Royal Ascot History

Over its 300-year history, Ascot has established itself as a national institution, with Royal Ascot being the centrepiece of the British summer social calendar.^[1]

The racecourse was founded in 1711 by Queen Anne. When out riding from Windsor Castle, she came upon an area of open heath that looked, in her words, 'ideal for horses to gallop at full stretch'.^[2] Her plans for a new race meeting were subsequently announced in The London Gazette of 12 July 1711. 

That first meeting was held on 11 August 1711, the original date (and a race scheduled for 6 August) having been postponed for reasons unspecified, although it has been speculated that the course was simply not ready.^[4] The Queen and a "brilliant suite"^[4] drove from Windsor Castle to witness it, with the first race being a seven horse £50 plate, won by a horse called Doctor owned by the Duke of St Albans.^[4] The original racecourse was laid out by William Lowen for the first meet.^[2]

Queen Anne's gift to racing, founding the Royal Racecourse, is marked by the tradition of opening Royal Ascot with The Queen Anne Stakes run over the straight mile. 

Royal Ascot evolved from the first four-day race meeting held at Ascot in 1768, although the meeting as it is known today only really started to take shape with the introduction of The Gold Cup in 1807.^[17] Until 1939, Royal Ascot was the only race meeting held at the racecourse. The Gold Cup remains the feature race of the third day of Royal Ascot, traditionally the busiest day of the week. During the racecourse's redevelopment in 2005, the Royal Meeting was held at York Racecourse. 

Each of the five days of Royal Ascot begins with the Royal Procession at 2pm, when the monarch and other members of the royal family arrive down the straight mile in the royal Landaus, accompanied by the playing of the National Anthem and the raising of the Royal Standard. This tradition was started in 1825 by George IV. 

Royal Ascot is Britain's most valuable race meeting, with millions of pounds in prize money (just over £10 million in 2025 ).^[18] About 500 horses race across the five days. Eighteen Group races, eight of them Group 1, are staged each year, and are broadcast to audiences in almost 200 territories around the world.