# Royal Ascot 2027: Racetimes, TV Coverage & Raceday Guide _Royal Ascot — the five-day Group 1 flat festival at Ascot each June. Race times, ITV coverage, dress code, enclosures and the full card-by-card guide to Britain's most prestigious flat meeting._ *Source: [https://stablebet.co.uk/racing-news/royal-ascot-week/](https://stablebet.co.uk/racing-news/royal-ascot-week/) · last updated 2026-08-23* # Royal Ascot 2027 **Royal Ascot** is the five-day Group 1 flat festival at Ascot Racecourse each June — the most prestigious flat-racing meeting in the world and a fixture in the British social calendar since 1711. Thirty-five races across Tuesday to Saturday, eight of them Group 1, with the Gold Cup, King's Stand, Queen Anne, Diamond Jubilee, Prince of Wales's, St James's Palace, Coronation and Commonwealth Cup all crammed into the week. The **2027 Royal Meeting** runs from **Tuesday 15 June 2027**. Daily racecards, going updates and the Royal Procession arrival times are published the morning of each day — this page updates automatically as each day's detail is confirmed. Royal Ascot is many things at once: the championship meeting for milers, sprinters, stayers, two-year-olds and fillies all on the same card; the one racing fixture that attracts a genuinely global audience (over 60 countries broadcast); and the one British meeting where the Royal Procession still arrives by carriage each afternoon. ITV carries the full five days live and free-to-air in the UK. ## At a glance - **Course**: Ascot (right-handed, flat, 1m 6f round plus straight mile course) - **Dates**: 5 days (Tuesday–Saturday) - **Races**: 35 across the week, 8 Group 1 - **Prize fund**: £10m+ across the meeting - **Broadcast**: ITV1 (UK free-to-air) + Racing TV (full card) - **First run**: 1711 (Queen Anne's foundation meeting) Read on for the 2027 day-by-day schedule, the festival's signature races, how to watch, and a full raceday guide including the four enclosures, dress codes and the Royal Procession. ## 2027 Festival schedule # 2027 Festival schedule Royal Ascot runs across **five consecutive afternoons**, Tuesday to Saturday, with **seven races per day** and the first off typically at 2:30pm. ### Tuesday — Opening Day - **Queen Anne Stakes** (Group 1, 1m) — open mile championship for older horses - **King's Stand Stakes** (Group 1, 5f) — minimum-trip sprint championship - **St James's Palace Stakes** (Group 1, 1m) — 3-year-old colts' mile ### Wednesday — Prince of Wales's Day - **Prince of Wales's Stakes** (Group 1, 1m 2f) — middle-distance championship for older horses - **Queen's Vase** (Group 2, 1m 6f) — stayers' trial for 3-year-olds ### Thursday — Gold Cup Day (Ladies' Day) - **Gold Cup** (Group 1, 2m 4f) — the stayers' championship of the flat season - **Norfolk Stakes** (Group 2, 5f) — 2-year-old sprint ### Friday — Coronation Stakes - **Coronation Stakes** (Group 1, 1m) — 3-year-old fillies' mile championship - **Commonwealth Cup** (Group 1, 6f) — 3-year-old sprint championship ### Saturday — Diamond Jubilee Day - **Diamond Jubilee Stakes** (Group 1, 6f) — sprint championship for older horses - **Hardwicke Stakes** (Group 2, 1m 4f) — staying prep for the King George | Detail | Value | |---|---| | **Festival start** | Tuesday 15 June 2027 | | **First race off time** | TBA | | **Going** | TBA | | **Typical daily field size** | TBA per race (7 races) | ### The Royal Procession Each afternoon at **2:00pm** the Royal Procession enters the course — horse-drawn carriages carrying members of the Royal Family and their guests. It's the defining ritual of Royal Ascot and worth being in position on the rails for. ## History and signature races # History and signature races Royal Ascot was founded by **Queen Anne in 1711**, who chose the site of Ascot Heath — then open common land — for "horses to gallop at full stretch." The first meeting was held on 11 August 1711 and the course has hosted Royal Meeting almost every year since (with gaps only for the world wars and the 1838 rebuild). The **Gold Cup**, run on Ladies' Day Thursday, is the oldest of the Group 1s — first run in 1807. It remains the championship race for stayers on the flat, contested over 2 miles 4 furlongs — nearly twice as far as any other flat Group 1. ### The signature races **Queen Anne Stakes** — opens the meeting on Tuesday at 2:30pm. Named after the founder. One-mile championship for older horses; Frankel's 2012 demolition job (won by 11 lengths) is the benchmark. **Gold Cup** — Thursday's centrepiece. Yeats (2006-2009) won it four consecutive times — the most successful Gold Cup horse in history. Stradivarius (2018-2020) matched three in a row. **Diamond Jubilee Stakes** — closes the meeting on Saturday. Named in 2012 to mark Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee. 6-furlong sprint championship for older horses; global field regularly includes Japanese, Australian and US runners. **Commonwealth Cup** (introduced 2015) — Friday's showpiece. 