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 1971 Handicap 2 miles
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 PARNELL R Hutchinson S Quirke Mr R More O'Ferrall 7/1
2 BALLGLITTER P Waldron P Smyth Mr A Shead 50/1
3 WINDRUSH W Carson P Walwyn Mr J Jennings 11/1
4 RUSSIAN BANK P Cook I Balding Mr Paul Mellon 11/1
5 MELODY ROCK L Piggott H R Price Mr R Woods 9/2 fav
6 RELATE G Lewis Murless Mrs V Hue-Williams 6/1
7 WENCESLAS J Roe M V O'Brien Mrs C Engelhard 8/1
8 THE BUGLER D Cullen W Hern Mr J Astor 8/1
9 KILRUE F Durr P Prendergast Lord Iveagh 14/1
10 SAYROY M L Thomas Breasley Mr A Kennedy 18/1
11 LANDING SITE D Maitland S McGrath Mr S McGrath 20/1
12 REVELRY T Certer Todd Mr H Joel 25/1
13 BALTUS G Ramshaw W Marshall Mr H Thomas 25/1
14 PERSIAN TWILIGHT B Jago Pitt Mr J Hawes 28/1
15 LE SILLA J Murtagh Grassick Mr M Gallagher 33/1
16 SEGREV J Gorton W Marshall Mr C Rudkin 50/1
17 JERRYMANDER E Poynton Vanse Mr M Vanse 50/1
18 GALLEON G Duffield Oxley Mr R Hollingsworth 50/1
19 NATIONAL FUND R Ferguson Rayson Mr H Alper 50/1
20 BIRD OF DAWNING G Baxter J Dunlop Mr A Normand 50/1
The Queen's Gold Vase took place on Tuesday 15th June 1971 and the winner, a chestnut horse by St Paddy out of Nella, won a first prize of £3446 (equivalent to £50,000 in 2020). Over round 127%
Queen's Vase Group 2 1 mile 6 furlongs 1838
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1970 1971