Royal Ascot runs from Tuesday 16th to Saturday 20th June 2026, and millions of us won't be anywhere near Berkshire when it does. That's fine. You don't need a top hat or a ticket to the Royal Enclosure to enjoy five days of top-class flat racing. All you need is a sofa, a decent TV schedule and a rough idea of what you're looking at.
Whether you're a once-a-year racing watcher or someone who tunes in every Saturday, this guide will help you get more out of the week. We'll cover the full broadcast schedule, which races deserve your attention, how to make sense of a racecard and how to place a smart bet while you're watching. Let’s get into it!
When to Tune In: The Full Schedule
ITV broadcasts all 35 races across the five days, completely free-to-air. Coverage typically starts at around 1:30pm each day, with the Royal Procession at 2pm and the first race at 2:30pm. The last race on each card goes off at roughly 6pm.
If you want a morning warm-up, ITV4 airs The Opening Show from 9:30am on each day of the meeting. It's a good way to pick up tips and hear the presenters talk through the day's big races before the main broadcast begins.
Sky Sports Racing also covers the full meeting if you have a subscription, and most major bookmaker apps stream every race for account holders.
Here's a quick day-by-day breakdown:
- Tuesday 16th June - Queen Anne Stakes, King Charles III Stakes, St James's Palace Stakes (three Group 1s on the opening day)
- Wednesday 17th June - Prince of Wales's Stakes (the day's sole Group 1, and one of the most valuable races of the week at £1 million)
- Thursday 18th June (Ladies' Day) - Ascot Gold Cup at 4:20pm, the centrepiece of the entire festival
- Friday 19th June - Coronation Stakes and Commonwealth Cup (two Group 1s featuring three-year-old talent)
- Saturday 20th June - Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and Wokingham Stakes (a big-field handicap sprint that often throws up surprises)
Please note: Times may not be accurate. They may change slightly closer to the meeting, so make sure to check the schedule on the day.
Which Races to Prioritise If You're Short on Time
You probably can't watch every race on every day, especially midweek. If you need to dip in and out, here's where to focus.
Tuesday's St James's Palace Stakes (usually around 4:20pm) is often the race of the day. It brings together the best three-year-old milers from across Europe, and these are horses you'll hear about for the rest of the season.
Thursday's Gold Cup is the one everyone talks about. Run over two and a half miles, it's a proper test of stamina and typically produces a genuine spectacle. Trawlerman won the 2025 renewal after finishing runner-up to Kyprios the year before, and the question of whether any horse can match or surpass that performance always adds extra interest.
Saturday's Jubilee Stakes is a high-speed Group 1 sprint that often produces big-priced winners and dramatic finishes. It's a brilliant way to close the week.
Betting and Royal Ascot: Part of the Tradition
Betting has always been woven into Royal Ascot. At the course itself, the bookmakers' pitches in the betting ring are packed from the first race to the last, and even casual racegoers will have a flutter on the big races. It's part of what makes the atmosphere, and it's one of the reasons millions tune in from home each year.
You don't need to be trackside to join in. Online bookmakers make it easy to get involved from the sofa, and most run special promotions around the Royal Meeting. If you're new to it, Sporting Life free bets are a good starting place to compare sign-up offers before the week begins. That way, you can join the action without even wagering any of your own cash.
Common Bet Types You'll Hear About
Win only is the simplest option. You back a horse to finish first, and if it does, you collect at the advertised odds. If it doesn't win, you lose your stake.
Each-way is two bets in one. The first part backs your horse to win, and the second backs it to finish in the places (usually the top three or four, depending on the field size). If your horse wins, both parts pay out. If it finishes placed but doesn't win, you'll still get a return at reduced odds. It's a popular choice in the big Royal Ascot handicaps where fields of 20 or more runners make picking the outright winner difficult.
Forecast bets ask you to predict the first and second horse home in the correct order. A reverse forecast covers both possible finishing orders between two horses, but it costs double. You'll often hear the ITV presenters mention forecasts when two horses look clearly ahead of the rest.
How to Read a Racecard
If you've ever looked at a racecard and felt lost, you're not alone. Here's what the key bits mean.
The draw number tells you which stall the horse starts from. On Ascot's straight course, a low draw (stalls 1-5) or high draw can make a real difference depending on the ground conditions.
The form figures are a string of numbers showing recent finishing positions, with the most recent result on the right. So a horse showing 1-3-2 finished first, then third, then second in its last three runs.
You'll also see the horse's age and weight listed. In handicaps, the weight is set by an official handicapper based on ability. The better a horse has run recently, the more weight it'll carry.
What the Presenters Mean by Going, Ground and Form
Racing coverage is full of jargon, and the ITV team will throw these terms around constantly.
Going (or ground) refers to how soft or firm the racing surface is. It ranges from "firm" (dry, fast ground) to "heavy" (rain-soaked and slow). You'll hear phrases like "good to soft" or "good to firm", which simply describe something in between. This matters because some horses love soft ground while others need it firm to run their best. If a presenter says a horse "wants cut in the ground", they mean it prefers softer conditions.
Form is a horse's recent race record. When you hear "this horse is in great form", it means it's been running well lately. If someone says the form "stacks up", they're saying the horses it beat or ran close to have gone on to perform well themselves, which validates the result.
A Few Tips for First-Time Viewers
Don't try to bet on every race. Pick two or three across the day that interest you and focus on those. Watch the paddock coverage before each race if you can, because the presenters will often flag which horses look well and which ones seem unsettled.
Keep an eye on the market too. If a horse's odds shorten sharply in the 15 minutes before a race, it usually means informed money is coming in. That's often a better guide than the morning papers.
The Bottom Line
You don't need to be at the course to enjoy Royal Ascot properly. Five days of free-to-air coverage, eight Group 1 races and some of the best flat horses on the planet, all from your living room. Get the schedule locked in, pick out the races that matter and enjoy the week.
