The sun is set to shine over the town of Ascot in the U.K this week — just in time for one of the biggest, and certainly the most glamorous, horse racing meets on the calendar. Read on and we'll show you how to watch 2024 Royal Ascot live streams from anywhere with a VPN, and potentially for free.
Royal Ascot 2024 start time, channel
The 2024 Royal Ascot takes place between Tuesday, June 18 and Saturday, June 22.
► Race times: 2:30 p.m. BST / 9:30 a.m. ET to 6:30 p.m. BST / 1:30 p.m. ET each day (full schedule below)
• WATCH FREE — ITVX (U.K) / Racing.com (AUS)
• U.S. — Peaco*ck
• Watch anywhere — Try NordVPN 100% risk free
As ever, the showpiece event of the week will come on Thursday, with the 217-year-old Gold Cup flat race. The lengthy 4km event pits 12 thoroughbreds aged four and above against each other, with 2022 winner Kyprios the early favorite to take the glory again. Although the Willie Mullins-trained Vauban is also being touted as a potential winner, alongside the trio of steeds honed by John & Thady Gosden.
But that's just one of 35 races that will take place over a five-day meet that includes no less than seven Group 1 races — the Queen Anne Stakes, King Charles III Stakes and St James’s Palace Stakes all take place on the first day, and Saturday features the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. You can see a full schedule of races at the bottom of this guide.
It's an event that is almost as noteworthy for its star spotting and eye-catching outfits — particularly on Thursday, which is known as "Ladies' Day". But there will be one familiar face missing this year, with the legendary Frankie Dettori not making it to Royal ascot 2024. There's definitely a sense that the 53-year old is slowing down, as he enjoys other ventures such as participating in last year's "I'm a Celebrity", but it seems a pity not to have the nine-time Gold Cup winner in the saddle this week.
Ready to race? Here's how to watch 2024 Royal Ascot live streams where you are.
FREE Royal Ascot live streams
Racing fans in the U.K., Australia and Ireland all get to enjoy free Royal Ascot coverage this year. ITVX will show every minute of the racing live the U.K and it'll be on Racing.com in Australia and Virgin Media Player in Ireland.
But what if you're based in one of these countries but aren't at home to catch that free stream? Maybe you're on holiday and don't want to spend money on pay TV in another country, when you'd usually be able to watch the race for free at home?
Don't worry — you can watch it using a VPN instead. We'll show you how to do that below.
Royal Ascot live streams around the world
Away from home at the moment and blocked from watching the racing on your usual streaming service?
You can still watch Royal Ascot live coverage online thanks to the wonders of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The software allows your devices to appear to be back in your home country regardless of where in the world you are. So ideal for racing fans away on vacation or on business. Our favorite is NordVPN. It's the best on the market:
There's a good reason you've heard of NordVPN. We specialize in testing and reviewing VPN services and NordVPN is the one we rate best. It's outstanding at unblocking streaming services, it's fast and it has top-level security features too. With over 6,000 servers, across 111 countries, and at a great price too, it's easy to recommend.
Get 70% off NordVPN with this deal
Using a VPN is incredibly simple:
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect toin the VPN app. For instance if you want to view a British service, you'd select a U.K. server from the list.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to ITVX or another website and watch your 2024 Royal Ascot live stream.
How to watch Royal Ascot 2024 live streams in the U.S.
The NBC network has television rights for the 2024 Royal Ascot in the U.S. The action starts at 9:30 a.m. ET / 6:30 a.m. PT each day.
In order to watch all the action from Tuesday through Saturday, you'll need access to the Peaco*ck streaming service. Peaco*ck subscriptions start from only $5.99/month, rising to $11.99/month to remove the ads. Or get 12 months for the price of 10 on either tier by signing up for an annual plan.
And on Saturday, June 22, NBC itself will host live coverage from Ascot. There are several ways you can access NBC, the most obvious one being to pull it down with one of the best TV antennas. Plus, it is common to most cable plans and a selection of the best streaming services, such as Sling TV, Fubo, YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV.
How to watch Royal Ascot live streams in the U.K.
ITV1 and ITV4 will share the televised live coverage over the week, and you can watch Royal Ascot 2024 live streams online on the channel's ITVX streaming service.
That means all of the coverage is completely free-to-air. Just bear in mind that you'll need a valid U.K. TV licence to watch the action on TV or via online streaming.
