ITV Racing and Sky Sports will provide comprehensive live coverage across all five days of Royal Ascot 2021.
Always a spectacle of pomp and ceremony and one of the highlights of the British sporting summer, this year’s meeting takes place from 15-19 June, with an unrivalled five days of top-class horse racing, featuring eight Group One races.
Attracting the finest horses, trainers and jockeys from around the world, Royal Ascot remains Britain’s most valuable race meeting, with the very best fighting for their place in horse racing history, as well as a slice of the £6 million prize fund on offer across the week.
This year’s Royal meeting welcomes back a limited number of spectators, after the 2020 meeting was staged behind closed doors due to the pandemic, while the traditional royal procession, where the Queen and members of the royal family arrive at the course accompanied by the playing of the national anthem, also returns this year, although the Queen’s attendance this year is yet to be confirmed.
Live coverage of all 35 races across the five days of Royal Ascot 2021 will be shown on ITV Racing and Sky Sports Racing, with each day’s race card now expanded to seven races, instead of the previous six, starting at 2.30pm.
Full details of ITV and Sky Sports’ coverage, including TV times and daily race cards, can be found below.
ITV Racing will bring all the excitement of all 35 races across five days of top class racing from Royal Ascot 2021.
All seven races each day will be broadcast live and free-to-air across ITV and ITV4 each day, as well as online via the ITV Hub.
ITV’s coverage of the Royal meeting this year will be affected by the broadcaster’s coverage of Euro 2020, with live football taking priority on the main channel, so there will be a number of channel switches to take into account.
ITV Racing’s build-up to each day’s live racing starts at 1.30pm, an hour before the first race gets underway, and will feature the royal procession.
The opening day and final day’s live coverage will be split across ITV and ITV4, due to the football, while Ascot Gold Cup day will be shown in its entirety on ITV4, with a special 20-minute programme covering the Ascot Gold Cup live on ITV, airing in between the main channel’s coverage of that afternoon’s Euro 2020 matches.
The addition of the seventh race on each day’s schedule also means that live coverage of the final race of each day, which goes off at 6.10pm, will be shown live on ITV4, with main channel prioritising its usual 6pm local news programmes.
Ed Chamberlin and Francesca Cumani will again front ITV’s coverage of the Royal meeting, alongside classic-winning jockey Jason Weaver, Johnny Murtagh, AP McCoy and Kevin Blake.
Reports from across the racecourse will come from Rishi Persad, Matt Chapman, Luke Harvey and Adele Mulrennan, Oli Bell will be at the helm of the Social Stable alongside Chris Hughes, encouraging viewers at home to join in with the action via social media, while regular lifestyle features will be presented by Mark Heyes and Charlotte Hawkins.
As well as the live racing, The Opening Show, presented by Oli Bell, will preview every day’s action on ITV4 at 9am throughout the meeting (except Saturday, 9.30am).
Race commentary throughout the week will come from Richard Hoiles and Mark Johnson.
ITV’s Royal Ascot coverage will also be simulcast online via the ITV Hub – itv.com – with further news and video content available via the ITV Racing website – itv.com/racing.
Sky Sports Racing will have full uninterrupted coverage of every race across all five days of Royal Ascot 2021.
The pay-TV broadcaster’s coverage of the Royal meeting begins each day at 10am with Raceday Preview, presented by Gina Bryce, Jim McGrath and Josh Apiafi.
Reporters Mike Cattermole and Zoey Bird join the team, bringing viewers the latest latest news, while analyst Jamie Lynch dissects the key form and figures.
Then it is time for the live racing as host Alex Hammond presents live coverage of every race from 2.30pm, alongside Freddy Tylicki, Hayley Moore, Mick Fitzgerald and a number of special guests.
Daily in-depth previews, race cards, analysis and video content will be available via Sky Sports’ dedicated Royal Ascot website – ascot.attheraces.com
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TUESDAY 15th JUNE – DAY 1
The Opening Show
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ITV Racing: Royal Ascot
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Raceday Live: Royal Ascot
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The opening day of Royal Ascot features three superb races to begin the week, including the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, for the older horses over a mile, before the speedsters take over – the juveniles line up in the Coventry Stakes, before the King’s Stand Stakes for the older horses.
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2.30 Queen Anne Stakes (Group 1)
3.05 Coventry Stakes (Group 2)
3.40 King’s Stand Stakes (Group 1)
4.20 St James’s Palace Stakes (Group 1)
5.00 Ascot Stakes (Handicap)
5.35 Wolferton Stakes (Listed)
6.10 Copper Horse Stakes (Handicap)
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WEDNESDAY 16th JUNE – DAY 2
The Opening Show
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ITV Racing: Royal Ascot
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Raceday Live: Royal Ascot
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Day two of Royal Ascot sees the Prince of Wales’s Stakes headline a superb afternoon of racing. One of the highlights of the entire season, today’s feature race is due off at 4.20pm and is run over ten furlongs. Also, on a stellar afternoon of racing, are two top quality juvenile races – the Queen Mary Stakes and the Windsor Castle Stakes, either side of a plethora of great action.
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2.30 Queen Mary Stakes (Group 2)
3.05 Queen’s Vase (Group 2)
3.40 Duke of Cambridge Stakes (Group 2)
4.20 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Group 1)
5.00 Royal Hunt Cup (Heritage Handicap)
5.35 Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed)
6.10 Kensington Palace Stakes (Handicap)
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THURSDAY 17th JUNE – DAY 3
The Opening Show
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ITV Racing: Royal Ascot
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Raceday Live: Royal Ascot
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The Ascot Gold Cup day is day three’s feature race and has been won by some of the greats of the staying division, and today could see Stradivarius become an all-time star with another win in the race. Supporting races include the Norfolk Stakes for juveniles, Group race action in the Hampton Court Stakes and the Ribblesdale Stakes, and then three very valuable handicaps to finish.
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2.30 Norfolk Stakes (Group 2)
3.05 Hampton Court Stakes (Group 3)
3.40 Ribblesdale Stakes (Group 2)
4.20 Ascot Gold Cup (Group 1)
5.00 Britannia Stakes (Heritage Handicap)
5.35 King George V Stakes (Hanidcap)
6.10 Buckingham Palace Stakes (Handicap)
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FRIDAY 18th JUNE – DAY 4
The Opening Show
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ITV Racing: Royal Ascot
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Raceday Live: Royal Ascot
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Day four of Royal Ascot features some more top-class action at the Berkshire racecourse, including the Commonwealth Cup and the Coronation Stakes.
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2.30 Albany Stakes (Group 2)
3.05 King Edward VII Stakes (Group 2)
3.40 Commonwealth Cup (Group 1)
4.20 Coronation Stakes (Group 1)
5.00 Sandringham Stakes (Handicap)
5.35 Duke of Edinburgh Stakes (Handicap)
6.10 Palace Of Holyroodhouse Stakes (Handicap)
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SATURDAY 19th JUNE – DAY 5
The Opening Show
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ITV Racing: Royal Ascot
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Raceday Live: Royal Ascot
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The final day of Royal Ascot.
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2.30 Chesham Stakes (Listed)
3.05 Jersey Stakes (Group 3)
3.40 Hardwicke Stakes (Group 2)
4.20 Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Group 1)
5.00 Wokingham Stakes (Heritage Handicap)
5.35 Golden Gates Stakes (Handicap)
6.10 Queen Alexandra Stakes
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