Champion Stakes
| Location | Rowley Mile Newmarket, England |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1877 |
| Race type | Flat / Thoroughbred |
| Sponsor | Emirates Airline |
| Website | Newmarket |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1m 2f (2,012 metres) |
| Track | Turf, straight |
| Qualification | Three-years-old and up |
| Weight | 8 st 12 lb (3yo); 9 st 3 lb (4yo+) Allowances 3 lb for fillies and mares |
| Purse | £1.300,000 (2009) 1st: £213,739 |
The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in October. It is the richest race run in the UK, and the feature race of Champions Day.
The event was established in 1877 at Newmarket, and the inaugural running was won by Springfield. By the end of the century it had been won by five previous Classic winners. One of these, Ormonde, had a starting price of 1/100 (a £100 bet would have won £1).
The race was run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket until 2010. From 2011, the race is being run at Ascot as part of the newly created Champions Day. This day features five races with Group One conditions and stake levels that serve as the final races in each category of the British Champions Series, a series which includes most major races in the UK. The Champion Stakes is the final of the middle-distance category, and a prizemoney rise in 2011 makes it the UK's richest race.
The Champion Stakes is now one of Britain's leading open-age races of the autumn. It became part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series in 2009, and the winner now earns an automatic invitation to compete in the Breeders' Cup Turf. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Records
Most successful horse (3 wins):
- Tristan – 1882, 1883, 1884
Leading jockey (6 wins):
- Danny Maher – Osboch (1901), Pretty Polly (1905), Polymelus (1906), Llangwm (1908), Bayardo (1909), Lemberg (1910)
- Charlie Elliott – Ellangowan (1923), Asterus (1927), Goyescas (1931), Djeddah (1949), Dynamiter (1951, 1952)
Leading trainer (8 wins):
- Alec Taylor, Jr. – Sceptre (1903), Bayardo (1909), Lemberg (1910, 1911), Gay Crusader (1917), My Dear (1918), Buchan (1919), Picaroon (1925)
Leading owner (6 wins):
- HH Aga Khan III – Rustom Pasha (1930), Dastur (1933, dead-heat), Umidwar (1934), Nasrullah (1943), Migoli (1947), Hafiz (1955)
[edit] Winners since 1967
[edit] Earlier winners
- 1877 - Springfield
- 1878 - Jannette
- 1879 - Rayon d'Or
- 1880 - Robert the Devil
- 1881 - Bend Or
- 1882 - Tristan
- 1883 - Tristan
- 1884 - Tristan
- 1885 - Paradox
- 1886 - Ormonde
- 1887 - Bendigo
- 1888 - Friar's Balsam
- 1889 - Gold
- 1890 - Amphion
- 1891 - Orion
- 1892 - Orme
- 1893 - Le Nicham
- 1894 - La Fleche
- 1895 - Laveno
- 1896 - Labrador
- 1897 - Velasquez
- 1898 - Velasquez
- 1899 - Dieudonne
- 1900 - Solitaire
- 1901 - Osboch
- 1902 - Veles
- 1903 - Sceptre
- 1904 - Bachelor's Button
- 1905 - Pretty Polly
- 1906 - Polymelus
- 1907 - Galvani
- 1908 - Llangwm
- 1909 - Bayardo
- 1910 - Lemberg
- 1911 - Lemberg
- 1912 - Stedfast
- 1913 - Tracery
- 1914 - Hapsburg
- 1915 - Let Fly
- 1916 - Clarissimus
- 1917 - Gay Crusader
- 1918 - My Dear
- 1919 - Buchan
- 1920 - Orpheus
- 1921 - Orpheus
- 1922 - Franklin
- 1923 - Ellangowan
- 1924 - Pharos
- 1925 - Picaroon
- 1926 - Warden of the Marches
- 1927 - Asterus
- 1928 - Fairway
- 1929 - Fairway
- 1930 - Rustom Pasha
- 1931 - Goyescas
- 1932 - Cameronian
- 1933 - Chatelaine / Dastur *
- 1934 - Umidwar
- 1935 - Wychwood Abbot
- 1936 - Wychwood Abbot
- 1937 - Flares
- 1938 - Rockfel
- 1939 - no race
- 1940 - Hippius
- 1941 - Hippius
- 1942 - Big Game
- 1943 - Nasrullah
- 1944 - Hycilla
- 1945 - Court Martial
- 1946 - Honeyway
- 1947 - Migoli
- 1948 - Solar Slipper
- 1949 - Djeddah
- 1950 - Peter Flower
- 1951 - Dynamiter
- 1952 - Dynamiter
- 1953 - Nearula
- 1954 - Narrator
- 1955 - Hafiz
- 1956 - Hugh Lupus
- 1957 - Rose Royale
- 1958 - Bella Paola
- 1959 - Petite Etoile
- 1960 - Marguerite Vernaut
- 1961 - Bobar
- 1962 - Arctic Storm
- 1963 - Hula Dancer
- 1964 - Baldric II
- 1965 - Silly Season
- 1966 - Pieces of Eight
* The 1933 race was a dead-heat and has joint winners.
[edit] References
- ^ "Breeders' Cup Challenge". breederscup.com. http://www.breederscup.com/challenge.aspx. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
- galopp-sieger.de – Champion Stakes.
- horseracingintfed.com – International Federation of Horseracing Authorities – Champion Stakes (2009).
- pedigreequery.com – Champion Stakes – Newmarket.
- The Breedon Book of Horse Racing Records. Breedon Books. 1993. p. 212. ISBN 1-873626-15-0.