3-year-old sprint championship, 6 furlongs. Created to fill a gap in the sprint program between 2YO races and the open-age Diamond Jubilee. ### Queen Elizabeth II The late Queen attended every Royal Meeting from 1946 to 2022 bar two, making her the longest-serving regular attendee in the history of the meeting. She owned and bred numerous winners at Royal Ascot — most famously **Estimate** (2013 Gold Cup) — and was widely regarded as the most knowledgeable owner-breeder in attendance. ### The global pull Royal Ascot's Group 1s attract a genuinely international field. Japanese runners (Deep Impact's progeny) have featured heavily since 2006. American raiders target the turf races. Australian sprinters have featured in the King's Stand (Choisir 2003, Takeover Target 2006) and the Diamond Jubilee (Black Caviar 2012). ### Recent champions *This section updates after each year's meeting — see [/racing-news/](/racing-news/) for the most recent race result articles.* ## TV coverage and how to watch # TV coverage and how to watch The 2027 Royal Meeting is live on **ITV1** (free-to-air in the UK) across all five days, with **Racing TV** carrying extended coverage of the full week including dedicated parade-ring cameras. For the complete day-by-day ITV schedule, exact off-times for all 35 races, and every streaming option (including Racing TV, international broadcasters and replay links), see our dedicated [Royal Ascot 2026 TV Guide](/racing-news/royal-ascot-2026-tv-guide/); the 2027 guide follows once ITV confirms its schedule. ## Raceday at Royal Ascot # Raceday at Royal Ascot ### Getting there Ascot Racecourse is at **Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7JX** — 25 miles west of central London, 6 miles south of Windsor. The nearest station is **Ascot** (South Western Railway from London Waterloo, ~50 minutes, then a 7-minute walk to the course). Drivers: Junction 3 of the M3 then A332, or Junction 6 of the M4 then A330. Multiple on-course car parks (Queen Anne, Carriages, No. 1) — Carriages is the traditional carriage-and-picnic option with space for full set-ups. Book car park in advance for Royal Ascot days. ### The enclosures Four tickets for Royal Ascot: - **Royal Enclosure** — by invitation only (apply through the Royal Enclosure Office). Access to the Royal Enclosure Gardens, parade ring, and the best grandstand views. Morning dress required for men; day dress / hat for women. - **Queen Anne Enclosure** — the main public enclosure with excellent rails position and paddock access. Smart day-dress code: suit + tie for men; dress + hat for women. - **Village Enclosure** — introduced 2017 as a more relaxed, mid-course option with live music and street food. - **Windsor Enclosure** — budget option on the far side of the course with big-screen viewing. No dress code; family-friendly. Royal Enclosure applications open in November each year. Queen Anne and Village tickets typically sell out by April. Windsor stays available closer to race-week. ### On the day - **Gates open** around 10:30am. - **Royal Procession** enters at **2:00pm** through the Golden Gates on the Old Mile — plan to be in position on the rails by 1:45pm for the best view. - **First race** is **2:30pm** every day. - **Seven races** per afternoon, finishing around 5:35pm. ### Dress code **Royal Enclosure**: Men — black or grey morning dress, top hat, waistcoat. Women — formal day-dress below the knee, hat (base diameter 10cm+). No strapless dresses, off-shoulder, or short hemlines. **Queen Anne Enclosure**: Men — suit + tie, collared shirt. Women — day-dress, hat or fascinator. Significantly enforced — the dress code is a defining Royal Ascot feature, not a polite suggestion. **Village**: smart-casual, hats optional but common. **Windsor**: no formal dress code. ### Food and drink Royal Ascot is known for its hospitality. Options range from On Five (Michelin-star tier) to the Carriages picnic parks. Mid-price: Royal Enclosure restaurants + the Furlong Club buffet. Budget: Windsor food-court + Village street-food traders. ### Betting Tote facilities and on-course bookmakers across all enclosures. ATMs on-site but significant queues on Ladies' Day — bring cash. Our [Royal Ascot betting offers](/bookmakers/royal-ascot-offers/) page compares welcome offers and each-way terms across the major firms, and our [bookmaker comparison guide](/bookmakers/) covers app-based alternatives for betting from the stand. Royal Ascot is the biggest flat-betting week of the British year. ## Sources & verification Race details, dates, prize money and trends in this piece were cross-checked against: - [Wikipedia — Royal Ascot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Ascot) - [Ascot Racecourse — Royal Ascot](https://www.ascot.com/royal-ascot) - [Racing Post — Royal Ascot](https://www.racingpost.com/news/festivals/royal-ascot/) [Source: cross-referenced as of the lastUpdated date in this article's meta.yaml.]