Queen Anne Stakes 2026 Prediction: Outright Winner & Betting Tips

🎯 Queen Anne Stakes Prediction

The Queen Anne Stakes is a group 1, mile-long race for horses aged 4 years and over. The first race of the festival, it is often the most anticipated race of the five-day bonanza, with Frankie Dettori the most successful jockey in the race’s history with seven wins. Saeed Bin-Suroor is the most successful trainer to have won the race, claiming the spoils on seven occasions.

With regard to this year’s race, our Queen Anne Stakes prediction is that Opera Ballo can emerge as the 2026 winner. The Charlie Appleby four-year-old produced a brilliant front-running performance to win the Group 2 Sandown Mile, catapulting him into a potential Queen Anne Stakes winner, and he is certainly the horse at the forefront of our minds as we look ahead to the first race of the festival.

His electric gate speed allowed him to take the early initiative in that Sandown Mile, and he had his rivals on the stretch a couple of furlongs out, taking the race by three lengths from pre-race favourite Field of Gold. The way he kicked on in the latter stages was impressive, which should see Ascot’s stiff finish being an advantage for our pick. If he starts as impressively again, he could be hard to reel in. Rated 125, he is the top-rated horse in the race and is rightfully amongst the Queen Anne Stakes favourites.

🧨 Queen Anne Stakes Betting Preview

The Queen Anne Stakes is a fitting curtain-raiser for one of the biggest festivals on the horse racing calendar. Charlie Appleby leads the 2026 Queen Annes Stakes favourites with his two mounts at the head of the betting for the Group 1 contest. The 2025 race was won by Docklands, at a price of 15.00, the fourth double-digit priced winner of the Royal Ascot opener in the last ten years.

While Opera Ballo is our pick as the winner, we will now take a look at some of the other Queen Annes Stakes runners that you should keep an eye out for as the race draws nearer.

Remember, though, before having a bet on any of this year’s Royal Ascot races, why not check out our comprehensive bookmaker reviews page? Here, lots of extra information about many of the top sportsbooks around can be found.

1️⃣ Notable Speech/Charlie Appleby

Like Opera Ballo, Notable Speech is trained by Charlie Appleby, and the five-year-old is the current favourite for the contest with many of the best betting sites in Ireland. He heads to Ascot on the back of an impressive win in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury, one of the chief guide races to the Ascot opener. As expected, the favourite has featured amongst the chief Queen Anne Stakes tips in the lead-up to the race, and like his stablemate, his strong kick should be suited by the finish at Ascot.

price of 2.50 with Livescorebet

price of 2.50 with Paripesa

price of 2.50 with Directionbet

2️⃣ More Thunder/William Haggas

The William Haggas-trained five-year-old heads to Ascot after finishing 2nd to Notable Speech in Newbury. In that race he made good progress through the field before finishing well to claim the runners-up spot behind the clear winner. More Thunder is currently third behind the two Charlie Appleby runners when we look at the latest Queen Anne Stakes betting odds, and unlike the two market leaders, the horse has form at Ascot, placing in the Wokingham Stakes at last year’s festival.

price of 5.50 with Livescorebet

price of 5.50 with Paripesa

price of 5.00 with Directionbet

3️⃣ Docklands/ Harry Eustace

Last year’s winner will be once again expected to run his race at a course that seems to bring the best out of him. As well as his win in this race in 2025, Docklands also has a second place in the race to his name as well as a Britannia win from the 2023 festival. He is versatile ground-wise, and won the race at a price of 15.00 last year. He is six now and is looking to become the first horse of that age to win the Queen Anne Stakes since Lord Glitters back in 2019.

price of 6.50 with Livescorebet

price of 6.50 with Paripesa

price of 6.00 with Directionbet

🎈 Queen Anne Stakes Past Winners

A good Queen Anne Stakes tip for those looking to have a bet on the race is to always check out the previous winners of the race. This can help you find out about previous runners, betting trends and what to look out for before having a bet on this year’s race.

Below you will find a table with the 5 previous winners of the race along with their jockey and trainer.