Free William Hill shop bets every day of Royal Ascot with your paper
Free William Hill shop bets every day of Royal Ascot with your paper
FREE £2 shop bets every day of the iconic festival from your local paper from Tuesday 17 - Saturday 21 June - don't miss out!
Royal Ascot is one of the major highlights of the racing calendar, and your favourite local paper has teamed up with William Hill to offer readers a FREE £2 shop bet every day of the festival! Pick up your paper from Tuesday June 17 until Saturday June 21 to get your hands on this great offer.
This year the event celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Royal procession, a tradition begun by King George IV in 1825 which has continued to present day with the royal party and guests arriving by carriage up the racecourse from Windsor Castle. Over the course of five unmissable days, Ascot will host seven races each day comprising at least one Group 1 highlight for total prize-money of £10 million. The two richest races are the Prince of Wales's Stakes on Wednesday and the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on Saturday, both worth £1m.
The Gold Cup, worth £600,000 is Royal Ascot's oldest surviving race and the highlight of Thursday, celebrated as Ladies' Day, which often attracts the largest attendance of the week. The increasingly international fixture will again attract runners from Australia, the United States, Japan as well as from across Europe. Asfoora, the Australian sprinter who captured the King Charles III Stakes a year ago, has returned to defend her crown.
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Elsewhere Aidan O'Brien, fresh from winning his 11th Derby, is expected to dominate a meeting at which he has been the leading trainer 13 times, and in each of the last three years. Likewise his jockey Ryan Moore will seek his fourth leading rider title in a row to add to his total of 11 successes.
Don't miss your paper from Tuesday June 17 until Saturday June 21 for incredible FREE £2 shop bet every day of this iconic festival.
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Leader Live
2 hours ago
- Leader Live
Dwyer reaches for blinkers as Asfoora defends Ascot title
The six-year-old is one of 26 confirmations for the Royal Ascot feature over the minimum distance and she has happily settled back into familiar surroundings on Newmarket's Hamilton Road ahead of her bid for back-to-back victories at the meeting. 'Everything is going well and she has travelled over really well,' said trainer Henry Dwyer. 'We were a bit apprehensive over the logistics of it because last year we were here eight weeks before Ascot and had a lead-up run at Haydock which I thought was vital, whereas this year we've tried to do as much as we could at home and arrived later and then straight to Royal Ascot. 'We simply couldn't get a flight and in an ideal world we would have been here earlier. We were thinking of going to France and having a lead-up run there which would have been good, but as it turned out we couldn't get here in time. 'I think she's a different horse this year and seems to be recovering really well and reserving herself a little bit. 'Even in her work she's a different horse and she used to be really lit up and bouncy and blowy for a bit after her work because she was revved up, but now she's sort of come back to us a bit. 'I think the blinkers may have been the missing link and I've always wanted to put blinkers on her as she is quite a 'looky' horse and now I think she has been holding back a little bit, the blinkers might add that little one per cent we need.' Everything going swimmingly in the UK for #Asfoora . Big thanks to Simon & Ed Crisford @gainsboroughHQ for letting us take a dip of an afternoon. — Henry Dwyer Racing (@HDwyerRacing) June 8, 2025 Oisin Murphy rode Asfoora last term and the champion jockey is set to renew his association having been impressed when partnering the antipodean challenger in a racecourse gallop earlier this week. 'I think her fitness is good and she seems in a good place, Oisin seems confident so I just hope he's right,' added Dwyer. 'Oisin galloped her on Monday on the July course which was a luxury as it was like a bowling green, it was beautiful ground. 'They ran an easy furlong from the five furlong to the four, then went sharp for 600 metres and she steamed through the line with the blinkers on and pulled up like she hadn't been round.' Royal Ascot is set to be the first leg of an extended stay in the northern hemisphere for Asfoora, with Dwyer ambitiously eyeing races into the autumn after seeing his stable star thrive in Britain last term. 'Knowing that we wanted to get past York this time, we gave her two runs less in Australia this year,' explained Dwyer. 'She will run at Goodwood and York again, and then we would like to go to Ireland and France, but it depends on her. If she is in good order, we will be doing that and two less runs might mean heading to Ireland and France and I would love to get her there. 'It would be a real feather in the cap and bucket list item to just turn up there and would be a really special experience.' Ed Bethell's Regional and George Boughey's Believing were second and fourth behind Asfoora last year and are in line for another crack at their conqueror of 12 months ago, while others to feature amongst the confirmations include new Wathnan Racing recruits Flora Of Bermuda (Andrew Balding) and Night Raider (Karl Burke), who finished second and third respectively behind Inisherin at York last month. Mgheera is unbeaten in two stars for Ed Walker and heads to the race in peak condition, while Jane Chapple-Hyam's Cecil Frail Stakes second Prime Art has been supplemented at a cost of £46,000. The four-year-old underwent a racecourse gallop on Wednesday morning in the hands of Billy Loughnane and Chapple-Hyam said: 'I was very happy with her, Billy was happy as well. She's come on a ton since finishing second in the Listed race at Haydock and I'm very happy.'
