It’s top hat time for trainers heading to Royal Ascot, and punters wanting to know which ones delivered here in recent years can check out the Top Trainer Leaderboard.
Royal Ascot Leaderboard - Last Five Years
Trainer | W-R | £1 | Betfair SP | A/E |
A O’Brien | 22-157 | -53 | -32 | 0.89 |
J & T Gosden | 16-146 | -3 | +18 | 0.87 |
A Balding | 9-127 | -34 | -20 | 0.96 |
W Haggas | 7-68 | -19 | -12 | 0.83 |
C Appleby | 7-73 | -10 | +31 | 0.63 |
K Burke | 6-72 | +27 | +44 | 1.16 |
W Mullins | 6-23 | +6 | +10 | 1.22 |
R Varian | 5-85 | -54 | -51 | 0.70 |
R Hannon | 5-86 | -13 | +30 | 1.01 |
R Beckett | 5-82 | -30 | -16 | 0.70 |
H Eustace | 4-12 | +42 | +52 | 4.21 |
J O’Brien | 4-86 | -64 | -62 | 0.55 |
E Walker | 4-29 | +32 | +39 | 2.12 |
A Watson | 4-64 | -4 | +7 | 1.31 |
S Bin Suroor | 4-30 | +25 | +30 | 1.69 |
K Ryan | 4-47 | +11 | +14 | 1.52 |
C Hills | 3-48 | +55 | +110 | 1.04 |
R Fahey | 3-51 | +19 | +74 | 1.29 |
G Boughey | 3-59 | -27 | -17 | 0.74 |
There is simply no getting away from Aidan O’Brien at this prestige meeting, who remains six winners clear of Team Gosden in second.
However, making it pay via O’Brien remains tricky as they racked up a huge level stakes loss.
It could therefore pay to concentrate on the individual races to see where yards like O’Brien struck during the last decade, hence the following breakdown:
Big-Race Records - Last Ten Years
Day One | Top Trainers |
Queen Anne Stakes | H Eustace: 1 win 1 placed 2 runs |
Coventry Stakes | A O'Brien: 4 wins 2 placed 17 runs |
King Charles III Stakes | C Appleby: 2 wins 0 placed 5 runs |
St James's Palace Stakes | J Gosden: 3 wins 2 placed 10 runs |
Ascot Stakes | W Mullins: 2 wins 5 placed 17 runs |
Wolferton Stakes | J Gosden: 2 wins 4 placed 13 runs |
Copper Horse Handicap | W Mullins: 2 wins 1 placed 5 runs |
Day Two |
|
Queen Mary Stakes | W Ward: 2 wins 1 placed 11 runs |
Queens Vase | A O'Brien: 4 wins 5 placed 23 runs |
Duke of Cambridge Stakes | J Gosden: 4 wins 2 placed 10 runs |
Prince Of Wales's Stakes | A O'Brien: 3 wins 3 placed 14 runs |
Royal Hunt Cup | C Hills: 2 wins 2 placed 9 runs |
Kensington Palace Stakes | R Beckett: 1 win 2 placed 4 runs |
Windsor Castle Stakes | A O'Brien: 2 wins 2 placed 15 runs |
Day Three |
|
Norfolk Stakes | A O'Brien: 2 wins 2 placed 10 runs |
King George V Stakes | W Haggas: 2 wins 0 placed 8 runs |
Ribblesdale Stakes | A O'Brien: 5 wins 3 placed 19 runs |
Gold Cup | J Gosden: 5 wins 3 placed 12 runs |
Britannia Stakes | H Eustace: 1 win 1 placed 3 runs |
Hampton Court Stakes | A O'Brien: 3 wins 3 placed 14 runs |
Buckingham Palace Stakes | R Hannon: 2 wins 0 placed 8 runs |
Day Four |
|
Albany Stakes | A O'Brien: 3 wins 4 placed 16 runs |
Commonwealth Cup | R Fahey 1 win 2 placed 6 runs |
Coronation Stakes | A King: 1 win 3 placed 10 runs |
Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes | H Morrison: 2 wins 1 placed 7 runs |
Sandringham Stakes | C Fellowes: 2 wins 0 placed 3 runs |
King Edward VII Stakes | A O'Brien: 2 wins 6 placed 18 runs |
Palace Of Holyrood House Stakes | A Watson: 1 win 2 placed 7 runs |
Day Five |
|
Chesham Stakes | A O'Brien: 7 wins 9 placed 30 runs |
Hardwicke Stakes | A O'Brien: 2 wins 2 placed 11 runs |
Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes | C Appleby: 2 wins 1 placed 6 runs |
Jersey Stakes | C Appleby: 2 wins 2 placed 7 runs |
Wokingham Stakes | D Evans: 2 wins 0 placed 2 runs |
Golden Gates Stakes | A Balding: 2 wins 0 placed 5 runs |
Queen Alexandra Stakes | W Mullins: 3 wins 4 placed 11 runs |
The above highlights several races where Aidan O’Brien struck, and later on in this chapter we highlight one area to focus on.
