Feast of Royal Racing awaits SA punters

Royal Ascot, one of the highlights on the annual racing calendar in Great Britain, is bigger and better than ever this year with seven races daily starting next week Tuesday and going on until Saturday 19 June.

The five-day event dates back to 1768 while the biggest prize on offer is the Gold Cup, which has been in existence for over 200 years. This year’s Gold Cup race will take place on Thursday 17 June.

Stradivarius is currently the clear favourite for the main race. The legendary horse will be looking to win a record-equalling fourth Gold Cup. Italian jockey Frankie Dettori has been in the saddle with Stradivarius on all three those occasions.

The Queen Anne Stakes will again this year be the card opener of the Royal meeting.

Royal Ascot is Britain’s most valuable race meeting and this year’s event will be no different as it has yet again attracted 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 and the event will be broadcast around the globe, including here in South Africa.

Every one of the 35 races will not only be broadcast on Tellytrack on channel 249 on DStv, but TAB will also be offering a full betting bouquet on all the races over the course of the five days.

Tabonline will also be publishing a comprehensive preview ahead of every day’s racing while complete form guides will also be available for free download on the website as they become available from the UK.

The seven races will be run daily at 15:30, 16:05, 16:40, 17:20, 18:00, 18:35, and 19:10 from Tuesday to Saturday.

A total of eight Grade 1 (Group 1) races will be contested over the five days. They are:

15:30 Tuesday - The Queen Anne Stakes

16:40 Tuesday - The King’s Stand Stakes

17:20 Tuesday - The St James’s Palace Stakes

16:40 Wednesday - The Prince of Wales’s Stakes

17:20 Thursday - The Gold Cup

16:40 Friday - The Commonwealth Cup

17:20 Friday - The Coronation Stakes

17:20 Saturday - The Diamond Jubilee Stakes