Royal Ascot preview: Key jockeys and trainers to follow this year

Anticipation and excitement is beginning to build as Royal Ascot is just around the corner.

It’s the highlight of the Flat racing calendar and the five-day meeting is packed with excellent and fiercely competitive action. There are several key figures that always make a splash and will undoubtedly be worth following across the meeting.

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Jockeys

Ryan Moore is second on the all-time list of most successful Royal Ascot jockeys, with only Lester Piggott ahead of him. You would imagine that Moore will eventually eclipse Piggott’s total of 116 winners and he’ll have plenty of chances to add to his tally next week. Being first choice jockey for Aidan O’Brien means that big winners are rarely far away.

William Buick is one of the elite riders in the weighing room and his position as retained rider for Goldolphin should provide him with a significant number of opportunities over the five days and he also tends to pick up some excellent spares, including for Willie Mullins.

Juddmonte have a notably strong team to go to war with and they have just signed up Colin Keane to be their retained rider. He has been Ireland’s best jockey for a number of years and his quality combined with some excellent firepower is likely to be a winning combination.

Another top rider that had success last year is Oisin Murphy and he picks up rides for many of the big names, including the Gosdens and regular boss Andrew Balding. Murphy is also once again getting the plumb ride on last year’s King Charles III Stakes scorer, Aussie raider Asfoora who is likely to be in the mix again

Wathnan racing will surely be sending a numerically large team to Royal Ascot and it’s likely that they’ll be in the winners’ enclosure at some point. With that in mind, their retained rider James Doyle is worth keeping an eye on, while a younger rider to watch is the very talented Billy Loughnane.

Trainers

Look no further than Aidan O’Brien, who will be seeking to extend his lead in the all-time standings as the meeting's leading trainer. He’s currently on 91 wins and with the help of Ryan Moore, he should have plenty of opportunities to add to his tally. You won’t get a good price on him being leading trainer in 2025 and there’s a very good reason for that.

John & Thady Gosden had a relatively quiet 2024 at Royal Ascot by their own standards but they will be back with a vengeance in 2025. Having a very short-priced favourite for the St James’s Palace Stakes bodes well and you can’t rule them out in handicaps either.

William Buick’s partner in crime is Charlie Appleby and as Godolphin’s main trainer in Britain, he has some very expensive and talented horses in his yard. The Appleby team looks dangerous in the juvenile division this year and he also has the 2000 Guineas winner.

Andrew Balding and George Boughey often target the handicaps and lesser Group or Listed contests and both have the backing of some big-name owners. The latter is more up and coming than the former but it would be wise to follow both across the week.