Royal Ascot tips: Our expert’s predictions for every race of the 2026 festival

Royal Ascot tips: Our expert’s predictions for every race of the 2026 festival Telegraph Sport’s lowdown on who to back during the five-day Royal meeting Save Comment speech bubble icon Gift this article free Gift article Give full access to this article, free time. You have 15 articles left to gift, this month. Log in or Subscribe Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Add us as preferred source Share article Log in or Subscribe Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Marcus Armytage Racing Correspondent Marcus has been racing correspondent at the Telegraph for more than 30 years. Before that he worked for the Racing Post. While there he became one of only seven amateur riders to win the Grand National since the War when riding Mr Frisk to victory in 1990 in a course record which still stands. He also rode three Cheltenham Festival winners. Based near Lambourn, he covers all the main racing festivals. See more Published 19 June 2026 12:52pm BST Related Topics Royal Ascot Save Comment speech bubble icon Share article Log in or Subscribe Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Gift this article free Gift article Give full access to this article, free time. You have 15 articles left to gift, this month. Log in or Subscribe Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email Add us as preferred source Docklands is going for another fine run in the Queen Anne Stakes, having won the Group One race last year Credit: David Davies/PA Marcus Armytage Racing Correspondent Marcus has been racing correspondent at the Telegraph for more than 30 years. Before that he worked for the Racing Post. While there he became one of only seven amateur riders to win the Grand National since the War when riding Mr Frisk to victory in 1990 in a course record which still stands. He also rode three Cheltenham Festival winners. Based near Lambourn, he covers all the main racing festivals. See more Published 19 June 2026 12:52pm BST For the margin of his superiority over the quality of his opposition, it will be nigh on impossible to beat Ombudsman’s performance in Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes but Precise can establish herself as the best filly at this meeting and confirm her own superiority over stable companion True Love in the Coronation Stakes on Friday. Ryan Moore is on a hat-trick of getting it wrong when given the choice between Ballydoyle’s two fillies but surely he is on the right one here. Precise won the Irish Guineas with a devastating turn of foot, she is the one going forwards, she is three Group One wins from four attempts and she looks the like the week’s banker. She reportedly had a difficult preparation for the 1,000 Guineas when she was only seventh and her impressive win in Ireland - turning around a five length defeat to True Love into a two and a half length victory, confirmed the impression she needed that run. The only similarity between Friday’s race and Newmarket’s is that it is quick ground and was less so in Ireland but she won on good to firm at two and, frankly, I cannot see that stopping her. Day four tips: Friday, June 192.30 Albany StakesSix furlong contest for fillies. Aidan O’Brien’s Sun Goddess is likely to be a warm order for this after a six lengths demolition of her opposition at The Curragh on her second start. It is hard to pick holes in that performance and it is hard to oppose her and her trainer. The King and Queen’s King’s Prize is one of those. She was an early two-year-old winner for the yard when they weren’t firing on all cylinders and had plenty of time to mature but this might be Amo’s time finally. Controlla blew the start then refused to settle in the last on Wednesday but Silent Beauty can restore Kia Joorabchian’s equilibrium. Marlborough’s tip: Sun Goddess Charlie Brooks’s tip: Sun Goddess 3.05 Commonwealth CupA six furlong Group One sprint for speedy three-year-olds. Ascot’s stiff six may be just what Albert Einstein needs but for me he has been a bit disappointing. If you fancy him you should also fancy Song of The Clyde who beat him at Newbury and will be three times the odds. Clive Cox also has the quick Coppul in this. Venetian Sun, last year’s Albany winner, will probably start favourite on the back of her Sandy Lane three length success but it might be worth taking a punt on Amo’s Wesley Ward trained Outfielder who has looked blisteringly quick on his first two starts in the US this year. Each-way 50-1 shot Spicy Marg will enjoy being back on the quick ground again. Marlborough’s tip: Venetian Sun Charlie Brooks’s tip: Albert Einstein 3.40 Duke of Edinburgh StakesThe King and Queen have Warrant Holder in this mile and a half handicap for three-year-old plus. I suspect a few others have been laid out for this race but he looks to have as good a chance as any here. He has won half of his six races and came back better having being gelded, beat 14 rivals at York and looks like he’d appreciate the step up in trip today. Sometimes I wonder if York and Ascot form ever totally correlates but we will find out today. Marlborough’s tip: Warrant Holder Charlie Brooks’s tip: Warrant Holder 4.20 Coronation StakesA mile on the round course for three-year-old fillies, the St James’s Palace for the ladies as it were. After running down the field in the Guineas at Newmarket Precise looked rocket-propelled, reversing the form with stable companion True Love, in the Irish equivalent. Anything like a reproduction of that would make her hard to beat. Ryan Moore has developed a habit of picking the wrong one when he has Precise and True Love to pick from but on the Irish Guineas form, that’s True Love’s best hope. Marlborough’s tip: Precise Charlie Brooks’s tip: True Love 5.00 Sandringham StakesA mile handicap for three-year-old fillies. I am a bit conflicted here between Symbol of Majesty and the French filly Repel. Symbol of Majesty had no sort of a run at Wolverhampton on her third start after winning on turf first time out this season but that probably did not do her handicap too much harm, this