By ITM Staff
We kick off the In The Money Media coverage of Royal Ascot today. PTF will be there covering the racing for the World Feed and Sky Sports, and the In the Money site will have contributions from Steven Bonnick, Alex Sausville and Andrew Harman, with Rob Dove — one of the top ten pro punters in the UK today — providing even more on the ITM Plus side of things. Join ITM Plus here.
Royal Ascot runs Tuesday, June 16 through Saturday, June 20, and you don’t need a transatlantic flight to catch it. NBC Sports streams all five days live on Peacock, with NBC joining for the Saturday finale — a three-hour show on June 20 from 9:00 a.m. to noon ET — hosted by Royal Ascot regulars Nick Luck and Britney Eurton, with Steve Kornacki back as insights analyst. NBC’s deal with Ascot now runs through 2028.
New for 2026, the network is also building in extra focus on the Ascot races that double as Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” qualifiers, where the winner earns an automatic, fees-paid berth at the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland on Oct. 30–31. Three of the ten horses below run in those qualifiers — Notable Speech in the Queen Anne, Overpass in the King Charles III and Daryz in the Prince of Wales’s.
A quick note for newcomers: British racing is organized by age, sex and distance rather than by class and surface the way US racing is. Each capsule below leads with what the race actually is — who’s eligible and how far — so you know whether you’re watching seasoned older milers, baby two-year-olds, or marathon stayers. Distances are given in furlongs (a furlong is an eighth of a mile).
This isn’t a tip sheet — the tips will come later. Think of this as a viewing guide: ten horses worth setting an alarm for, in the order they’re scheduled to run across the week. (All odds are ante-post prices as of June 9 and will move; post times are UK / ET.)
Tuesday, June 16
Notable Speech — Queen Anne Stakes (G1)
Group 1 · four-year-olds & up · 1 mile (straight) · 2:30 p.m. UK / 9:30 a.m. ET
American audiences already know this one. Charlie Appleby’s Godolphin runner was crowned the 2025 American Champion Male Turf Horse after winning the Woodbine Mile and the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and he opened 2026 with an explosive front-running romp in the Lockinge at Newbury. Jockey William Buick called him “an absolutely top-class miler” afterward (Racing Post, May 2026), and Appleby had earmarked the Queen Anne as the target as far back as last fall.
He’s the 7/4 favorite, but this is no soft spot: the Queen Anne is the older milers’ championship, and he’ll face 2025 Queen Anne winner Docklands, his Lockinge runner-up More Thunder, and his own stablemate Opera Ballo. Racing Post’s preview panel called him a deserving favorite who is hard to oppose on his A-game. As a “Win and You’re In” qualifier, the Queen Anne could send the reigning Breeders’ Cup Mile champion straight back to Keeneland.
Market snapshot (top 5): Notable Speech 7/4 · Opera Ballo 9/2 · More Thunder 11/2 · Docklands 7/1 · Zeus Olympios 9/1
Great Barrier Reef — Coventry Stakes (G2)
Group 2 · two-year-old colts & geldings · 6 furlongs · 3:05 p.m. UK / 10:05 a.m. ET
Aidan O’Brien’s juvenile machine announced himself with a six-length demolition on debut at the Curragh, becoming the first two-year-old of the 2026 European crop to earn TDN “Rising Star” status, and has since added the Group 3 Marble Hill — he’s two-for-two. He’s by No Nay Never, whom O’Brien calls “an influence for speed,” out of the mare Gems, and he’s a half-brother to Group winner Mystery Power. O’Brien pointed him straight at the Coventry, calling him a “Coventry, Phoenix, Middle Park or even Dewhurst horse.” The Coventry is one of the most informative juvenile races of the British season — a launchpad for future Classic colts — and this is the one the Ballydoyle whispers have been loudest about.
