Royal Ascot 2026 Begins With The Queen Anne Stakes

Opening Day Serves Up Unmissable Royal Feast

Royal Ascot 2026 begins on Tuesday with seven races worth a combined US$2,137,640 (£1,595,254), headlined by three Group One contests across the round mile and beyond. Opening day brings together Australian raiders, Classic winners from three different European nations and a notable group of GCC runners with serious claims on the world’s most famous Flat meeting. Wathnan Racing fields contenders in three of the seven races, while Godolphin and the Coolmore partnership chase Group One glory in the marquee events. Here is what to expect, working through the afternoon’s feature handicaps before building to the three Group One clashes that headline opening day.

Sing Us A Song Meets Goblet In Copper Horse Stakes

The Copper Horse Stakes (US$82,876/£61,848), run over one mile and six furlongs as the day’s last race, has a history of attracting National Hunt talent to the Flat. Nicky Henderson’s course-and-distance winner Goblet Of Fire meets Ralph Beckett’s progressive Sing Us A Song, ridden by James Doyle, in an absorbing staying contest. Joseph Patrick O’Brien saddles Aeronautic and has a second string in Delta, who could switch from the earlier Ascot Stakes, while Gordon Elliott’s Ndaawi continues the National Hunt theme. Henry De Bromhead’s Ascending, declared in both staying handicaps, may yet choose this race to confirm his Royal Ascot specialism over the longer trip.

Mullins And De Bromhead Renew Ascot Stakes Rivalry

Willie Mullins sends Reaching High, partnered by Ryan Moore, into the Ascot Stakes (US$82,876/£61,848) over two miles and three furlongs, with the Irish handler boasting a strong record of targeting heritage handicaps at the royal meeting. Henry De Bromhead, last year’s winning trainer, relies on the course-and-distance specialist Ascending, who also holds an entry in the later Copper Horse Stakes.

John and Thady Gosden’s progressive Valedictory and Joseph Patrick O’Brien’s beaten favourite Puturhandstogether add Classic-bred depth, while Mullins’ second string Bunting and Aidan O’Brien’s Delta complete a typically cavalry-charge field over the extended trip.

Owen Faces Hannon In Wolferton Stakes

The Wolferton Stakes (Listed), worth US$94,990 (£70,888), has a strong recent record of producing future Group One winners. James Owen’s Wimbledon Hawkeye carries the highest official rating in the field at OR 115 for a yard operating at a 70 per cent strike rate this season, while Richard Hannon’s Haatem returns to defend the title he won in 2025. Kevin Philippart De Foy saddles the highest-rated horse on Racing Post Ratings in Cathedral, alongside Ghostwriter, sold for US$2,680,000 (£2,000,000) at last year’s London Sale.

French raider Map Of Stars and the Gosden-trained pair of Nahraan and Warrant Holder complete a field of strong international depth. Survie, trained by George Boughey and matching Cathedral’s rating of 129, adds further filly interest to a race that has unearthed Group One talent before.

GCC Colt Royal Heritage Faces Coolmore In Coventry Stakes

The Gr.2 Coventry Stakes (US$151,983/£113,420) brings together Coolmore stablemates Great Barrier Reef and Confucius, both trained by Aidan O’Brien, with the pair heading the market on official figures after victories at the Curragh and Naas respectively. Standing in their shadow is Royal Heritage, the Wathnan Racing colt trained by Hamad Al Jehani at Kremlin Stables in Newmarket, who announced himself with a two-and-three-quarter-length debut win at Hamilton after being bought for US$864,000 (€800,000) at the Arqana breeze-up sale.

Wathnan also field Ruler’s Pride for Karl Burke, a trainer operating at 57 per cent this season, while the unbeaten Night In Vegas, bought for just US$80,400 (£60,000) by the Kennet Valley Syndicates and trained by Eve Johnson Houghton, provides a contrasting underdog story for a small Newmarket operation. O’Brien has now trained 11 winners of this race in total. The contrast between the Coolmore powerhouse and Wathnan’s growing presence at the royal meeting captures the wider story of GCC investment reshaping European juvenile form this summer.
Baker And Dwyer Renew Rivalry In King Charles III Stakes

Trainer Bjorn Baker brings Australian sprinter Overpass back to Berkshire for the Gr.1 King Charles III Stakes (US$531,940/£396,970), where he renews his rivalry with Asfoora, trained by Henry Dwyer, the 2024 winner who went on to land the Nunthorpe Stakes and the Prix de l’Abbaye for career earnings of around US$6.9 million. Defending champion American Affair, trained by Jim Goldie, seeks to become the first back-to-back winner of the race in the modern era. Karl Burke’s Night Raider, racing for Wathnan Racing, arrives transformed since being gelded over the winter, having won the Golden Rose Stakes at Newcastle and run well in the Temple Stakes at Haydock.

French filly Rayevka, trained by Francis-Henri Graffard and carrying a Racing Post Rating of 128, brings strong form from the French Guineas trail, while Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-old Mission Central takes advantage of the weight-for-age allowance against the older sprinters. Should either Australian raider prevail, the result would carry weight for the autumn sprint programme in Dubai and Riyadh, where King Charles III Stakes form has long been a guide.

Boughey And O'Brien Clash In St James's Palace Stakes

Three different European Classic winners line up in the Gr.1 St James’s Palace Stakes (US$531,940/£396,970). Bow Echo, trained by George Boughey and unbeaten in four starts with a Racing Post Rating of 139, won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and faces the runner-up from that race, Gstaad, who franked the form with a three-length win in the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas for Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore partnership. French raider Rayif, trained by Francis-Henri Graffard for Aga Khan Studs, completes the Classic trio after his win in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains at Longchamp.

Godolphin’s Talk Of New York, trained by Charlie Appleby, swerved the Guineas entirely and arrives fresh having won the Listed Heron Stakes at Sandown, while Puerto Rico gives Aidan O’Brien a tactical alternative from the same powerful Coolmore string. Bow Echo was bred and originally raced by the executors of the late Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, whose backing of George Boughey’s stable now stands on the cusp of a first Group One success at the meeting.

Notable Speech Faces Docklands In Queen Anne Stakes

Charlie Appleby’s Notable Speech heads the field for the Gr.1 Queen Anne Stakes, the richest prize of the day at US$607,931 (£453,680). The Godolphin colt won the 2000 Guineas in 2024 on his first start on turf, the first horse to achieve that feat since 1938, before adding the Sussex Stakes, the Woodbine Mile and the Breeders’ Cup Mile to his record. He arrives off a two-length victory in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury, a performance that earned him the title of American Champion Male Turf Horse for 2025. Standing in his way is defending champion Docklands, trained by Harry Eustace for OTI Racing, who has never finished outside the first three in six starts on the Ascot straight mile and retained his crown in 2025 with a photo-finish victory at 14/1.

The Lockinge runner-up More Thunder, trained by William Haggas, carries the highest official rating in the field, while Wathnan Racing’s Damysus, a two-time Group Three winner this season for John and Thady Gosden, gives the Qatari operation a leading chance in the meeting’s richest race. Godolphin also field Opera Ballo, a four-year-old who won the bet365 Mile at Sandown, while Karl Burke’s Zeus Olympios, beaten just two lengths by Notable Speech at Newbury, returns for another crack at Group One glory.