But, if there is one hard-and-fast rule to help follow the Ballydoyle runners throughout the five days in the quest for some profit, then consider looking for these few areas along the way:
Aidan O’Brien at Royal Ascot
Group 2 and Group 3 races: 14-65 (+£20)
Handicaps: 0-33
Females: 8-41 (+£2)
Males: 14-116 (-£54)
Group races
When it comes to the Group races, of which there are 19 across the five days, then John & Thady Gosden are the team to follow, especially the runners with these profiles
Royal Ascot - Gosden's 3-6yo's rated 103+ in Group 1 & 2's
Year | W-R | Strike-rate | £1 | BFSP | A/E |
2025 | 3-9 | 33% | +8 | +8 | 1.44 |
2024 | 1-9 | 11% | -2 | -1 | 0.75 |
2023 | 3-8 | 37% | +13 | +23 | 1.56 |
2022 | 1-4 | 25% | -1 | -1 | 1.20 |
2021 | 2-3 | 67% | +21 | +22 | 2.20 |
The advice given here 12 months ago to follow Team Gosden’s runners with the above profile worked well with Ombudsman (7/1), Crimson Advocate (13/2) and Field Of Gold (8/11) all obliging.
Juvenile races
When it comes to the youngsters at Royal Ascot, then Aidan O’Brien trained the most since 2021 at 9-34 (-9), although punters had to once again work hard for some profit.
Another option, therefore, could be Karl Burke.
Karl Burke’s 2yos at Royal Ascot
Year | W-R | Strike-rate | £1 | BFSP | A/E |
2025 | 1-8 | 12% | 0 | +1 | 1.64 |
2024 | 2-6 | 33% | +30 | +44 | 6.45 |
2023 | 0-6 | 0% | -6 | -6 | 0 |
2022 | 2-5 | 40% | +39 | +39 | 3.13 |
Karl Burke struck at Royal Ascot with a juvenile once again 12 months although his overall 2025 tally of 1-8 for a level return suggests a deeper look is needed to pinpoint the right ones.
The main standout is that four of Burke’s five juvenile winners arrived here with an unbeaten record of 1-1 for a return of 4-12 (+£35) - including Venetian Sun 12 months ago (7/1) - along with 3 others placed.
Gavin Cromwell is another trainer to note in two-year-old races. He only sent three juveniles to Royal Ascot since 2021:
2024: 2nd of 24 (50/1)
2023: 1st of 16 (12/1)
2021: 1st of 21 (8/1)
Handicaps
Punters seeking action via the ultra-competitive handicaps may want to consider Andrew Balding’s runners, especially those with the following profile:
Chester last time: 3 wins from 10 runs & 3 placed (+£17)
Handicap last time: 4 wins from 30 runs & 3 placed (+£15)
William Haggas is another name for handicaps with a few interesting trends:
Over £10.5k last time out: 4 wins from 21 runs & 3 placed (+£21)
Less value last time out: 0 win from 12 runs
Handicap last time out: 3 wins from 15 runs & 3 placed (+£14)
Saeed bin Suroor is the final name to note in handicaps. Since 2021, his tally is 3-18 (+£17) with two others placed.
Next, let's take a look at certain trainers over specific distances at Royal Ascot.
Middle-distances
As for the middle-distances, then it may not shock to see the overall leading trainer at this meeting since 2021 is Aidan O'Brien.
However, the popularity of his runners suggest additional trends are required to find the profits:
Aidan O'Brien's Irish-breds in middle-distance Group races (1m2f-1m4f)
Year | W-R | Strike-rate | £1 | BFSP | A/E |
2025 | 2-4 | 50% | +7 | +8 | 2.38 |
2024 | 2-7 | 29% | +9 | +12 | 1.75 |
2023 | 1-5 | 20% | +5 | +6 | 1.25 |
2022 | 2-4 | 50% | +5 | +6 | 2.53 |
Elsewhere, Harry Eustace was nominated here 12 months ago, and he struck in the Commonwealth Cup at 25/1 with Time For Sandals.
Eustace remains very select with his royal entries, and his 12 runners here since 2021 have proved very consistent:
2025: 1st of 21 (25/1)
2025: 2nd of 30 (7/1)
2025: 5th of 20 (28/1)
2025: 1st of 10 (14/1)
2024: 3rd of 19 (11/1)
2024: 26th of 29 (80/1)
2024: 2nd of 20 (8/1)
2024: 2nd of 13 (10/1)
2023: 1st of 29 (6/1)
2023: 30th of 30 (22/1)
2023: 9th of 19 (22/1)
2022: 1st of 27 (5/1)
The final trainer to look out for is Donnacha O’Brien, whose runners during the last three years at Royal Ascot finished:
2025: 3rd of 15 (11/4)
2025: 3rd of 17 (40/1)
2024: 1st of 9 (7/2)
2024: 13th of 19 (50/1)
2023: 1st of 17 (5/1)
2023: 13th of 17 (25/1)
2023: 6th of 14 (14/1)