is an easier option than the Coronation for which she also had an entry and in Saffie Osborne she has an excellent light-weight jockey. Glyfada, trained by a third O’Brien, Donnacha, and a cosy winner last time, from France look interesting too. Marlborough’s tip: Passing Thought Charlie Brooks’s tip: Seet 5.35 King Edward VII StakesMile and a half Group Two for three-year-old colts and geldings. A bit of a Derby consolation and a few of those who ran below expectation at Epsom may get out again today including the controversial Derby non-runner, Benventuto Cellini who got his hind leg stuck on a stall but still finished 10th. That is less than a fortnight ago and personally I would be looking elsewhere. It was all a bit too much of a rush to get Water To Wine to Epsom after his missed Chester with a temperature but he looks tailor-made for this. He is now two from two with an aggregate winning distance of 15 lengths having warmed up for this impressively on the all-weather. Marlborough’s tip: Causeway Charlie Brooks’s tip: Water to Wine 6.10 Palace of Holyroodhouse StakesA five furlong sprint for three-year-olds. It is a very different course to Epsom but Gemma Tutty’s Call Margot had all the doors shut in her face at a critical point in the Dash on Derby day and but for that would surely have won. At Ascot, at least, there should be less in the way of traffic problems. The trainer had a second here before. That said, could Gold Digger be the one to break Saffie Osborne’s duck at the meeting? She certainly thinks so. Sixth in the Albany last year, Richard Spencer’s filly was a cosy winner at Windsor on her first start since. Marlborough’s tip: Simplify Charlie Brooks’s tip: Jazl Day five tips: Saturday, June 202.30 Norfolk StakesFive furlong Group Two for two-year-olds. I dare say after the week he has been having Aidan O’Brian’s Carry The Flag, returning to five after being beaten over six last time, will be sent off favourite but I like Kevin Ryan’s Where Love Lives, who is two from two, and over Sandown’s stiff five really lengthened his stride in the last three parts of a furlong to stamp his authority on the National Stakes. The runner-up there, Adaay of Scarlett was second in the Coventry so the form is strong. 3.05 Hardwicke StakesA mile-and-a-half Group Two. Has there ever been a better field assembled for a Group Two? It is the King George in all but name, and without Calandagan. Ballydoyle send over the Derby winner Lambourn and St Leger winner Jan Brueghel, Francis Graffard sends over the King George winner from two years ago, Goliath, on the back of a confidence-boosting win. Ralph Beckett has last year’s King Edward VII winner, Amiloc, in there, and Kalpana, two-time Fillies and Mares winner on Champions day, also has a strong chance, but I am keen on the Willie Mullins-trained Ethical Diamond, the 28-1 winner of the Breeders Cup Turf last November. He needs fast ground and a strong pace to aim at. He’s definitely got the former and if he gets the latter, as he did in Del Mar, he will take all the stopping.    3.40 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes Group One six-furlong sprint for which the Aussie raider Joliestar, winner of her last three starts, all at Randwick, will be a warm order. The betting would suggest the Aussies, Japanese, Irish or French are likely to dominate the domestics and Joliestar, winner of her last three, including two Group Ones, and with James McDonald, already in the winners this week, on board, she has an excellent chance of lowering the colours of the higher-rated Japanese runner, Satono Reve. The Japanese have, pretty much, cracked everywhere on their travels bar Royal Ascot. Maybe today is the day, but I think it will go back to Australia. 4.20 Jersey StakesSeven furlongs for those horses that fall between the two stools: not quite sprinters, not quite milers. The Wathnan filly The Prettiest Star was fourth behind True Love in the Guineas, with Precise behind her, and a repeat of that sort of effort will put her right in the mix here. Her owners, who like buying from the Royal Ascot ready-made shelf, came in for her after the Classic so that is a tip in itself. The likely favourite is Sabre Strike from the in-form Haggas yard. He is two from two but may lack a tiny bit of experience.   5.00 Wokingham StakesSix furlong sprint handicap. I half-fancied Double Rush for the Jubilee today and the fact that they have gone for the easier option is interesting. He is two from two this season and is a sprinter on the up. Both of those wins were at Newmarket and the only negative is that he did not run well on his only start at Ascot, but that might have been the ground. James Owen broke his Ascot duck earlier in the week and his Far Above A Dream could also go well. 5.35 Golden Gates StakesMile-and-a-quarter handicap for three year olds. Lost Boys could have taken a longer option earlier in the week but Wathnan, who splashed out for him after his London Gold Cup win, have decided to stay at a mile and a quarter. A repeat of that should give David Menuisier a second Ascot winner, while it would be foolish to ignore anything Joseph O’Brien sends out this week, even the stable cat. His Perisher and Nil Bua Gan Dua could both also be in the mix.  6.10 Queen Alexandra Stakes The longest race of the week and anywhere in the UK over two miles, five-and-a-half furlongs, famously won six times by Brown Jack between 1929 and 1935. Won five times by Ryan Moore and six times by Willie Mullins, often when they combine. Today though, I like Joseph O’Brien’s Chester Cup winner A Piece Of Heaven to wrap up a sensational meeting for the young trainer. Join the conversation Show comments The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review our commenting policy. Copy link X Icon twitter Facebook Icon facebook WhatsApp Icon whatsapp email The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Please review our commenting policy. Related Topics Royal Ascot License this content You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. Find out more here. 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