Five horses to watch at Royal Ascot 2026

Royal Ascot opens on Tuesday 17 June with 35 races across five days and a total prize fund of £10.65 million, an increase on last year’s record total. With horse racing betting markets already well established across the meeting’s eight Group 1 contests, the leading contenders are beginning to take shape. Here are five horses who could define the 2026 royal meeting.

Notable Speech: Queen Anne Stakes

The Queen Anne Stakes on the opening day of the meeting is the traditional curtain-raiser for the week’s miling division, and Notable Speech arrives as the 2/1 favourite after a dominant display in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in May, winning by two lengths to cement his status as the standout older miler in training. Trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, the Godolphin representative won the 2000 Guineas last season and has continued that form into his four-year-old campaign with authority.

He is the natural market leader for a race that could form the first chapter of a memorable week for the Appleby yard. For those assessing the ante-post picture, Notable Speech at the head of the Queen Anne market represents exactly the kind of well-founded favouritism that Royal Ascot regularly rewards.

Bow Echo: St James’s Palace Stakes

Bow Echo heads to the St James’s Palace Stakes on the opening day as the odds-on favourite following a brilliant victory in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, a performance that marked him out as the best three-year-old miler in Europe. The St James’s Palace Stakes is the natural next test for Guineas form, and Bow Echo’s profile suits the race precisely.

His trainer has spoken of a horse who travels through his races with exceptional ease and produces a turn of foot that few rivals can match. If the Newmarket performance was a statement, Royal Ascot will be the confirmation.

Daryz: Prince of Wales’s Stakes

The defending Arc de Triomphe champion arrives at the Prince of Wales’s Stakes on Wednesday as one of the most exciting middle-distance performers in the world. Trained by Francis-Henri Graffard and carrying the famous green and red colours of the Aga Khan family, Daryz has already won the Prix Ganay and the newly renamed Prix Aga Khan IV in 2026, and his form heading into Ascot is as strong as any horse in the field.

The Prince of Wales’s Stakes is the week’s most prestigious middle-distance contest for older horses, and Daryz’s Arc-winning form places him firmly at the head of the market. For a horse carrying the emotional weight of the Aga Khan family’s legacy into the 2026 season, a victory at Ascot would add another remarkable chapter to an already extraordinary story.

Scandinavia: Gold Cup

The Gold Cup on Thursday is the pinnacle of the staying division, and Scandinavia arrives as the leading fancy after winning the Irish St Leger last season and opening his 2026 campaign with two consecutive victories in Ireland. Trained by Aidan O’Brien, he has been identified as the heir to Kyprios as the stable’s dominant stayer, and his profile fits the Gold Cup template almost perfectly.

Those using a bet calculator to work out their returns on a Gold Cup ante-post investment will find Scandinavia near the head of a market that could yet tighten considerably before the race. O’Brien has won the Gold Cup nine times. Scandinavia looks well placed to add to that tally.

Joliestar: King Charles III Stakes

The most internationally flavoured contender on this list, Joliestar arrives from Australia under trainer Chris Waller as the ante-post favourite for both the King Charles III Stakes on Tuesday and the Diamond Jubilee Stakes on Saturday. The Australian sprinter’s record at home has been exceptional, and the Royal Ascot sprint track over five furlongs suits a horse of her profile and natural pace.

International raiders have a strong record at Royal Ascot in the sprint divisions, and Joliestar’s billing as one of the fastest horses in the southern hemisphere gives her a profile that demands respect regardless of the quality of the domestic opposition she faces.