Royal Ascot: Most successful trainers

The 2024 renewal of one of horse racing’s leading festivals of racing is set to finally get underway in June, and here we are going to take a look at the most successful trainers in the history of Royal Ascot.

Royal Ascot is set to finally return to the legendary Ascot Racecourse for the 2024 renewal of this historic and highly illustrious event in June of this year. Excitement and anticipation are growing amongst horse racing fans across the country and the globe for what will be the latest iteration of a racing festival that has 217 years of incredible history.

The prestige of this event has only grown since it originally took place in 1807, when the Gold Cup first took place. Not only is the Gold Cup arguably the most famous and illustrious race on the event’s schedule, it is also amongst the oldest races still being run at Royal Ascot.

In the Gold Cup itself, there have been a number of great horses, jockeys and trainers that have competed in it over the years. Yeats, with 4 in total – these triumphs came in 2006, 2007, 2008 and finally in 2009.

The owner with the most wins in the Ascot Gold Cup is Sue Magnier, who owned Yeats, Fame and Glory (2011), Leading Light (2014), Order of St George (2016) and Kyprios (2022). As for jockeys, Lester Piggott has the most wins of any other of his profession in this race with a total of 11 wins, which came in: Zarathustra (1957), Gladness (1958), Pandofell (1961), Twilight Alley (1963), Fighting Charlie 1965, Sagaro (1975, 1976 and 1977), Le Moss (1979) and Ardross (1981 and 1982).

With no less than 116 winners throughout his many illustrious and highly successful jockeys in the entire history of Royal Ascot, Lester Piggott is also the jockey with the most ever wins at this event. No-one as of yet has come close to his simply incredible record as of the time of writing.

Here, we are going to go through three of the most successful trainers to ever compete in Royal Ascot at the iconic Ascot Racecourse, starting with Sir Henry Cecil.

3: Sir Henry Cecil (75 Wins)

Up first is the legendary horse trainer who went by the name of Sir Henry Cecil, who accumulated no less than a total of 75 wins in all across his career at Royal Ascot. Cecil, unfortunately, passed away at the age of 70 back in 2013, and he leaves behind an almost peerless legacy in the world of horse racing, including at Royal Ascot.

Arguably, the most famous horse that Cecil ever trained throughout his illustrious career was, of course, Frankel, who became one of the few horses to go through an entire racing career completely unbeaten. Frankel made five appearances at Royal Ascot, and this includes his stunning victory in the 2012 Queen Anne Stakes, where he fended off competition from the likes of Aidan O’Brien’s Excelebration and Andrew Balding’s Side Glance, who had to, in the end, settle for second and third place finishes respectively.

2: Sir Michael Stoute (82 Wins)

Next up is the trainer whose record stood until it was finally broken in the 2023 edition of the legendary Royal Ascot. Throughout his illustrious career, Sir Michael Stoute secured a total of 82 wins. He is only beaten by one trainer, who is the person who broke his record last year, and we will talk about him shortly.

Back to Sir Michael Stoute, he broke Sir Henry Cecil’s record for wins at Royal Ascot in 2018 when he got his 76th win with Cracksman in that year’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes. He now has a total of 82, with his final Royal Ascot winner being in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes in 2021 with Dream of Dreams.

1: Aidan O’Brien (85 Wins)

Finally, we move on to the trainer who currently holds the record for the most ever wins in the illustrious and long history of Royal Ascot at the legendary Ascot Racecourse – Aidan O’Brien. O’Brien, to date, boasts a grand total of no less than 85 wins in his success-laden career at Royal Ascot over the years.

He broke the record previously set in 2018 by Sir Michael Stoute in 2023 when he, O’Brien, won the St. James’s Palace Stakes that year with Ryan Moore riding Paddington to victory. Aidan O’Brien’s Paddington finished ahead of competition from pre-race favourite Chaldean (Frankie Dettori) and also from David Egan’s Charyn who had to settle for a second and third place finish respectively.

There is a chance that Aidan O’Brien could add to his total of 85 wins at Royal Ascot in the 2024 renewal of this highly prestigious and historic race meeting at the equally famous and iconic Ascot Racecourse in June this year.

With the 2024 renewal of the iconic and illustrious Royal Ascot underway in a matter of weeks at Ascot Racecourse, excitement and anticipation are certainly on the rise amongst horse racing fans.

There is no better way to experience world-class horse racing at the 2024 Royal Ascot than with an Eventmasters VIP Hospitality Package. Book now to avoid disappointment