Royal Ascot Races

The four days of the Cheltenham Festival is the highlight of the jump racing season, with showcases like the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle taking centre stage. Punters can enjoy a similar treat in the flat racing calendar, with five days of top-drawer action making up Royal Ascot. There are 30 Royal Ascot races in total between June 14th and June 18th this year, pitting some of horse racing’s star names against each other.

Of these 30 Royal Ascot races, 18 of them are Group contests and seven are Group One showdowns, including at least one each day. Three of these Group One encounters take part on the opening day of Royal Ascot 2011, with punters immediately getting the chance to get a taste of horse racing betting through the Queen Anne Stakes. This could arguably the biggest Royal Ascot race as Canford Cliffs, So You Think and Goldikova are all entered

Group One showdowns the standout Royal Ascot Races

The two other Group One races that are present on the opening day of Royal Ascot are the Kings Stand Stakes and the St James’ Palace Stakes. Overdose will be keen win for the first time on British soil in the 5f sprint dash, while the latter brings the most hyped racehorse in the country to Royal Ascot. Frankel was sensational when landing victory in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and is set to take on many of the same rivals again, including Dubawi Gold, Native Khan and Roderic O’Connor.

Day Two of Royal Ascot revolves around the Prince of Wales Stakes, which could feature the 2010 Derby winner Workforce, while the stamina-sapping Ascot Gold Cup is the Group One highlight of Ladies’s Day. The fillies take centre stage on day four in the Coronation Cup, with Aidan O’Brien currently holding six of the entries, with the Golden Jubilee Stakes rounding things off on the final day of the 2011 Royal Ascot meeting.