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 1939 Stakes 1 1/2 miles
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 POINTIS D Smith Frank Butters Prince Aly Khan 100/8
2 NORD EXPRESS H Wragg O Bell Mr H Leyen 100/7
3 RODERICK DHU J Sirett Sneyd Mr J Gorman 20/1
4 CILLAS E C Elliott France M M Boussac 5/1
5 CHALLENGE E Smith Jack Jarvis Lord Milford 20/1
6 WHEATLAND T Burns R Dawson Mr W Barnett 20/1
7 CASANOVA P Beasley Boyd-Rochfort Lady Zia Wernher 95/40
8 VALERIAN III W Nevett Boyd-Rochfort Mr W Woodward 20/1
9 HASTINGS G Richards Lawson Mr M Goudchaux 2/1 fav
10 KING LEGEND T Bartlam N Cannon Mr J Rank 20/1
11 GNOMON P Evans T E Leader Mr A De Rothschild 20/1
The Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half of the Swinley Course was on Friday 16th June 1939 and the winner, a bay colt by Vantout out of Pointe De Vin won a first prize of £3300 (equivalent to £221,000 in 2020). Over round 124%
Hardwicke Stakes Group 2 1 mile 4 furlongs 1879
                  1879
1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939