Horse Racing - Flat Courses - Ascot

Famous worldwide for its June meeting, ‘Royal Ascot’ is the most prestigious fixture in the UK Flat racing calendar. The meeting includes 8 Group 1 races, ranging in distance from the five-furlong King’s Stand Stakes to the two and a half mile Gold Cup, which spearhead five days of top-class racing comprising prestigious pattern races and historic handicaps such as the Royal Hunt Cup and Wokingham Stakes. With a Flat calendar that is further-bolstered by the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in late July and British Champions Day in mid-October, no other racecourse stages a comparable level in terms of quality racing.

The round course is a right-handed, triangular circuit of fourteen furlongs, with a run-in of 2½ furlongs. There is a straight mile course and the Old mile course which joins the round course in Swinley Bottom. Despite the downhill run into Swinley Bottom and relatively short run-in from the final turn, Ascot is galloping in character. Since the redevelopment, the turn into the straight has become more sweeping and those ridden prominently can be difficult to peg back. Nowadays, the ground in the straight drains quicker than the rest of the course, meaning going descriptions can vary.

Right handed
Galloping
Flat

2.5f run in

Similar Courses

None

Because the run-in on Ascot’s round course is relatively short, positioning - jockeyship in other words - is key. Whatever the pace, horses can get into trouble trying to come through rivals late on.

Generally speaking, prominent racers fare significantly better than those held up over 5f, but the opposite is true over 7f/1m, while on the round course those that race in the first half of the field over 10f have a better record than those caught further back.