of one mile.
The race itself is over 180 years old, but it wasn't until 1930 that it got its name when it was changed from the Trial Stakes, in a tribute to the founder of Ascot Racecourse, Queen Anne.
Prince of Wales’s Stakes
Another Royal Ascot horse race which is a highlight of the festival is the Prince of Wales's Stakes, first run in 1862. It is another Group One flat race that usually takes place on the second day of the festival, covering a distance of one mile, one furlong, and 212 yards.
This is another race that's also open to both sexes aged four and above, with the latest winner of the race being the Irish-bred State of Rest. The winning jockey was Shane Crosse, with Joseph O'Brien as the trainer.
Gold Cup
The Gold Cup, which goes as far back as 1807, takes place on the third day of the Royal Ascot Festival and is probably the most sought-after prize of any race over the five days. This is because it is one of only a few events where the winner of the race gets to keep the trophy.
Another Group One flat race that is again open to colts and fillies aged four or older, this is an event for stayers, which are horses that are best at racing over long distances. The total length of the track for the Gold Cup is two miles, three furlongs, and 210 yards.
Royal Ascot Betting Markets
As with other types of betting, there are numerous different markets available. So, let's take a look and explain some of the more popular Royal Ascot betting markets you can pick:
Straight Bet
The most simple and popular of all the betting markets, not just on Royal Ascot but in most sports, a straight bet is simply betting on the outright winner. All you have to do is pick the horse you think will win the race, decide how much you want to bet on it, and place the bet. If it wins, you win. If it finishes anywhere else, you lose.
You can also combine straight bets from different races to create what is known as an accumulator, or acca for short. This requires you to successfully predict the winner of several races, rather than just one, and so it comes with much higher odds. But it is also much harder to predict, and if just one line of your acca loses, your whole bet does.
Show Bet/Each Way
For those wanting to play things a little safer, the show bet, better known as an each-way bet, is definitely a safer option. Instead of just betting on an outright winner, you double the value of your bet to cover your horse placing in the race. Usually, this means coming in at least 2nd or 3rd place.
For example, if you put an each-way bet of £10 on a horse at odds of 20/1, £5 of this goes on it being an outright winner, and the other £5 will go on placing it in the race, usually at 1/4 of the odds. If the horse wins, the bet would return £135, but if it only places, you would only get £30.
Trifecta
A Trifecta bet, also known as a Tricast, is a bet usually placed by more experienced bettors. It involves not just correctly predicting the race winner, but also the horses that finish 2nd and 3rd as well, and they have to finish in the correct order.
This Royal Ascot betting market is a much higher risk bet, but the rewards are also much more due to the higher odds associated with it. If you're going to try your hand at placing this type of bet, it's best to fully read up on the participants and their current form to allow for a more informed decision to be made.
Royal Ascot Ante Post Betting
When it comes to Royal Ascot betting, much of the business is done on the day of the races. Bettors wait to see the confirmed lineups of each race on the day in case there are any developments, such as injuries to both horses and jockeys that would mean they can't compete. It's a sensible approach to take because you wait to have all the available information before making a decision to back a horse.
However, there are some people who prefer to post their bets well in advance. This is known as ante-post betting. Bettors choose to do this because they can get better odds by placing bets this way. So, in the case of Royal Ascot, it could mean a bettor placing a bet on a horse to win the Gold Cup in March or April, months before the first race.
But, while you can get better odds, it also comes with higher risks, because most of the time, horses have to be invited to take part in events or qualify for them by winning other races. And if you bet too far in advance on a horse to win a race, there is always a chance that they may not even compete, and you can lose your bet without your horse even running the race.
Royal Ascot Winners
While you may be looking ahead to the next event, let's take a moment to look back at some of the more recent Royal Ascot winners in the last few years:
2022
- Ascot Gold Cup: Horse: Kyprios. Jockey: Ryan Moore. Trainer: Aidan O'Brien
- St James's Palace Stakes: Horse: Coroebus. Jockey: William Buick. Trainer: Charlie Appleby
- Queen Anne Stakes: Horse: Baaeed: Jockey: Jim Crowley. Trainer: William Haggas.
