Exciting news from HM Vineyards, where Her Majesty’s loyal advisers have produced an exciting programme of more. There are now six extra races, (Sorry about the Fake News headline) including consolation races for the Royal Hunt Cup and Wokingham. This year – and only this year – there will be three new races; the 14f Copper Horse Handicap for four-year-olds and up, the 10f Golden Gates Handicap for three-year-olds and the 5f Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap for three-year-olds. They have swerved making the eminently sensible move of running an extra raceday just for two-year-olds, later in the year, and have instead simply moved the majority of the kids’ races to the Friday and Saturday. The Buckingham Palace Handicap, which was scrapped when the Commonwealth Cup was run in 2015, returns this year providing 7f opener to the meeting, in place of the Queen Anne Stakes.
The always intelligent Mike Cattermole wrote an interesting piece in the Sporting Life website, where he suggested that this year the Royal Meeting be run over four days and then have either the Tuesday or Saturday as a NON-Royal meeting day. The six 2yo pattern races would be moved to the late July meeting and the NON-Royal raceday (Heath Day as it used to be known when horses had feathers and carried 30 stone of armoured knight), could have in their place six or seven races which, as The Cat put it, would provide “….an industry-assisting all-juvenile card of novice races between five and seven furlongs for colts and fillies”.
An opportunity missed?
The new Royal Ascot Order of Running showing added races:
Tuesday
Buckingham Palace Hcap. (7f, 3yo+)
Queen Anne Stakes (1m, G1, 4yo+)
Ribblesdale Stakes (1 ½m, G2, 3yo fillies)
King Edward VII Stakes (1 ½m, G2, 3yo colts & geldings)
King’s Stand Stakes (5f, G1, 3yo+)
Duke of Cambridge Stakes (1m, G2, 4yo+ fillies and mares)
Ascot Stakes Hcap. (2 ½m, 4yo+)
Wednesday
Silver Royal Hunt Cup Hcap. (1m, 3yo+)
Hampton Court Stakes (10f, G3, 3yo)
King George V Hcap. (1 ½m, 3yo)
Prince of Wales’s Stakes (10f, G1, 4yo+)
Royal Hunt Cup Hcap. (1m, 3yo+)
Windsor Castle Stakes (5f, Listed, 2yo)
Copper Horse Hcap. (1 ¾m, 4yo+)
Thursday
Golden Gates Hcap. (10f, 3yo)
Wolferton Stakes (10f, Listed, 4yo+)
Jersey Stakes (7f, G3, 3yo)
Chesham Stakes (7f, Listed, 2yo)
Gold Cup (2 ½m, G1, 4yo+)
Britannia Hcap. (1m, 3yo colts & geldings)
Sandringham Hcap. (1m, 3yo, fillies)
Friday
Palace of Holyroodhouse Hcap. (5f, 3yo)
Albany Stakes (6f, G3, 2yo fillies)
Norfolk Stakes (5f, G2, 2yo)
Hardwicke Stakes (1 ½m, G2, 4yo+)
Commonwealth Cup (6f, G1, 3yo colts & fillies)
Queen’s Vase (1 ¾m, G2, 3yo)
Duke of Edinburgh Hcap. (1 ½m, 3yo+)
Saturday
Silver Wokingham Hcap. (6f, 3yo+)
Queen Mary Stakes (5f, G2, 2yo fillies)
Coronation Stakes (1m, G1, 3yo fillies)
Coventry Stakes (6f, G2, 2yo)
St James’s Palace Stakes (1m, G1, 3yo colts)
Diamond Jubilee Stakes (6f, G1, 4yo+)
Wokingham Hcap. (6f, 3yo+)
Queen Alexandra Stakes (2 ¾m, Conditions, 4yo+)
