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 2014 Stakes 1 1/2 miles
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 TELESCOPE Ryan Moore Sir Michael Stoute Highclere Thoroughbred 7/4 fav
2 HILLSTAR Frankie Dettori Sir Michael Stoute Sir Evelyn De Rothschild 8/1
3 PETHER'S MOON Richard Hughes Richard Hannon Mr John Manley 8/1
4 FORGOTTEN VOICE Kieren Fallon Nicky Henderson Mrs Susan Roy 10/1
5 SHARESTAN Andrea Atzeni Saeed Bin Suroor Godolphin 12/1
6 DANDINO Martin Harley Marco Botti Australian Thoroughbreds 5/1
7 JOSHUA TREE Adam Kirby Ed Dunlop K Al Nabooda/K Albahou 33/1
8 CAMBORNE William Buick John Gosden HRH Princess Haya of Jordan 16/1
9 EYE OF THE STORM Joseph O'Brien Aidan O'Brien Smith/Magnier/Tabor 8/1
10 EKTIHAAM Paul Hanagan Roger Varian Hamdan Al Maktoum 20/1
The Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half was on Saturday 21st June 2014 and the winner, a bay horse by Galileo out of Velouette won a first prize of £120,962 (equivalent to £138,000 in 2020). Over round 119%
Hardwicke Stakes Group 2 1 mile 4 furlongs 1879
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