Each day's first and last race starts at 2:30 p.m. BST and 6:15 p.m. BST erespectively.
If you're currently traveling overseas, don't worry, as you can use NordVPN to watch from abroad. Instructions above.
How to watch Royal Ascot live streams in Australia
In Australia, the 2024 Royal Ascot live stream will be shown on the free Racing.com TV channel and Racing.com website. Foxtel customers can also watch on Sky Thoroughbred Central.
Just be warned that the each day's racing runs between 11:30 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. AEST.
Not at home right now? Use NordVPN or another VPN service to tap into your subscriptions from anywhere.
Watch Royal Ascot 2024 racing in Canada
Sportsnet will be showing Royal Ascot 2024 live streams, with the horse racing beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET / 6:30 a.m. PT each day.
If you don't already have access to Sportsnet's SN1 channel, you can get all its live sports coverage — including Royal Ascot — through the Sportsnet Plus streaming service. It costs from $19.99/month or $179.99 for an entire year.
Royal Ascot 2024 schedule
(All times BST/ET)
Tuesday, June 18
- 2:30 p.m. / 9:30 a.m. Queen Anne Stakes
- 3:05 p.m. / 10:05 a.m. Coventry Stakes
- 3:45 p.m. / 10:45 a.m. King Charles III Stakes
- 4:25 p.m. / 11:25 a.m. St James’s Palace Stakes
- 5:05 p.m. / 12:05 p.m. Ascot Stakes
- 5:40 p.m. / 12:40 p.m. Wolferton Stakes
- 6:15 p.m. / 1:15 p.m. Copper Horse Stakes
Wednesday, June 19
- 2:30 p.m. / 9:30 a.m. Queen Mary Stakes
- 3:05 p.m. / 10:05 a.m. The Queen’s Vase
- 3:45 p.m. / 10:45 a.m. Duke Of Cambridge Stakes
- 4:25 p.m. / 11:25 a.m. Prince Of Wales’s Stakes
- 5:05 p.m. / 12:05 p.m. Royal Hunt Cup
- 5:40 p.m. / 12:40 p.m. The Kensington Palace Stakes
- 6:15 p.m. / 1:15 p.m. Windsor Castle Stakes
Thursday, June 20
- 2:30 p.m. / 9:30 a.m. Norfolk Stakes
- 3:05 p.m. / 10:05 a.m. King George V Stakes
- 3:45 p.m. / 10:45 a.m. Ribblesdale Stakes
- 4:25 p.m. / 11:25 a.m. Gold Cup
- 5:05 p.m. / 12:05 p.m. Britannia Stakes
- 5:40 p.m. / 12:40 p.m. Hampton Court Stakes
- 6:15 p.m. / 1:15 p.m. Buckingham Palace Stakes
Friday, June 21
- 2:30 p.m. / 9:30 a.m. Albany Stakes
- 3:05 p.m. / 10:05 a.m. Commonwealth Cup
- 3:45 p.m. / 10:45 a.m. Coronation Stakes
- 4:25 p.m. / 11:25 a.m. Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
- 5:05 p.m. / 12:05 p.m. Sandringham Stakes
- 5:40 p.m. / 12:40 p.m. King Edward VII Stakes
- 6:15 p.m. / 1:15 p.m. Palace of Holyrood House Stakes
Saturday, June 22
- 2:30 p.m. / 9:30 a.m. Chesham Stakes
- 3:05 p.m. / 10:05 a.m. Hardwicke Stakes
- 3:45 p.m. / 10:45 a.m. Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes
- 4:25 p.m. / 11:25 a.m. Jersey Stakes
- 5:05 p.m. / 12:05 p.m. Wokingham Stakes
- 5:40 p.m. / 12:40 p.m. Golden Gates Stakes
- 6:15 p.m. / 1:15 p.m. Queen Alexandra Stakes
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Adam Marshall
Contributor
Adam was the Content Director of Subscriptions and Services at Future, meaning that he oversaw many of the articles the publisher produces about antivirus software, VPN, TV streaming, broadband and mobile phone contracts - from buying guides and deals news, to industry interest pieces and reviews. Adam can still be seen dusting his keyboard off to write articles for the likes of TechRadar, T3 and Tom's Guide, having started his career at consumer champions Which?.
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