Royal Ascot is one of the major highlights of the racing calendar, as well as being a huge social occasion graced by members of the , celebrities and fashionistas and your will be providing unmissable coverage throughout the week with 12 page pullouts every day of the festival from Tuesday until Saturday, plus great reader offers every day.

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 ’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 , the United States, Japan as well as from across Europe. Asfoora, the Australian sprinter who captured the 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 Mirror from Tuesday June 17 until Saturday June 21 for incredible 12 page pullouts and great reader offers inside your paper every day of this iconic festival.

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