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 1921 Stakes 1 1/2 miles
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 FRANKLIN Steve Donoghue R Dawson Lord Carnarvon 7/1
2 MILENKO R Cooper F Pratt Mr J De Rothschild 10/1
3 GOLDEN MYTH Henri Jelliss Jack Jarvis Sir G Bullogh 7/1
4 FRANK WEBBER G Hulme F Hartigan Mr H Hartigan 20/1
5 BLACK GAUNTLET F Bullock Tom Cannon Lord Wyfold 100/8
6 FANCY MAN F Strydom Hogg Mr Fred Hardy 8/1
7 VIVALDI Brownie Carslake Hugh Powney Sir Ernest Cassel 100/7
8 MAMBRINO Michael Beary Alec Taylor Mr A R Cox 20/1
9 LONE STAR Joe Childs Alec Taylor Mr A R Cox 5/4 fav
10 FLAMING SWORD E Gardner Linton Mrs C Meyer 100/8
11 YORICK Harry Wragg S Pickering Lord Dewar 20/1
12 CORCASS J Shatwell D Waugh Lord Howard De Walden 20/1
The Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half of the Swinley Course was on Friday 17th June 1921 and the winner, a bay colt by Volta out of Cambric won a first prize of 1450 sovereigns (equivalent to £77,000 in 2020). Over round 131%
Hardwicke Stakes Group 2 1 mile 4 furlongs 1879
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