Royal Ascot: Hardwicke Stakes

The Hardwicke Stakes, held on the final day of the Royal meeting, is a Group 2 race over 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards and is open to horses aged four years or older. The race is named in honour of the 5th Earl of Hardwicke, the Master of the Buckhounds in Benjamin Disraeli’s government from 1874 to 1880. The race was named in his honour in 1879, but he was an inveterate gambler who had huge debts with Agar-Robartes Bank and had to try to sell his Wimpole Hall Estate in Cambridgeshire in 1891. However, it failed to sell at auction and Lord Robartes, chairman of the Bank, had to accept the Estate in settlement of the debt.
Early history:- The inaugural running of the Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half of the Swinley Course took place on Friday 13th June 1879 with £2000 added prize money and a massive 168 subscribers at 10 sovereigns each. The race was won by Lord Bradford's Chippendale, beating Lord Falmouth's Silvio and Mr W Crawfurd's Lancastrian by a head and 10 lengths in 2 minutes 56 seconds.
Hardwicke Stakes 1881 Stakes Old Mile
Pos. Horse Jockey Age/weight Owner
1 PETER Fred Archer Sherrard 5-9st 12lbs Sir J D Astley 5/4 fav
2 GEOLOGIST George Fordham Alec Taylor 3-7st 12lbs Mr F Gretton 3/1
3 BONNIE DOON John Osborne Bates 4-8st 4lbs Mr R Jardine 10/1
4 CHIPPENDALE Cannon Wadlow 5-9st 13lbs Lord Bradford 5/1
5 PRESTONPANS Snowden Alec Taylor 4-9st 10lbs Mr F Gretton 20/1
6 SPORTSMAN Kellett Bates 4-9st 7lbs Mr R Jardine 20/1
7 POULET Jem Goater Tom Jennings snr 4-9st 10lbs Count F De Lagrange 10/1
8 CUMBERLAND Bulford James Jewitt 3-7st 7lbs Captain Machell 20/1
The Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half of the Swinley Course was on Friday 17th June 1881 and the winner, a chestnut horse by Hermit out of Lady Masham, won a first prize of 3590 sovereigns from 159 subscribers (equivalent to £440,000 in 2020). Over round 118%
Hardwicke Stakes Group 2 1 mile 4 furlongs 1879
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1880 1881