Flat racing fans who want to watch the live action from Royal Ascot (20-24 June) will need to tune into ITV or a free livestream. With over seven hours’ live footage on the main ITV channel, ITV Racing will be covering five races on each day of the five-day meeting, plus there are plenty of livestream options to choose from too.
If you’re outside of the UK, but want your usual coverage, it’s best to check out the 30-day ExpressVPN trial and follow the instructions below.
How to watch Royal Ascot from the UK via free livestream
ITV is the place for UK audiences to watch Royal Ascot, with most of the races from the meeting being streamed for free on ITVX. There is also an ITVX app that works on almost all smart devices. Just search for the app on any device, phone or console you have. You will also be able to watch on both the ITV and ITV4 channels on TV.
Ed Chamberlin will host the live TV coverage which runs from around 1.30pm to 6pm each day from Tuesday 20 June to Saturday 24 June.
Ed will be joined daily by former jockey and expert Jason Weaver. Johnny Murtagh will be with the team on Tuesday and Wednesday, Steve Cauthen on Thursday and Sir Anthony McCoy on Friday. Ruby Walsh will also offer his expert analysis across the week.
Rishi Persad, Oli Bell, and Luke Harvey will be out and about on course daily with Richard Hoiles and Mark Johnson in the commentary box.
Matt Chapman and Brian Gleeson will guide viewers through the betting with Sally Ann Grassick and Adele Mulrennan looking at the horses in the paddock.
Chris Hughes will be interacting with viewers at home from around the racecourse, as will the lifestyle team of Good Morning Britain’s Charlotte Hawkins and Lorraine’s Mark Heyes. Brough Scott will join the team to give his unique insight into the week as will Katie Nicholl on Tuesday.
The Opening Show will be presented by Oli Bell on all five days and he will be joined by various members of the ITV Racing team. US Expert Scott Hazelton will also join the team to discuss the strong contingent from across the pond. It will be shown daily on ITV4 at 9am each day.
You can also watch the action live via the pay-for channel, RacingTV.
How to watch Royal Ascot on TV
Tuesday 20 June — Queen Anne Stakes, King’s Stand Stakes and St. Jame’s Palace Stakes day
ITV4 – The Opening Show – 9-10am
ITV – live racing – 1.30-6pm
ITV4 – live racing – 5.50-6.35pm
Wednesday 21 June — Prince Of Wales’s Stakes day
ITV4 – The Opening Show – 9-10am
ITV – live racing – 1.30-6pm
ITV4 – live racing – 5.50-6.35pm
Thursday 22 June — Gold Cup day
ITV4 – The Opening Show – 9-10am
ITV – live racing – 1.30-6pm
ITV4 – live racing – 5.50-6.35pm
Friday 23 June — Commonwealth Cup and Coronation Stakes day
ITV4 – The Opening Show – 9-10am
ITV – live racing – 1.30-6pm
ITV4 – live racing – 5.50-6.35pm
Saturday 24 June — Diamond Jubilee Stakes day
ITV4 – The Opening Show – 9-10am
ITV – live racing – 1.25-6pm
ITV4 – live racing – 5.50-6.35pm
How to watch Royal Ascot live from outside your country
If you’re travelling and still want to watch Royal Ascot, this is how you can for free.
Even if you have subscribed to the relevant 2023 Royal Ascot rights holders, you won’t be able to use them when outside your own country. The service will know your location based on your IP address, and will automatically block your access.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) helps you get around this obstacle. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, such that the servers and services you’re accessing aren’t aware of what you’re doing. All the information passing back and forth is entirely encrypted.
There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. As a rule, we’d suggest a paid-for service such as free 30-day ExpressVPN trial which offers a 100% risk-free money back guarantee. If you’re not happy with the service any time within the first 30-days, then you can cancel with no penalties at all.
How to use a VPN
Using a VPN is incredibly simple.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. ExpressVPN is the one we recommend.
2. Open up the VPN app and choose the location of the service you wish to access. For Royal Ascot, you may wish to choose London for ITVX.
3. Then head over to ITVX on your browser or device and enjoy the free Royal Ascot livestream.
We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:
- Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service)
- Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad
We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Don’t miss the full report from Royal Ascot 2023 in the 29 June issue of Horse & Hound magazine, plus we will be bringing you all of the top stories from the meeting as and when they happen on horseandhound.co.uk
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