Royal Ascot: Queen Anne Stakes

The Queen Anne Stakes, originally open to horses aged three and older, was established in 1840, and during the early part of its history it was called the Trial Stakes. In 1930, it was renamed in honour of Queen Anne, the founder of Ascot Racecourse. The Queen Anne Stakes was classed as a Group 3 race in 1971, and it was promoted to Group 2 level in 1984. It was given Group 1 status in 2003, and at this point the minimum age of participating horses was raised to four. It is now the first race on the opening day of the Royal Ascot meeting.
Early history:- Queen Victoria was in attendance on Tuesday 16th June 1840 when the opening race, the Trial Stakes, was won by the Duke of Rutland's 4-year-old Flambeau (4/7 fav) ridden by Jem Robinson, beating Barabbas, Camelino and 3 others. Prestonjee Boinanjee (4/1) made the early running until half a mile from home, at which point Flambeau took over and went on to win unextended by an easy 2 lengths, making it back to back wins in 1841.
Queen Anne Stakes 1980 Group 1 1 mile
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 BLUE REFRAIN B Rouse C Benstead Mrs L Wood 8/1
2 NEW BERRY P Eddery P Walwyn Mr D Bradstock 11/2
3 FOVEROS W Carson C Brittain Captain M Lemos 11/1
4 HARDGREEN G Starkey M Stoute Sir G White 11/1
5 BAPTISM E Hide J Tree Mr J Whitney 7/2
6 JUST AMBER B Taylor T Fairhurst C Newton jnr Ltd 33/1
7 HABITUATE L Piggott M V O'Brien Mr S Fraser 9/4 fav
8 WELSH CHANTER J Mercer H Cecil Mr H J Joel 10/1
9 THE ANCHOR G McGrath P Prendergast jnr Mr D Hale 33/1
10 TOM STRAUSS F Morby McCormack Mrs J Havard-Strauss 100/1
11 PATRICKS FAIR G Ranshaw D H Jones Mr P Collins 100/1
The Queen Anne Stakes, over the New Mile, took place on Tuesday 17th June 1980 and the winner, a chestnut horse by Majority Blue out of Refrain won a first prize of £11,916 (equivalent to £52,000 in 2020). Over round 111%
Queen Anne Stakes Group 1 1 mile 1840
1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849
1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859
1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869
1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 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
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980