Day five of Royal Ascot brings title pressure into the final races, with Ryan Moore at 98 Royal winners after Friday’s double and the trainer race set as an O’Brien family duel. The spotlight moves between the 2.30 Norfolk Stakes, the 3.40 Queen Elizabeth II J
When the royal procession finally starts inching down the track, the meeting is already at maximum pressure.
On day five of Royal Ascot in 2026, the final card isn’t just about races and results. It’s about the trainers’ and jockeys’ titles—and about whether Ryan Moore needs to wait another year to join Aidan O’Brien, the man who already has a century of winners at the Royal meeting.
Moore is on 98 Royal winners in all after a double on Friday, leaving him just one shy of the milestone. He also holds the advantage in the jockeys’ race: with six wins over the first four days. Billy Loughnane would need at least a four-timer from his six rides on Saturday’s final-day card to overhaul him.
The trainer title is a different kind of tension: a family affair. Aidan O’Brien is currently on six winners, and his oldest son Joseph has saddled five thus far. Both have runners in the same five races on Saturday—though they are both missing out on the 3.40 and the 5.00 races. O’Brien senior is due to saddle eight in all, while Joseph fields seven.
Saturday, 20th June, arrives with the track set up to matter. The going for day five is Good to Firm, after 5mm of watering overnight. There has been a lot of talk across the week about draw bias down the straight, with preference for the stands side and for those drawn high.
Stick readings at 8.30am are as follows: stands’ side 9.0, centre 8.9, far side 8.9, and round 7.7. And for the final seven races. the “difference” is small enough to debate: there is a difference of just 0.1 in the GoingStick readings on the near and far sides this morning—less than yesterday’s gap—though it still leaves the question of whether low-numbered stalls will continue to veer left after the start.
Non-runners are also listed for the day: 5.00pm Wokingham Stakes Handicap13 Caburn, and 5.35pm Golden Gates Stakes (Handicap)5 Accredit.
The racing itself begins at 2.30 with the Norfolk Stakes. where Aidan O’Brien looks to be aiming for a sizeable slice of the trainers’ trophy. Carry The Flag heads the field for this juvenile five-furlong sprint. with Aidan O’Brien hoping for one-and-a-half hands on the prize. The record-breaking trainer hasn’t dominated this race in the past in the same manner of some other scheduled events. but Carry The Flag’s form behind his stable companion Great Barrier Reef is described as rock-solid after the latter colt’s victory in the Coventry Stakes on Tuesday.
Joseph O’Brien has a single runner in the race too, Star Prospect. Star Prospect had Carry The Flag back in second at the Curragh in April, when both colts were making their racecourse debuts.
In the betting, home-trained contenders are prominent: Orthodox, Flight Signal and Where Love Lives, all unbeaten. Kevin Phillipart de Foy’s Force Noir also stands out after a recent transfer from Amo Racing’s main Irish stable. and Wesley Ward. the American raider. fields three. Ward is trying to follow up Friday evening’s somewhat controversial success with Bacio.
Timeform top-rated: Carry The Flag.
SELECTION: FORCE NOIR.
Market prices for this point in the day also show where money is moving. Betting via Oddschecker is cited with:
2:30 Fanshell Beach 16/1 from 25/1 (35% swing)
3:05 Best Secret 11/2 from 8/1 (28% swing)
4:20 Colori Fever 17/2 from 12/1 (27% swing)
6:10 Maxi King 16/1 from 22/1 (26% swing)
5:35 Lost Boys 3/1 from 4/1 (20% swing)
Those moves sit behind the day’s key previews.
At 3.40. the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes is the featured Group One. and it is framed around two overseas names: Joliestar from Chris Waller’s yard in Australia and Satono Reve from Japan. Joliestar has won two Group Ones already this season. most recently the TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick in early April. and is described as a sure-fire favourite with a single-figure draw.
Satono Reve is the second favourite and is in stall 18. He is also just 1lb behind Joliestar on Timeform’s ratings. The Japanese star was a half-length second in this race behind Lazzat 12 months ago. and the preview notes he arguably raced away from the main action then. ending just short. He was second behind Ka Ying Rising at Sha Ting in April. and that makes him a focus for Japanese hopes for a first ever Royal Ascot success.
Haruki Sugiyama’s Lugal is also in the field after a neck second in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan on Dubai World Cup night. Other runners “in with a shout” include Lake Forest. previously a Gimcrack winner at York. carrying the blue-and-white colours of Tony Bloom—successful board Venetian Sun in the Commonwealth Cup here on Friday. Lake Forest’s chance could be compromised by a draw in stall one.
Timeform top-rated: Joliestar.
SELECTION: SATONO REVE.
The afternoon’s other big test arrives at 5.00, with the Wokingham Stakes Handicap carrying 27 runners due to go to post. The money, though, is concentrated in the high-numbered stalls. Royal Zabeel, around 25-1, is currently the shortest-priced runner from a single-figure berth.
