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The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Sponsored By QIPCO)

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History

Long recognised as Europe’s mile championship, 1,600 metre races come no bigger than this anywhere on the international stage.  With £1.1 million in prize money, the race has entered a different stratosphere in financial terms, boosted from £250,000 in 2010 when it was run at Ascot’s late September meeting.  It is now by far the richest mile race in Europe and one of the most valuable in the world.

Named in honour of The Queen in 1955, the race has a roll of honour packed full of stars, including Brigadier Gerard (1971 & 72), Known Fact (1980), Dubai Millennium (1999) and the awesome Frankel, who took the race in 2011 in effortless fashion to maintain his unbeaten record.

The race holds special memories for Frankie Dettori.  It provided him with his first ever Group 1 race victory thanks to Markofdistinction in 1990 and when Mark Of Esteem landed the spoils in 1996, it was the third leg of his “Magnificent Seven” when he won every race on that famous (or infamous if you were a bookmaker) Ascot card.

When Poet’s Voice triumphed in 2010, it was Frankie’s fifth victory (he also won it on Dubai Millennium in 1999 and Ramonti in 2007), easily the best record of any current jockey in the race. He still has a bit to go to match Willie Carson.  He won it 8 times in his illustrious riding career.

Frankel and Excelebration, the two best milers in the world at the time (given that Frankel had stepped up in distance), stamped their authority on the race in the first two runnings on QIPCO British Champions Day, while Olympic Glory was victorious for the Hannon team in 2013.

The race returned to France the following year, however, with Charm Spirit lifting the honours for Freddy Head and Olivier Peslier.

Head would be celebrating again in 2015, too, as his brilliant miler Solow cast aside his rivals at Ascot. Roaring Lion was winning a fourth successive Group 1 race when scooping the 2018 renewal.

Current leading jockey: Frankie Dettori, 6 wins (1990, 1996, 1999, 2007, 2010, 2017)
Current leading trainers: Saeed bin Suroor, 5 wins (1996, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2010)

Previous winners

Year Horse Jockey Trainer Owner Prize money

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The Revenant Returns For QIPCO British Champions Day Glory

He was an unlucky loser in this race time last year but The Revenant returned a year later to claim victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

The French raiders continued to make an impression on the tenth renewal of QIPCO British Champions Day as Pierre-Charles Boudot guided The Revenant to Group 1 glory in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

The unbeaten Palace Pier was the day’s only really strong favourite, but it proved to be an day to forget for Messrs Gosden and Dettori as their unbeaten miler lost a shoe and could only finish third.

Second in the race last year, The Revenant only appeared once prior to this year’s race in which he looked a very good winner at Longchamp just two weeks ago. However, he certainly wasn’t short of race fitness as he battled through the autumnal conditions to win a maidan British Group 1.

Throughout the race he never looked hugely fazed by the occasion, settling early before turning on the after burners when necessary. Challengers came in the force of Palace Pier and the outsider, Roseman but he was not for beating and in the end took the prestigious race with plenty in hand.

Another brilliant day for the French raiders and a fantastic day for Pierre-Charles Boudot who claims his first ever British Champions Day winner.

Results

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The Course

British horseracing can lay claim to plenty of blue-blooded connections, but none rival those of Ascot. The Berkshire racecourse’s roots go back 300 years to Queen Anne, who recognised the potential of a stretch of heath land while out riding just a few miles from Windsor Castle.

The royal link has endured ever since. Today, Queen Elizabeth II and members of the Royal Family attend the world-famous ‘Royal Ascot’ meeting each year, arriving in a horse drawn carriage. Royal Ascot, meanwhile, has earned iconic status as a centrepiece of the social calendar, when the world’s best thoroughbreds face fierce competition from the world’s most extravagant fashion designs.

Ascot, which underwent a £200 million redevelopment between 2004-6, also hosts the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes sponsored by QIPCO in July, the most prestigious open-age Flat race staged in Britain.

It will also host the inaugural QIPCO British Champions Day in October which will be the richest raceday ever staged in Britain with over £4.2m in prize money and the climax to the QIPCO British Champions Series.  Including the five category finales on QIPCO British Champions Day, Ascot stages no less than 13 of the 35 QIPCO British Champions Series races.

What sort of horses like Ascot? Horses that like right-handed courses. And what sort of people? People who like champagne and scones, apparently. During the five-day Royal Ascot meeting in 2010, 60,000 bottles of champagne and 40,000 scones were consumed. Lobsters, meanwhile, don’t like Royal Ascot – 1,500 of them were eaten over that same period.

Getting there

Ascot
Berkshire
SL5 7JX

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