Leader Live
2 hours ago
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Zarigana team content with Coronation choice
Successful on three of her first four starts for Francis-Henri Graffard in the colours of the late Aga Khan, the Siyouni filly passed the post second to the Charlie Fellowes-trained Shes Perfect in the French 1000 Guineas, the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, before being promoted to first by the stewards. Zarigana could have taken on Shes Perfect again in the French Oaks at Chantilly on Sunday, but she will instead stick to a mile on the penultimate day of the Royal meeting next week. Zarigana wins the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches in the stewards' room! 🏆 — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 11, 2025 Nemone Routh, racing manager for the Aga Khan Studs, said: 'The trainer was very keen to run Zarigana in Ascot. We obviously did consider the Prix de Diane because I think she relaxed a lot more last time and she seems to be gaining maturity in her races, so it did become more of an option to consider the Diane for her. 'But I think Francis has trained her more to race over a mile in this first part of the season, that doesn't mean that we wouldn't stretch her out later in the year. I think he felt it was always part of the programme that he had set aside for her that she would go to Royal Ascot after the Pouliches, especially as we had other fillies for the Diane. 'Zarigana is due to have her last piece of work tomorrow (Thursday) morning. She worked last week and is in good form, so provided all goes well tomorrow, I imagine it's all systems go for Royal Ascot.' In Zarigana's absence, the Aga Khan's team will be doubly represented in the Prix de Diane Longines, with French Guineas third Mandanaba carrying the colours of the late owner's daughter Princess Zahra and Listed scorer Cankoura also in the mix. Routh added: 'Principally I think His Highness and Princess Zahra identify themselves as breeders who like to race their horses, and having fillies that are capable of running well in this race is one of our principal objectives of the year. 'We love to have fillies that can perform at the top level, the Prix de Diane is a race His Highness loved to have runners in and obviously he holds the record for the winning-most owner, and all of those fillies were bred by him as well. 'It's a very special race for our organisation and we're very happy to have two runners this year in the two different silks'.'
Reuters
2 hours ago
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CONCACAF monitoring situation in Los Angeles ahead of Gold Cup opener
June 11 (Reuters) - CONCACAF, soccer's governing body for North and Central America and the Caribbean, said on Wednesday it was in "close and ongoing communication" with local officials as protests in Los Angeles continue, raising concerns ahead of the Gold Cup's opening match at SoFi Stadium. The tournament begins on Saturday with Mexico facing the Dominican Republic, but tensions remain high across parts of the city following a series of immigration raids that sparked widespread demonstrations. "The safety and well-being of all participants, fans, and stakeholders is the Confederation's highest priority," CONCACAF said in a statement. "We will continue to actively monitor developments as we work toward delivering a world-class tournament that highlights the best of our sport in a safe, inclusive, and enjoyable environment for all, starting with the opening match on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Los Angeles." Los Angeles is also preparing to host matches for the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, with Paris St Germain taking on Atletico Madrid at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Sunday.
