Author: G C

Temple Stakes Day, billed in 2018 as “Family Day with the Forces”, is a military themed, but family oriented, single-day fixture staged annually on Spring Bank Holiday Saturday, in late May, at Haydock Park Racecourse, on Merseyside in North West England.

 

The feature race, the Temple Stakes, run over 5 furlongs and open to horses aged three years and upwards, is one major early season sprint contests. Although officially a Group 2 race, the Temple Stakes is often contested by bona fide Group 1 performers, running in preparation for the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot the following month. The Temple Stakes was inaugurated, at Sandown Park, in 1965, but the European Pattern Committee approved its switch to Haydock Park in 2008, at which time its prize money was increased to the current £100,000. Since then, the Temple Stakes had been won by some of the best five furlong horses of recent times, including Kingsgate Native (twice), Sole Power, Profitable – the last horse to complete the Temple Stakes-King’s Stand Stakes double – and Battaash.

 

The supporting card for the Temple Stakes also includes the Sandy Lane Stakes, run over 6 furlongs and restricted to three-year-olds. The Sandy Lane Stakes was promoted to Group 2 status in 2015 and, in 2017, following approval from the European Pattern Committee, brought forward in the Haydock Park programme so that is could be used more effectively as a preparatory race for the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. In 2016, Quiet Reflection, trained by Karl Burke, won both races, as well as the Haydock Sprint Cup in September.

 

The Cecil Frail Stakes is also run over 6 furlongs, but restricted to fillies and mares aged three years and upwards. The Listed contest, inaugurated in 1999, should not be confused with its previous incarnation, the Cecil Frail Rated Stakes, which was a 0-100 rated handicap, run over 1 mile 4 furlongs, and last contested in 1996.

Lockinge Stakes Day, which is hosted annually by Newbury Racecourse on a Saturday in May, is the most valuable fixture of the year at the Berkshire course, worth a total of £750,000 in prize money.

The highlight of the seven-race card is the Lockinge Stakes, run over a straight mile and open to horses aged four years and upwards. Inaugurated in 1958 and named after a parish in the nearby Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire, the Lockinge Stakes was initially awarded Group 2 status by the European Pattern in 1971. The race was demoted to Group 3 status in 1983, but promoted back to Group 2 status in 1995 and promoted again, to its current Group 1 status, in 1995, at which point it was restricted to horses aged four years and upwards.

 

The Lockinge Stakes is currently sponsored by Qatari-owned racing operation Al Shaqab, worth £350,000 in prize money and forms the second leg of the British Champions Series Mile Category, after the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, which is restricted to three-year-olds. The Lockinge Stakes has been won by some of the finest thoroughbreds in Europe, including Habitat in 1969, Brigadier Gerard in 1972, Kris in 1980 and, of course, Frankel – the highest rated horse in history, according to World Thoroughbred Rankings – in 2012. Sir Michael Stoute, who saddled Soviet Line to back-to-back victories in the Lockinge Stakes in 1995 and 1996, is the leading trainer in the history of the race, with a total of seven wins between 1986 and 2006.

 

The supporting card for the Locking Stakes also includes the Aston Park Stakes, sponsored since 2016 by Al Rayyan and run, for sponsorship purposes, as the Al Rayyan Stakes. In that same year, the race was promoted to Group 3 status and its distance reduced to 1 mile 4 furlongs. In 2018, the race was won by Crystal Ocean, who went on to win the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot and was only beaten a neck by stable companion Poet’s Word in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, back at Ascot the following month.

The Dante Festival, which is staged annually, on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in May, is the opening fixture of the season at York Racecourse, a.k.a. “The Knavesmire”, in North Yorkshire. The Dante Festival takes its name from the feature race, the Dante Stakes, which, in turn, is named after Dante, who won the so-called ‘New Derby’ at Newmarket, less than a month after Victory in Europe Day, in 1945.

 

The Dante Stakes, run over 1 mile 2 furlongs and 56 yards and open to three-year-old colts, geldings and fillies only, is the highlight of the second day of the Dante Festival. Currently sponsored by leading equine products provider Al Basti Equiworld, the Dante Stakes was inaugurated in 1958. The race was initially designated Group 3 status when the European Pattern Race System was introduced in 1971, but elevated to its current Group 2 status in 1980. The Dante Stakes is a recognised trial for the Derby and ten horses have won both races. The late Sir Henry Cecil, who completed the Dante Stakes/Derby double with Reference Point in 1987, remains the most successful trainer in the history of the Dante Stakes, with seven wins between 1970 and 1993.

 

The feature race on the opening day of the Dante Festival is the Musidora Stakes, run over the same course and distance as the Dante Stakes, but open to three-year-old fillies only. Inaugurated in 1961 and currently sponsored by leading international bloodstock auctioneer Tattersalls, the Musidora Stakes is, and always has been, a Group 3 contest. The Musidora Stakes is, nonetheless, a recognised trial for the Oaks and, all in all, six fillies have won both races. Once again, the late Sir Henry Cecil, who trained two of them – Diminuendo in 1988 and Reams Of Verse in 1997 – remains the most successful trainer in the history of the Musidora Stakes, with nine wine between 1985 and 2010.

 

The feature race on the third, and final, day is the Yorkshire Cup, originally established in 1927, but first run in its current guise, over 1 mile 5 furlongs and 188 yards, in 1966 and designated Group 2 status by the European Pattern Committee in 1971. Currently sponsored by Mansion Bet, the sports betting arm of online casino operator Mansion, and worth £165,000 in prize money, the Yorkshire Cup is the first race of the season in the British Champions Series Long Distance Category.

The May Festival, of which British luxury jeweller Boodles has been the title sponsor in recent years, is the opening three-day fixture of the season at Chester Racecourse, on the banks of the River Dee, in Cheshire in North West England. The May Festival, which first took place in 1766, is staged on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

 

The Wednesday, a.k.a. City Day, features the principal Derby trial of the week, the Chester Vase, and the principal Oaks trial, the Cheshire Oaks. The last Derby winner to run in the Chester Vase was Wings Of Eagles, who finished second to stable companion Our Venice Beach in 2017, while the last Oaks winner to run in the Cheshire Oaks was Forever Together, who similarly finished second to stable companion Magic Wand in 2018. Both horses were trained by Aidan O’Brien.

 

The Thursday, a.k.a. Ladies Day, features the Ormonde Stakes, run over 1 mile 5 furlongs and 84 yards and open to horses aged four years and upwards, and the Dee Stakes, run over 1 mile 2 furlongs and 70 yards and open to three-year-old colts and geldings only. The former is considered a trial for the Coronation Cup, while the latter is considered another, albeit slightly inferior, trial for the Derby.

 

The Friday, a.k.a. Chester Cup Day, is mainly about the highest profile, and most valuable, race of the week, the Chester Cup, a heritage handicap run over 2 miles 2 furlongs and 147 yards, open to horses aged four years and upwards and worth £154,000 in prize money. However, on the supporting card, the Huxley Stakes, run over the same course and distance as the Dee Stakes, but open to horses aged four years and upwards, was elevated to Group 2 status by the European Pattern Committee in 2018 and received a 66% increase in prize money, to £125,000.