King George Diamond Day at Ascot Racecourse can only mean one thing. One of the biggest races on the UK Flat racing calendar – the QIPCO King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes – is the centrepiece of a mid-summer horse racing treat. See below for the latest ticket information.
They’re under starters order at Ascot Racecourse with seven quality races on the card including the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes. Raced over 1 and a half miles (12 furlongs) this prestigious race has long been regarded as Europe’s premier midseason middle-distance championship race for horses of both sexes and all ages.
Some of the best racehorses in history have won the King George including Nijinsky, Shergar, Dancing Brave and Galileo and in 2020 Ascot welcomed back the much-loved defending champion Enable. The extraordinary mare did not disappoint recording a third King George title.
Hukum won a superb renewal of the race in 2023, narrowly seeing off Westover after they went head-to-head from two furlongs out. English Derby runner-up King of Steel finished in third. 18-1 outsider Pyledriver won the race in 2022. He scooped the top prize beating German raider and Arc winner Torquator Tasso by nearly three lengths. In 2021 Derby winner Adayar confirmed his classy credentials to take first prize. Charlie Appleby’s colt, a son of Frankel, becoming the first horse since Galileo in 2001 to complete the Derby-King George VI double.
This year the race has a total prize pot of £1,250,000, with connections of the winning horse receiving over £700,000.
TICKETS, TIMINGS & TRAVEL
Tickets for King George Diamond Day are available via the ‘Get Tickets’ link.
Gates open at 11am.
First race is at 1.15pm
Feature race, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, at 3.40pm.
Note: Timings are subject to change.
Travel tips: By car – Ascot is accessible from the M3, M4 and M40 and parking is available. For details and to book visit the Ascot website. By train – South West Trains runs a frequent service to Ascot from both Reading, Guildford and London Waterloo. The average journey time is 27 minutes from Reading and 52 minutes from Waterloo. The railway station is around a seven minute walk from the racecourse.
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