- Prince of Wales's Stakes: Horse: State Of Rest. Jockey: Shane Crosse. Trainer: Joseph O'Brien.
- Platinum Jubilee Stakes: Horse: Naval Crown. Jockey: James Doyle. Trainer Charlie Appleby
2021
- Ascot Gold Cup: Horse: Subjectivist. Jockey: Joe Fanning, Trainer: Mark Johnston
- St James's Palace Stakes: Horse: Poetic Flare. Jockey: Kevin Manning. Trainer: Jim Bolger
- Queen Anne Stakes: Horse: Palace Pier. Jockey: Frankie Dettori. Trainer: John Gosden
- Prince of Wales's Stakes: Horse Love. Jockey: Ryan Moore.Trainer: Aidan O'Brien
- Platinum Jubilee Stakes: Horse: Dream of Dreams. Jockey: Ryan Moore. Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute
2019
- Ascot Gold Cup: Horse: Stradivarius. Jockey: Frankie Dettori. Trainer: John Gosden.
- St James's Palace Stakes: Horse: Circus Maximus. Jockey: Ryan Moore. Trainer: Aidan O'Brien
- Queen Anne Stakes: Horse: Lord Glitters. Jockey: Daniel Tudhope. Trainer: David O'Meara)
- Prince of Wales's Stakes: Horse: Crystal Ocean. Jockey: Frankie Dettori. Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute
- Platinum Jubilee Stakes: Horse Blue Point. Jockey: James Doyle. Trainer: Charlie Appleby
How to Prepare Your Royal Ascot Bets
When it comes to Royal Ascot betting, there is no formula to guarantee success. However, you are able to give yourself the best chance possible by doing some research and looking into a number of different areas that can provide relevant data to help you make your decisions.
Here are just a few areas that you can look at to help you better assess which horses may be worth backing in a race at the Royal Ascot Festival:
Study the Form
Studying the form of horses is essential when preparing your Royal Ascot bets. The adage rings true when it comes to Royal Ascot betting: by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. In other words, there is no substitute for doing your homework before a race begins. While there is no guarantee that you will win, as we know horse racing can be unpredictable, but you will give yourself a good chance of doing so. With this in mind, be sure to analyse any horse's recent form and also consider their past performances at Ascot Racecourse.
Course and Distance Performance
Another area to investigate is a horse's prior run-outs on a course and over similar distances. Some horses are better at sprints over a shorter distance, while stayers are known to be better at longer-distance racing. And some perform much better on some courses than others.
A good example of this is when Frankie Dettori won the Gold Cup riding Stradivarius three times in a row between 2018 and 2020.
Performance in Different Weather Conditions
One final area worth looking into is the performance of horses in different weather conditions. While all racegoers would love for the sun to be shining, the British weather can be unpredictable. And for this reason, the ground can often change over the course of a night.
If it rains heavily, the ground becomes soft, whereas, in intense heat, it can be firmer. Some horses perform better on different types of surfaces than others, so it's always worthwhile to check what the weather is expected on the day of the race and which horses do well in those conditions.
Royal Ascot Festival History
The Royal Ascot Festival has a long and illustrious history that stretches over two and a half centuries. It takes place every year at Ascot Racecourse, founded by Queen Anne in 1711. However, the format of the event and the criteria for races has changed over the years.
Originally a much shorter event, the growth in popularity of the Royal Ascot Festival has seen it go from three days long to cover five days. It has also seen many of its races upgraded from Group Two to Group One, providing more races of the top level than any other course in the UK.
One of the more recent highlights of the event's history, and one for the record books took place in 2013, when the late Queen Elizabeth's horse, Estimate, won the Gold Cup. This was the first time a reigning monarch had ever won the prestigious race.
FAQs
Q. How Old is the Royal Ascot Festival?
A. The first festival was held in 1768, making it over 250 years old.
Q. Can You Bet on More Than One Horse in a Race at the Royal Ascot Festival?
A. Yes, you can bet on as many horses as you like during a race. You can also mix different races on a ticket.
Q. What is the biggest day at Royal Ascot?
A. Many horse racing fans consider Tuesday to be the most important day of the festival.