King George Weekend Hospitality

The history of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes

The race was first run at Ascot in 1951 and was won by Supreme Court. The next two runnings went to Tulyar and Pinza, three-year-olds who had each won the Derby earlier the same year. Aureole, bred by King George VI and racing in Queen Elizabeth II’s colours after his death, became the first older horse to win it. Ascot describes the race today as Britain's most prestigious open-age Flat race, and the 2027 running will be its 77th.

The most famous running is the 1975 renewal, remembered as the Race of the Century. Grundy, that year's Derby winner, held off Bustino after a prolonged duel up the home straight, in a time that took two and a half seconds off the course record and stood until 2010. Ascot commemorates it on the racecourse itself, in the Grundy and Bustino Lawn in front of the Owners and Trainers Restaurant.

The horses that made the King George

Ascot's own roll of honour names Ribot, Nijinsky, Brigadier Gerard, Shergar, Dancing Brave, Nashwan, Galileo and Enable. Ribot came from Italy unbeaten in 1956 and won by five lengths, his fourteenth win without defeat, and finished his career sixteen from sixteen. Nijinsky made it ten from ten in 1970, with Lester Piggott easing him down inside the final furlong. Mill Reef won by six lengths in 1971 and Brigadier Gerard followed in 1972, in his fifth race in nine weeks.

Shergar won by four lengths in 1981, the last victory of his career, and disappeared from stud two years later. Dancing Brave answered his Derby defeat with an authoritative win in 1986, in the Juddmonte colours. Nashwan won for Shadwell in 1989, and Lammtarra took the 1995 running on only the third start of his life, having won the Derby on his second. Montjeu in 2000 and Galileo in 2001 opened the Coolmore era.

Multiple winners and standing records

Enable is the only horse to have won the King George three times, in 2017, 2019 and 2020, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori. Before her, Dahlia set a track record in 1973 and won again in 1974 to become the race’s first dual winner, and Swain won in 1997 and 1998, the first six-year-old ever to take it. The fastest winning time is Novellist’s 2m 24.60s from 2013, which still stands. Lester Piggott and Frankie Dettori share the jockeys’ record with seven wins each, and Sir Michael Stoute has trained six winners.

Recent winners of the King George

Kalpana won the 2026 running for Andrew Balding and Colin Keane, beating Calandagan by a length and a half in the colours of Juddmonte, who also owned Enable and Dancing Brave. Calandagan had taken the race himself in 2025 for Francis-Henri Graffard and Mickael Barzalona, a year after the same trainer won it with Goliath and Christophe Soumillon.

Hukum won in 2023 for Owen Burrows and Jim Crowley, and Pyledriver in 2022 for William Muir, Chris Grassick and P J McDonald. Adayar took the 2021 running as a three-year-old for Charlie Appleby and William Buick, and the year before that Enable completed her hat-trick. Poet’s Word won in 2018 and Highland Reel in 2016.

How King George Weekend differs from Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot is a separate five-day meeting in June. King George Weekend is two days in late July, and Ascot stages it as one of the 21 Ascot Racedays it runs outside the Royal Meeting. The enclosures are different too. On an Ascot Raceday the King Edward VII Enclosure is the premier public enclosure and the Queen Anne Enclosure is Ascot's entry-level admission, which is the reverse of the Queen Anne Enclosure's standing at Royal Ascot.

There is no Royal Procession at King George Weekend, and the after-racing singalong of British classics with a military band is a Royal Ascot tradition rather than a King George one. Gates open at 11:00 rather than 10:30, car parking is free rather than bought in advance, and the crowd is a fraction of the size, with Royal Ascot drawing over 286,000 guests across its five days in 2025. The June meeting is covered in full on our Royal Ascot hospitality page.

What is the dress code for King George Weekend?

King George Weekend falls in Ascot's Flat season, so Ascot's Flat season dress code applies rather than the Royal Ascot one. Ascot groups hospitality and private boxes with the King Edward VII Enclosure, so guests on a hospitality package are held to that tier. Gentlemen must wear a jacket, a collared shirt and a tie or cravat. Trainers are not allowed, and fancy dress, novelty attire and sportswear are not permitted.

What Ascot does not require at this meeting is worth knowing, because most people arrive expecting Royal Ascot's rules. Morning dress and top hats are a Royal Enclosure requirement at Royal Ascot and are not needed here. Millinery is encouraged but never compulsory. Ascot publishes no ban on denim, leggings or shorts for the Flat season, and no formal dress code at all applies in the Queen Anne and Winning Post Enclosures. The stricter June rules are set out in our Royal Ascot dress code and etiquette guide.

Planning a day at King George Weekend

Gates at Ascot open at 11:00 in the Flat season, which covers both days of King George Weekend, and racing runs through the afternoon. Car parking is free on every Ascot raceday outside the Royal Meeting, and Ascot asks drivers to use Car Park 1 and Car Park 6. The racecourse sits in Berkshire beside Windsor Great Park, around a 50 minute drive or train journey from London.

Ascot station is a seven minute walk from the racecourse, and South Western Railway runs there from London Waterloo in an average of 52 minutes, as well as from Reading and Aldershot. Oyster and contactless cards are not valid to or from Ascot station, so buy a ticket before you travel. Our guide to the best travel routes to Ascot Racecourse covers the road and rail options in detail.