One of the highlights on the annual flat racing calendar in Great Britain is Royal Ascot.
This year’s five-day event takes place between Tuesday 15 June – Saturday 19 June.
Taking place at the Royal Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, the event dates all the way back to 1768 with the track covering 179 acres. For the first time in its history this year’s event will feature seven races a day. With 35 races in all, the 2021 Royal Ascot will be the biggest one ever.
The biggest prize on offer is the Gold Cup, which has been in existence for over 200 years. This year’s race will take place on Thursday 17 June.
Stradivarius is currently the clear favourite for the main race with a price of 6/4 with the Coral bookmaker offers for Royal Ascot. The legendary horse will be looking to win a record-equalling fourth Gold Cup this summer.
Frankie Dettori has been the jockey on two of the previous three occasions, after a surprise 11/2 win in 2018. Although its form had dipped in the second half of 2020, a victory at Ascot last month has the horse as many people’s favourites once again.
There’s no real obvious challenger to the throne, with Subjectivist out at 6/1, followed by Sir Ron Priestley and Trueshan at 8/1.
The Queen Anne Stakes will return as the opening event of the Royal meeting this year. Palace Pier is the favourite one month in advance of the event with a price of just 7/5 with bookmakers.
Those who don’t fancy the favourite can get a nice price on all the other horses in the race, with Lope Y Fernandez the second favourite at a long 7/1. Order of Australia and Alpine Star are also included.
Form and odds are expected to change between now and then with an action-packed May on the British racing calendar, that includes the 2,000 Guineas, 1,000 Guineas, Chester Cup and Yorkshire Cup.
Ultimately, all roads lead to Royal Ascot, which is Britain’s most valuable race meeting. This year’s event will be no different as it attracts many of the world’s finest racehorses to compete for millions of pounds in prize money.
In all, there will be around 500 horses racing over the course of the five days. Almost 200 territories around the world cover the event on TV.
The King’s Stand Stakes and St James’ Palace Stakes round off the feature races on the card.
Currently there is no clear favourite for the King’s Stand Stakes race, with Battaash the current bookmakers’ favourite with a price of 3/1. Closely following is 4/1 Glass Slippers and then Winter Power and Oxted, both at 6/1, in what is expected to be a closely fought and entertaining contest.
Meanwhile, the St James’ Palace Stakes is also set to be a very competitive field. Without Parole is currently the 5/2 favourite, followed by US Navy Flag at 5/1 and then Tip Two Win at 11/2 with the sportsbooks.
Michael specializes in journalism, digital content production and social media management. He has a passion for numerous sports including football, horse racing and ice hockey. Michael currently works on a freelance basis, producing daily content for various outlets within the sports industry.
