Royal Ascot Shake-Up Includes Six New Races

Major revisions to this year's Royal Ascot meeting have been unveiled, including the introduction of six extra races, changes to the running order, consolation contests for prestigious handicaps, and earlier start times throughout the week.

Last month, Ascot announced its intention to run the royal meeting in its regular position in the calendar, this year scheduled for June 16-20, but with no spectators permitted to attend because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, with British racing, which has been stopped since March 18, not resuming until June 1 at the earliest, Ascot officials have made a number of significant amendments to facilitate extra runners and provide a suitable program for those horses being targeted at the fixture.

"We are, of course, taking nothing for granted in terms of government's final approval to permit behind-closed-doors sporting events from June 1," said Nick Smith, Ascot's director of racing and public affairs. "We are announcing the program today, with the dates of the royal meeting already public as part of the wider schedule for resumption, so that horsemen can begin their detailed planning."

Chief among the changes is the introduction of six extra races across the five days, meaning there will be seven contests on every day bar Saturday, the final day of the fixture, when there will be eight races.

The seven-furlong Buckingham Palace Handicap, scrapped from the program when the Commonwealth Cup (G1) was created in 2015, returns and will be the opening race this year instead of the Queen Anne Stakes (G1).

Additionally, there will be consolation races for the Royal Hunt Cup and Wokingham and three new races for this year only—the 14-furlong Copper Horse Handicap for 4-year-olds and up, the 10-furlong Golden Gates Handicap for 3-year-olds, and the five-furlong Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap for 3-year-olds. All new race names have been approved by Queen Elizabeth II.

Ascot has also shuffled the order for the King Edward VII Stakes (G2) and Ribblesdale Stakes (G2), pushing them to the first day of the meeting to provide the maximum amount of time before the July 4 Investec Derby (G1) and Oaks (G1).

The St James's Palace Stakes (G1) has moved in the opposite direction to be on the final day of the meeting, along with the Coronation Stakes (G1), to increase the time between these races and the QIPCO Two Thousand (G1) and One Thousand Guineas (G1) on June 6-7 at Newmarket. 

The Queen Mary Stakes (G2), Norfolk Stakes (G2), and Coventry Stakes (G2) have been moved to the end of the royal meeting to give the 2-year-old runners extra time between their debuts and the meeting.

All 36 races are set to be shown on Sky Sports Racing with ITV broadcasting on its main channel from race 2 during the week and from race 3 Saturday.

Racing will begin at 1:15 p.m. local time from Tuesday to Friday and 12:40 p.m. Saturday, with the final race at 4:40 p.m. Prize-money figures, which are expected to be lower than usual, will be announced in due course.

"We are most grateful to the (British Horseracing Authority's) race planning team for their assistance in framing the additional races for this exceptional renewal of Royal Ascot," Smith said. "We hope these extra opportunities will be welcomed by horsemen, broadcasters, and the public at home. 

"Under (BHA director of racing) Ruth Quinn, a lot of work has gone into scheduling an appropriate pattern trials program, beginning on June 3, alongside an enhanced 2-year-old program."