Market snapshot (top 5): Great Barrier Reef 7/2 · Confucius 4/1 · Rulers Pride 10/1 · Orthodox 12/1 · Night In Vegas 14/1
Overpass — King Charles III Stakes (G1)
Group 1 · three-year-olds & up · 5 furlongs (the minimum trip — flat-out speed) · 3:40 p.m. UK / 10:40 a.m. ET
Part of a record Australian sprint raid, Bjorn Baker’s veteran gelding has banked north of A$12.5 million and spent years trading blows with the likes of Nature Strip. He’s wintered in Britain at Charlie Hills’s Lambourn base to prep for this five-furlong dash. Baker, speaking on Racing.com’s Road To Royal Ascot show (May 2026), noted he’s spent his whole career up against the best sprinters going. The King Charles III is speed in its purest form — and another “Win and You’re In” qualifier, with a Keeneland spot on the line. Australians usually don’t come to the Breeders’ Cup — it conflicts with their big spring carnival — but it’s still interesting to think about.
Market snapshot (top 5): Overpass 7/2 · Joliestar 6/1 · Rayevka 8/1 · Night Raider 8/1 · American Affair 10/1
(Joliestar is cross-entered here but her main target is Saturday’s Jubilee — see below.)
Bow Echo — St James’s Palace Stakes (G1)
Group 1 · three-year-olds · round mile · 4:20 p.m. UK / 11:20 a.m. ET
For many, this is the race of the meeting. George Boughey’s unbeaten colt was rated one of the finest 2,000 Guineas winners in decades after a scintillating Newmarket display, and at 11/10 he’s a warm favorite. The St James’s Palace is the championship for the Classic generation’s milers, and this renewal is shaping into a clash of the English, Irish and French 2,000 Guineas winners — Bow Echo against Irish hero Gstaad (7/2) and French winner Rayif. Speaking on Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday (June 7, 2026), Boughey reported “extraordinary” physical development and a colt getting faster; to At The Races after the Guineas he summed him up simply as a straightforward, high-class horse. Some still see a vulnerable favorite in a deep field — which is exactly why it’s must-watch.
Market snapshot (top 5): Bow Echo 11/10 · Gstaad 7/2 · Talk Of New York 5/1 · Rayif 9/1 · Puerto Rico 14/1
Wednesday, June 17
Senorita Bonita — Queen Mary Stakes (G2)
Group 2 · two-year-old fillies · 5 furlongs · 2:30 p.m. UK / 9:30 a.m. ET
The most expensive juvenile filly story of the year so far. A 900,000-guinea Craven Breeze-Up topper by Starspangledbanner, racing for Victorious Racing, she made a winning debut at Nottingham for Simon and Ed Crisford, swooping late by a short head under Oisin Murphy. Crisford admitted afterward they “had to do it the hard way” (Sporting Life, June 2026), praising an exceptional turn of foot and a filly with improvement to come, while connections weigh the Queen Mary against the six-furlong Albany. Either way, she’s the headline name among the fastest two-year-old fillies seen so far, and a story wherever she shows up.
Market snapshot (top 5): Senorita Bonita 9/2 · Wild Blossom 5/1 · Victorious 7/1 · Alta Regina 8/1 · Ruiva 14/1
Daryz — Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1)
Group 1 · four-year-olds & up · 1¼ miles (10 furlongs) · 4:20 p.m. UK / 11:20 a.m. ET
The reigning Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero, carrying the famous Aga Khan Studs silks for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard, and a 6/5 favorite. He has been devastating in 2026, winning the Prix Ganay and then the newly renamed Prix Aga Khan IV — the race retitled in honor of the late owner-breeder. Graffard praised his “incredible turn of foot” (At The Races, May 2026), while owner Princess Zahra Aga Khan described him to Sky Sports Racing as “cool as a cucumber.” The Prince of Wales’s is the older middle-distance championship and the joint-richest race of the week, and as a third “Win and You’re In” qualifier it carries a Keeneland berth too. It’s always special to see an Arc winner, so we’re in for a treat.
