Royal Ascot is the crown jewel of the British flat racing season, a five-day festival of top-class racing, royal pageantry and famously extravagant fashion. Held every June at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, England, it draws the best horses, jockeys and trainers from Britain, Ireland, France and well beyond, with King Charles III leading the daily Royal Procession down the straight before the racing gets under way.
The 2026 meeting runs from Tuesday, June 16th through Saturday, June 20th, packing 35 races into five afternoons, including eight Group 1 contests. Because Ascot sits five hours ahead of Eastern time, the action plays out through the late morning and early afternoon for Canadians, with the first race off around 9:30am ET each day. This guide covers where Canadians can bet the meeting, the headline races to circle, and a simple step-by-step for getting your first wager down.
Where To Bet On Royal Ascot from Canada
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Bet365 is our top pick for Canadians betting Royal Ascot. As the long-time home of British racing coverage and the official online betting partner of Woodbine Entertainment, it is built for exactly this kind of meeting.
For bettors outside Ontario, Bet365.com offers fixed-odds and ante-post markets on every Royal Ascot race, plus each-way betting that really comes into its own in the meeting’s big fields. Ante-post simply means you can back a horse days or weeks out at a fixed price, locking in value before the market shortens.
Ontario players bet a little differently. Bet365.ca is the only regulated Ontario sportsbook that lets you wager on Royal Ascot, through its partnership with Woodbine Entertainment. Ontario bets are routed into Woodbine’s pari-mutuel tote (the same international race pools offered through HPIbet) and processed under Woodbine’s federal pari-mutuel licence, so instead of a fixed price you take the final tote odds. You’ll see an “Operated by Woodbine Entertainment Group” note in the horse racing section confirming everything is fully legal and regulated.
Wherever you are in the country, Bet365 covers the full range of Royal Ascot bet types, from win, place and each-way through to exactas, trifectas and the multi-race pools, and you can stream every race live in the app.
2026 Royal Ascot Schedule and Key Races
Royal Ascot is really eight championship races spread across five days, with a deep supporting cast of valuable handicaps and Group races on every card. Here are the marquee Group 1 contests to build your week around.
| Day | Feature Group 1 Races |
|---|---|
| Tuesday, June 16 | Queen Anne Stakes, King Charles III Stakes, St James’s Palace Stakes |
| Wednesday, June 17 | Prince of Wales’s Stakes |
| Thursday, June 18 (Ladies’ Day) | Gold Cup |
| Friday, June 19 | Commonwealth Cup, Coronation Stakes |
| Saturday, June 20 | Diamond Jubilee Stakes |
Thursday is Ladies’ Day, headlined by the Gold Cup, the most prestigious race of the week and a genuine test of stamina run over two and a half miles. The opening day on Tuesday is arguably the strongest card of the lot, with three Group 1s inside the first four races. Check out the full schedule of races here.
Where To Find The Royal Ascot Betting Markets
To find the Royal Ascot races at Bet365, select ‘Horse Racing’ from the A-Z Sports menu in the sportsbook, and then select any of the ‘Royal Ascot’ races under the UK & Ireland header and the day of the race you want to wager on.
Here’s an example of how the betting odds look in the ‘Meetings’ section of the racebook using the first race of the Royal Ascot as an example (screenshot from June 15th):
You can also find all of the Royal Ascot races in the ‘Antepost’ section of the racebook (sometimes referred to as ‘Futures’). Select the race you want to wager on under the ‘Royal Ascot’ header to see the fixed betting odds for the race.
Here’s an example of how the antepost odds will look using the Ascot Gold Cup (screenshot from June 15th):
**In the Bet365 app, select Horse Racing and find Ascot under the UK and Ireland meetings, or use the dedicated Royal Ascot tab during the festival, to pull up racecards, prices and each-way terms for every race.
How to Bet on Royal Ascot From Canada – 3 Step Guide
Three quick steps will have you ready to bet Royal Ascot online.
Step 1. Open a Bet365 Account
Click through to Bet365 using the link above, hit ‘Join’, and fill out the short sign-up form. It takes a couple of minutes to get set up.
Step 2. Deposit
Bet365 supports Interac (the easiest option for most Canadians) along with Visa, Mastercard and a handful of other methods. Once you’re logged in, hit ‘Deposit’, choose how you want to fund your account, enter an amount and follow the prompts.
Step 3. Place Your Royal Ascot Bets
In the Horse Racing section, select either ‘Meetings’ or ‘Antepost’. Then select the Royal Ascot race you want to wager on, and select your bet type (Win/Each Way, Position Payout, etc.).
Select the odds of the bet you want to place, enter your stake on the bet slip and hit ‘Place Bet’ to confirm
Each-way is especially popular at this meeting because it still pays out if your horse simply places in these large fields.
New to betting the horses? Our horse racing betting guide breaks down how each bet type works in plain English.
Ready for the royal meeting? Bet Royal Ascot at Bet365.
horse race betting • Horse Racing • Royal Ascot