England’s Royal Ascot Has Record $10.5M Prize Pool

Royal Ascot, a five-day horse racing event in Berkshire, England, is underway with a record $10.5 million in prize money up for grabs. 

Regarded as one of the most prestigious events in horse racing, Royal Ascot is poised for its best year yet as it gains international attention, leading to record payouts for its participants. 

• This year’s total prize pool is an 18% increase compared to 2019’s pre-pandemic event.
• 35 races will be held across five days.
• The event will air in more than 170 territories across more than 20 broadcasters.
• Broadcasters include the free-to-air British network (and host) ITV and Sky Sports Racing. 

Royal Ascot will also have a presence in the U.S. — NBC’s streaming platform Peacock will broadcast the event to more than 24 million monthly active users and 9 million paying users. 

This year’s edition of the Royal Ascot is being exposed to a record amount of viewers due to the management of media rights by HBA Media. In January 2020, Ascot Racecourse secured a five-year contract with HBA Media, which included non-betting international media rights. 

HBA Media’s list of clients includes Racecourse Media Group and horse betting platform TVG. 

Marquee Race 

Royal Ascot will have a plethora of races throughout the week, but its marquee event, the Gold Cup, will take place on Thursday.

The 2-plus-mile race — also known as Ladies Day — will see the winner pocket $345,000.