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 1997 Stakes 1 1/2 miles
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 PREDAPPIO Gary Stevens Saeed Bin Suroor Godolphin 6/1
2 PILSUDSKI Mick Kinane Sir Michael Stoute Lord Weinstock 2/1 fav
3 WHITEWATER AFFAIR Olivier Peslier Sir Michael Stoute Mr J M Greetham 12/1
4 ROYAL COURT John Reid Peter Chapple-Hyam Mr Robert Sangster 14/1
5 ELA-ARISTOKRATI Ray Cochrane Mark Tompkins Mr Andreas Michael 20/1
6 DUSHYANTOR Willie Ryan Sir Henry Cecil Khaled Abdulla 9/1
7 KING ALEX Pat Eddery Roger Charlton Wafic Said 6/1
8 MONGOL WARRIOR David Harrison Lord Huntingdon Henri De Kwiakowski 33/1
9 LADY CARLA Kieren Fallon Sir Henry Cecil Wafic Said 7/1
10 BUSY FLIGHT Michael Hills Barry Hills Mr S Wingfield Digby 11/1
The Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half of the Swinley Course was on Friday 20th June 1997 and the winner, a bay horse by Polish Precedent out of Khalafiya won a first prize of £74,510 (equivalent to £139,000 in 2020). Over round 116%
Hardwicke Stakes Group 2 1 mile 4 furlongs 1879
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