Market snapshot (top 5): Daryz 6/5 · Ombudsman 2/1 · Almaqam 8/1 · Minnie Hauk 16/1 · Calandagan 16/1
Thursday, June 18
Scandinavia — Gold Cup (G1)
Group 1 · four-year-olds & up · 2½ miles (the staying championship) · 4:15 p.m. UK / 11:15 a.m. ET
Royal Ascot’s historic centerpiece — a marathon two-and-a-half-mile test dating to 1807 — and the 11/8 favorite is being talked up as the heir to the great Kyprios. A son of Triple Crown winner Justify, Aidan O’Brien’s colt won the Goodwood Cup and the St Leger last season and has followed the well-trodden Vintage Crop–Saval Beg prep route to the meeting. After his Saval Beg win, O’Brien told Racing TV he’s “one of those big Gold Cup horses” who relaxes and cruises. Ryan Moore takes the ride. His main dangers are Yorkshire Cup winner Rahiebb and, if he runs, defending champion Trawlerman.
Market snapshot (top 5): Scandinavia 11/8 · Rahiebb 4/1 · Trawlerman 6/1 · Caballo De Mar 9/1 · Sweet William 10/1
Friday, June 19
Venetian Sun — Commonwealth Cup (G1)
Group 1 · three-year-olds · 6 furlongs · 3:05 p.m. UK / 10:05 a.m. ET
The 2/1 favorite and a genuine transatlantic angle in a sprint for the Classic-generation speedsters. Karl Burke’s brilliant filly won the 2025 Prix Morny — beating American raider Outfielder in the process — and returned this spring with a three-length Sandy Lane romp. Jockey Clifford Lee said the comeback win was the best feeling he’s had in a race (Racing Post, late May 2026). Even Wesley Ward, talking up his own Outfielder for the same race, conceded to At The Races (June 2026) that the market is backing her “with both hands right now.”
Market snapshot (top 5): Venetian Sun 2/1 · True Love 6/1 · Albert Einstein 8/1 · Havana Anna 10/1 · Coppull 12/1
(True Love also heads the Coronation market and is more likely to take the filly’s mile route there.)
Precise — Coronation Stakes (G1)
Group 1 · three-year-old fillies · 1 mile · 4:20 p.m. UK / 11:20 a.m. ET
The fillies’ mile championship, and the 5/4 favorite is Aidan O’Brien’s Precise, who turned the tables on stablemate True Love in the Irish 1,000 Guineas — reversing their Newmarket Classic form with a two-and-a-half-length surge under Wayne Lordan. A 2025 Fillies’ Mile and Moyglare winner by Starspangledbanner, she’s a filly O’Brien has long held in the highest regard, calling her “unique” and something he had “never had before” (BloodHorse, May 2026). The Coronation draws the season’s best three-year-old fillies straight out of the Guineas, and this renewal sets up the True Love rematch over a mile on the round course.
Market snapshot (top 5): Precise 5/4 · True Love 11/4 · Abashiri 8/1 · Diamond Necklace 8/1 · The Prettiest Star 10/1
Saturday, June 20 — Live on NBC
Joliestar — Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (G1)
Group 1 · four-year-olds & up · 6 furlongs · 3:40 p.m. UK / 10:40 a.m. ET
The Saturday card is where NBC’s network coverage kicks in, and the meeting’s older-sprint championship is built around Chris Waller’s five-time Group 1-winning mare, the 9/4 favorite. Watching her work at Flemington before shipping north, Waller said she “looked to do everything comfortably” (Just Horse Racing, May 2026) — and floated that a win here would stamp her a champion sprinter in both hemispheres. Ridden by James McDonald, she headlines the Australian charge on closing day.
Market snapshot (top 5): Joliestar 9/4 · Satono Reve 6/1 · Comanche Brave 10/1 · Overpass 10/1 · Lugal 10/1
(Overpass is cross-entered but is aimed at Tuesday’s King Charles III.)
How to watch in the US
Peacock streams every day of Royal Ascot live, Tuesday through Friday (June 16–19), beginning in the morning ET (all ten races above fall inside the window). NBC and Peacock then carry a three-hour Saturday show on June 20 from 9:00 a.m. to noon ET. Nick Luck and Britney Eurton anchor the Saturday coverage, with Steve Kornacki as insights analyst. Coverage airing on NBC also streams on the NBC Sports app.
For race-by-race analysis, live betting strategy and Rob Dove’s plays all week, join ITM Plus.