Among the candidates are Binhareer. a four-year-old who ran second at York on his seasonal debut despite racing away from the main action. Andrew Balding’s Double Rush is another young improver with two wins already this season; it is also noted he was an initial entry for the Group One Jubilee Stakes earlier in the week. indicating the trainer’s regard.
Spy Chief. from stall 30. is another listed to watch after a seasonal-debut timefigure. second at Salisbury in May in a well-run race. William Buick rides. James Owen’s Far Above Dream from stall 17 is the other name the preview leans toward. with the preview saying he seems to improve from race to race and was raised just 4lb for a new career-best performance at Newbury last month.
Timeform top-rated: Realign.
SELECTION: FAR ABOVE DREAM.
The last handicap of the meeting at 5.35 is the Golden Gates Stakes Handicap. and it’s tied directly to another trainers’ prize story. O’Brien père et fils run Amadeus Mozart and Perisher respectively. Perisher has recent winning form from a fairly low-key race at Naas. while Amadeus Mozart was a seven-length second to stable-companion Endorsement. the runner-up in the Hampton Court Stakes earlier in the week. in a Listed event last time out.
Still, the market is headed by Lost Boys and Sahara King, first and second in the London Gold Cup at Newbury last month, a race described as one of the hottest three-year-old handicaps in the early months of the campaign. Both colts have since been snapped up by Wathnan Racing.
The preview states that Lost Boys is favourite to confirm Newbury form, with James Doyle representing Wathnan’s No.1 rider approach for Sahara King. It also notes a 1lb pull and cheekpieces fitted for the first time, and backs a turnaround.
Timeform top-rated: Sahara King.
SELECTION: SAHARA KING.
Earlier. at 4.20. the Jersey Stakes preview points to Saber Strike. arriving unbeaten after comfortable wins in both of his starts to date. Into The Sky finished fourth. Thesecretadversary fifth and Avicenna 14th and last in the 2. 000 Guineas at Newmarket in early May. while The Prettiest Star was fourth home in the 1. 000 Guineas the next day. Colori Forever is stepping up from handicaps.
Timeform top-rated: Saber Strike.
SELECTION: THE PRETTIEST STAR.
At 6.10, the preview material focuses on the end of the meeting’s betting and market mood, while the earlier 6.10 betting movements are already reflected in the Oddschecker market movers list.
And beneath the previews sits another day-defining moment: the aftermath of Thursday evening’s controversial stewards’ inquiry over Bacio.
Bacio was the easy 3-1 winner of the five-furlong Palace of Holyrood House Handicap, with Juan Hernandez holding the reins. The race result was confirmed as the winner despite an objection from the clerk of the scales that Hernandez had weighed in light.
The objection is described as rare, but the story doesn’t treat it as harmless. It says punters often see it as a cast-iron guarantee that the winner will be thrown out.
Instead, Hernandez was allowed to weigh in again after it transpired that a piece of his tack had been dropped while unsaddling. He tipped the scales at the correct weight the second time around.
Bacio’s backers were “mightily relieved” when the announcement came through. Anyone with a win ticket for the 40-1 runner-up, Sandal’s Song, might have felt perplexed and aggrieved.
The preview brings up a comparison: a race “won” by Hierarchy at Lingfield in January 2025. In that instance, the 15-2 chance was found to have run without a weight cloth and was immediately disqualified.
The difference in Bacio’s case, the piece explains, is that stewards were ultimately satisfied he had run with the correct weight in the race itself. The stray piece of tack had gone missing between the winner’s enclosure and the scales.
It ends with a warning against assumption: an objection by the clerk of the scales is an objection, not a verdict, and it is up to the stewards to weigh evidence and decide whether extenuating circumstances should matter.
As for Royal Ascot’s ceremonial beat, the royal procession list is confirmed for day five:
1st Carriage: The King; The Queen; Mr Brough Scott; Mrs Brough Scott. 2nd Carriage: Mr Colin Chisholm; The Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen; The Earl De La Warr; The Countess De La Warr. 3rd Carriage: Mr Neil Wilson; Mrs Neil Wilson; Lord Ashton of Hyde; Lady Ashton of Hyde. 4th Carriage: Mr Orlando Fraser; Mrs Orlando Fraser; Mrs Barby Allbritton; Lady Weatherby.
The ITV Racing presenter in the procession is Brough Scott.
As the day moves closer to the straight and the first of the royal procession sightings, one thing is already clear: Saturday’s Royal Ascot isn’t waiting for the big moment to start tightening the screws.
The track is set. the draw talk is live. the title maths is in motion. and the horses are already lining up for the Norfolk Stakes—where Carry The Flag’s stable form is expected to carry the weight. and where the day’s biggest answering question may not come from the start but from what happens after the officials. the scales. and the racing line up together.
Royal Ascot 2026 Norfolk Stakes 2.30 Carry The Flag Force Noir Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes 3.40 Joliestar Satono Reve Wokingham Stakes 5.00 Far Above Dream Golden Gates Stakes 5.35 Bacio Juan Hernandez stewards inquiry GoingStick readings Ryan Moore 98 winners Aidan O’Brien Joseph O’Brien