Royal Ascot 2026 guide: When is it, times, big races, trainers, jockeys and more
Royal Ascot is the biggest Flat race meeting in the world, attracting the best horses, runners, and of course royalty.
A huge five-day festival of racing starting on Tuesday, June 16 and ending on Saturday June 20, it crams in eight Group 1 races across the week, and there's hardly time to take a breath.
Here, Sports News Blitz has all you need to know about the famous event.
ITV horse racing tips and best bets for Newmarket, Goodwood and Thirsk on Saturday, May 2
Every year, at the start of May, Sports News Blitz tipster Jeff Mexico breaks into his mother’s house and steals a pair of her shoes.
He then wears them for a few days before chucking them in the sea, as he doesn’t feel there’s enough plastic in the ocean.
His mother still hasn’t realised she is missing all these shoes, granted she has been dead since 2009.
Anyway to the horses.
Kentucky Derby Odds Breakdown: Leading Horses to Watch on Race Day
Churchill Downs feels different this time of year. The noise builds slowly, then all at once. Twenty horses, one mile and a quarter, charging beneath the twin spires together, and a few minutes that tend to linger far longer than expected.
The 2026 Kentucky Derby arrives with a full field and a familiar mix of certainty and doubt.
Renegade leads the board, though that rarely tells the whole story. Beneath the surface, subtle shifts and late whispers hint at contenders gaining ground at the right moment.
Horse racing news: Gstaad the lowest top-rated horse in 2000 Guineas in over 30 years
This year’s renewal of the 2000 Guineas looks substandard according to Timeform, with the Aidan O’Brien-trained Gstaad topping the ratings on 117, which is the lowest pre-race rating for a Timeform top-rated horse in the 2000 Guineas in over 30 years.
Gaelic Warrior enhances Timeform rating to 180 following Punchestown Gold Cup rout
Gaelic Warrior has been awarded an outstanding Timeform rating of 180 for his impressive victory in the Punchestown Gold Cup on Wednesday and is now the organisation's highest-rated jumps horse in training.
Gaelic Warrior was rated 174 after his dominant success in the Cheltenham Gold Cup but produced an even better performance at Punchestown where he slammed old rival Fact To File by 26 lengths.
Ka Ying Rising extends winning streak to 20 and breaks track record again in G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize
Ka Ying Rising confirmed his status as the world’s best horse with a record-breaking victory in the HK$24 million (approx. £2.3m) G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (6f/1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (26 April) to crown a flawless season, sealing the Hong Kong Speed Series and extending his winning streak to 20.