Ascot is home to some of the finest flat racing in the world, from the spectacle of Royal Ascot in June to the season-closing QIPCO British Champions Day in October. With horse race odds shaping up ahead of the 2026 season’s fixtures at the Berkshire track, the statistics from the past five years tell a clear story about which trainers and jockeys arrive at Ascot with the strongest claims to dominate. Here is a look at the numbers behind the names.
Trainers
Aidan O’Brien
Aidan O’Brien’s five-year record at Ascot of 23 wins from 169 runners at a 14% strike rate, generating £6,491,753 in prize money, reflects a trainer whose dominance at the track stretches far beyond any single meeting.
His overall tally of 96 Royal Ascot winners alone is the highest any trainer has ever achieved at the meeting, and he has been crowned leading trainer there 13 times. He holds records in several of the track’s most prestigious races, including nine wins in the Gold Cup and 11 in the Coventry Stakes.
The depth and quality of the Ballydoyle operation, which consistently sends horses across every division, makes O’Brien the trainer every other stable measures itself against whenever the action moves to Berkshire.
Charlie Appleby
Charlie Appleby’s five-year record of 22 wins from 125 runners at an 18% strike rate, producing £3,186,859 in prize money, gives him the highest strike rate of the three trainers featured here and underlines the precision with which Godolphin targets Ascot across the season.
Appleby has built a reputation for sending horses to the track in peak condition, performing consistently to or above market expectations across a wide range of distances and race types. His operation has become one of the most reliable sources of Ascot winners in recent seasons, competing across the sprint, mile, and middle-distance divisions with equal confidence throughout the year.
William Haggas
William Haggas’s five-year record of 28 wins from 198 runners at a 14% strike rate and £2,877,922 in prize money makes him one of the most consistent domestic trainers at the track across the period. His superstar miler Baaeed, who won the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2022 before retiring unbeaten in 11 races, was one of the great individual performances the track has seen in recent years.
He also saddled Desert Hero to win the King George V Stakes at the 2023 royal meeting, a victory that gave King Charles his first Royal Ascot winner as monarch. Haggas tends to target Ascot selectively but compensates with a level of preparation and a strike rate that reflects genuine quality over quantity.
Jockeys
Ryan Moore
Ryan Moore’s five-year record at Ascot of 33 wins from 199 rides at a 17% strike rate makes him the most prolific jockey across the period, a figure that sits alongside one of the most remarkable individual records any rider has ever compiled at a single track.
His overall Royal Ascot tally alone stands at more than 90 winners, second only to Lester Piggott’s all-time record of 116. Royal Ascot betting markets consistently place Moore at the head of the leading jockey market each June, and with good reason: he has won the title 11 times in total and is bidding for a 12th in 2026.
His three Gold Cup wins and his sustained excellence across every division of the flat game make him the benchmark against which every other Ascot jockey is measured.
Oisin Murphy
Oisin Murphy’s five-year record of 27 wins from 186 rides at a 15% strike rate places him among the most reliable Ascot performers across the period. A three-time champion jockey, Murphy claimed the leading jockey title at Royal Ascot in 2021 with five winners, his finest individual performance at the meeting, and has remained a consistent presence in the Ascot prize list across the broader season.
His combination of tactical intelligence and physical strength makes him particularly effective at the track, and his association with several of the meeting’s stronger domestic stables gives him a competitive book of rides throughout the year.
William Buick
William Buick’s five-year record of 28 wins from 231 rides at a 12% strike rate reflects a jockey who rides a high volume of horses at Ascot across the entire season as Godolphin’s retained rider, making his strike rate naturally lower than those with more selective books.
His association with Charlie Appleby gives him access to some of the best horses in training, and he has demonstrated his ability to deliver in the biggest races at the track, most notably when winning the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot aboard Trawlerman in 2025 for the Gosdens.
His strength and tactical awareness make him one of the most complete jockeys operating at the top level of the flat game, and his overall Ascot tally across the five-year period reflects the breadth and consistency of a jockey at the peak of his powers.