Royal Ascot: Coventry Stakes

The event was established in 1890, and it was named after the 9th Earl of Coventry, George William Coventry, born 9th May 1838, a Conservative politician, Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms, and who Master of the Buckhounds from 1886-1892 and again from 1895 to 1901. The present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, and for a period the Coventry Stakes was classed at Group 3 level. It was promoted to Group 2 status in 2004. It is usually contested on the opening day of the Royal Ascot meeting.
Early history:-The Prince and Princess of Wales were in attendance on Tuesday 17th June 1890 for the inaugural running of the Coventry Stakes worth £1,823 to the winner. Excessive rain fell until noon, but it was fine when the 19 runners lined up for the Coventry Stakes over 6 furlongs. After repeated attempts the flag fell to a level start and, although the field was large, the race developed into a match between Siphonia (100/15) and The Deemster (9/4 fav) owned by Mr J B Leigh, with the favourite, ridden by Robinson, getting his head in front on the line to win by a head, with Grace Emily (20/1) three lengths back in third.
Coventry Stakes 1990 Group 2 6 furlongs
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 MAC'S IMP Alan Munro Bill O'Gorman Tamdown Ltd 2/1 fav
2 GENEROUS Willie Carson Paul Cole Prince Fahd Salman 8/1
3 BOLD NEPHEW Ray Cochrane Richard Hannon R C Thompson 12/1
4 TINKINS WOOD Steve Cautehn Ron Boss Mrs B Davies 10/1
5 BIG BLOW Walter Swinburn M J Ryan Mrs C McKey 16/1
6 JIM'S WISH John Reid Mark Usher John Pitt 100/1
7 HAILSHAM Michael Roberts Clive Brittain Sheikh Mohammed 10/1
8 FOURSLEIGH Dean McKeown Jack Berry Four Racing 100/1
9 SOWETO Mick Kinane G Pritchard Gordon A M Ennever 20/1
10 BEVOLVED VISITOR Christy Roche Jim Bolger Maktoum Al Maktoum 10/1
11 TIME FOR THE BLUES Kevin Darley Jack Berry Peter Savill 33/1
12 GROOMBRIDGE Pat Eddery Guy Harwood Khaled Abdulla 15/2
13 FITAHL Richard Hills H Thomson Jones Hamdan Al Maktoum 6/1
The Coventry Stakes took place on Tuesday 19th June 1990, and the winner, a bay colt by Imp Society out of Flaming Reason, won a first prize of £24,368 (equivalent to £57,000 in 2020) Over round 122%
Coventry Stakes Group 2 6 furlongs
1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
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1990