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 2012 Stakes 1 1/2 miles
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 SEA MOON Ryan Moore Sir Michael Stoute Khaled Abdulla 3/1 fav
2 DUNADEN Christophe Lemaire M Delzangles Pearl Bloodstock 9/2
3 RED CADEAUX Tom McLaughlin Ed Dunlop Hon R J Arculli 9/1
4 AIKEN William Buick John Gosden George Strwabridge 4/1
5 JAKKALBERRY Silvestre De Sousa Marco Botti Jakkalberry/Sly/Duke/Porter 16/1
6 FIORENTE James Doyle Sir Michael Stoute Ballymacoll Stud 25/1
7 HUNTERS LIGHT Frankie Dettori Saeed Bin Suroor Godolphin 22/1
8 ALLIED POWERS Tom Queally Michael Bell David Fish & Edward Ware 100/1
9 CALICO CAT Paul Hanagan Alastair Lidderdale Chris Beek Racing 66/1
10 QUEST FOR PEACE Kieren Fallon Luca Cumani OTI Racing 16/1
11 TESTOSTERONE Johnny Murtagh Ed Dunlop Nurlan Bizakov 20/1
12 MEMPHIS TENNESSEE Joseph O'Brien Aidan O'Brien Smith/Magnier/Tabor 11/2
The Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half was on Saturday 23rd June 2012 and the winner, a bay horse by Beat Hollow out of Eva Luna won a first prize of £113,420 (equivalent to £137,000 in 2020). Over round 116%
Hardwicke Stakes Group 2 1 mile 4 furlongs 1879
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