The centrepiece of Ascot's year, the Royal meeting in June, is one of the world's most famous race meetings, and dates back to 1711. The Queen attends the meeting, arriving each day in a horse-drawn carriage.
Nowhere in Europe are recegoers treated to such an array of global equine talent, with recent runners coming from as far as the USA and Australia, Hong Kong and South Africa. The King's Stand Stakes has been won by an Australian horse no fewer than four times this decade whilst history was made in 2009 when two of the winners were trained in America.
The Royal Meeting is home to one of the most famous and historic races in the world, the Gold Cup, which has been won every year since Ascot reopened in 2006 by Aidan O'Brien's great stayer Yeats.
Ascot is not just about the Royal Meeting, however, and other highlights include; the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (sponsored by Betfair), the country's most valuable all aged championship race at £1 million; the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup in August, which attracts star jockeys from all around the world for racing's only team competition; and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by Sony), Europe's milers' championship in September.
The Royal Meeting stages seven Group One races, 17 Group races in total and some of the most famous and prestigious handicaps in the racing calender. Total prizemoney for the week is in excess of £3,000,000.
Over 300,000 people make the annual visit to Berkshire during Royal Ascot week, making it Europe's best-attended race meeting.
Ascot is not just about Flat racing though. The Berkshire track stages eight quality jumps fixtures from October to March each year, including three Grade One races; the BGC Long Walk Hurdle (December), Victor Chandler Chase (January) and Betfair Ascot Chase (February).
The Long Walk Hurdle is second only to the World Hurdle in prestige for staying hurdlers and often proves a reliable guide to the end of season climax at the Cheltenham Festival. It is the highest quality event staged at the BGC Christmas Meeting, supported by the £150,000 Ladbroke Hurdle, the most valuable handicap hurdle run in Europe and often the scene of exciting competition between Great Britain and Ireland.
In early January the top speed chasers take centre stage in the Victor Chandler Chase over two miles. One of only two Grade One races over that distance before Cheltenham (the other being the Tingle Creek at Sandown), the very best prospects for the Festival are likely to be on show at Ascot in the new year.
February's highlight is the Ascot Chase, run over the intermediate distance of 2 ½ miles and as such often used by trainers to prepare horses for either the Champion Chase or Gold Cup at Cheltenham, but also in more recent times for the Ryanair Chase, run over the same trip as the Ascot contest.