Royal Ascot: Queen's Vase

The Queen's Vase was established over a distance of 2 miles for 3-year-olds in 1838, and its original trophy was a gold vase donated by Queen Victoria valued at 200 sovereigns. The race was opened to older horses in 1840, and after the death of Queen Victoria its title was changed to the King's Vase in 1903, but it was renamed the Queen's Vase in 1960 in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. The present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, and for a period the Queen's Vase held Group 3 status. It was relegated to Listed class in 1986, and it was restricted to three-year-olds in 1987. It returned to Group 3 level in 1991 and was downgraded to Listed status again in 2014. However, in a move to recognise the importance of staying Flat races in the calendar the European Pattern Committee decided to upgrade the race to Group 2 status in 2017 while reducing its distance to 1 mile and 6 furlongs. The Queen's Vase is now contested on the second day of the five-day Royal Ascot meeting, and is one of three perpetual trophies at the meeting, along with the Gold Cup and Royal Hunt Cup, which can be kept permanently by the winning owners. The 2013 running was renamed the 'Queen's Vase in Memory of Sir Henry Cecil' in memory of Sir Henry Cecil who died on 11 June 2013. Sir Henry had, at that point, trained the winners of more races than anyone at the Royal meeting (75), including eight winners of the Queen's Vase.
Early history:- The inaugural running of the Queen's Gold Vase over 2 miles on the Swinley Course took place on Tuesday 12th June 1838 when the Lord Exeter owned Mecca (5/2 jt fav) defeated dead-heaters Morella (5/2 jt fav) and Seth (5/1).
QUEEN'S Vase 1963 Handicap 2 miles
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 HEREFORD J Hunter Murless Mr W Macaulay 20/1
2 CREDO J Sime P Prendergast Mr L Gelb 100/8
3 APPRENTICE D W Morris Boyd-Rochfort HM The Queen 100/7
4 COLISEUM Greenaway Elsey Captain A Keith 8/1
5 ALOE Deforge M V O'Brien Mr A Plesch 9/2 fav
6 ROBINSON CRUSOE D Smith J F Watts Lord Derby 8/1
7 HIGH TREES J Mercer W Hern Lord Astor 100/8
8 PROPRIANO S Clayton Masson Mr D L-Naylor 100/8
9 TATE PITCHER P Robinson J Jarvis Lord Rosebery 100/8
10 SINGER E Cracknell Ingham Mr Bernard Sunley 100/8
11 COUNT ALBANY Matthews P Prendergast Mr G Bell 100/8
12 TUDOR GAY R Maddock Rohan Mr B Grainger 100/7
13 PAMPLEMOUSSE Des Cullen Van Cutsem Mrs H Morriss 100/7
14 EFARISTO J Wilson Ingham Mrs S Jacobson 100/7
15 BLISS D Greening John Waugh Mr Robin McAlpine 100/6
16 SPAKE P Tulk J Tree Mr J H Whitney 20/1
17 SONNET II R Hutchinson Hannon Sir B R Creagh 20/1
18 PORTAL ROUGE L M Ward Gouch Mr A Rostance 33/1
19 ISLAND L Ward T Shaw Mrs Ann Biddle 33/1
20 PHILANAR R P Elliott Budgett Mr R R-Watson 33/1
21 NEVERLONE D Yates Nightingall Mr A Allen 33/1
22 ALESSANDRO T Carter D Whelan Mr G Horton 33/1
23 CARAVAGGIO S Millbanks Keith Piggott Mr Charles St George 33/1
24 THOR'S TREASURE McIntosh V Smyth Mr V Drewery 33/1
25 SAVOY ROSE R Reader R Oates Mr G Old 33/1
The Queen's Gold Vase took place on Tuesday 18th June 1963 and the winner, a chestnut horse by Harry of Hereford out of Lucilla, won a first prize of £3752 (equivalent to £80,000 in 2020). Over round 161%
Queen's Vase Group 2 1 mile 6 furlongs 1838
                1838 1839
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