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 1931 Stakes 1 1/2 miles
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 ORPEN R A Jones Lawson Sir John Rutherford 8/11 fav
2 ROSE EN SOLEIL R Perryman D Waugh Lord Howard De Walden 100/8
3 ARMAGNAC J Sirett Tom Cannon Mr A De Rothschild 8/1
4 ORESTIS G Richards Molony Mr Z Michalinos 100/8
5 CARAMELLO T Weston Pratt Mr J A De Rothschild 20/1
6 WALL STREET J Dines R Day Sir Abe Bailey 33/1
7 LINK BOY F Fox Lawson Mr Washington Singer 11/2
8 CODICIL C Richards Sneyd Mrs C Glorney 100/7
9 SANDALS J Childs Boyd-Rochfort Lady Zia Wernher 33/1
10 FAR & SURE T Bartlam R Dawson HH Aga Khan 33/1
11 SILVER FLARE W Davey Stevens Major C Stevens 33/1
The Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half of the Swinley Course was on Friday 19th June 1931 and the winner, a bay horse by Solario out of Harpy won a first prize of 1450 sovereigns (equivalent to £77,000 in 2020). Over round 123%
Hardwicke Stakes Group 2 1 mile 4 furlongs 1879
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