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 1994 Stakes 1 1/2 miles
Pos. Horse Jockey Trainer Owner
1 BOBZOO John Reid T G Mills Mr T G Mills 11/1
2 BOBS RETURN Philip Robinson Mark Tompkins Mrs G A Smith 3/1 fav
3 WAGON MASTER Willie Carson Alec Stewart Hamdan Al Maktoum 11/1
4 GEORGE AUGUSTUS Mick Kinane John Oxx Sheikh Mohammed 10/1
5 ROYAL BALLERINA W J O'Connor Michael Kauntze Mr M Haga 10/1
6 WINGED VICTORY Frankie Dettori John Gosden Pin Oak Stable 16/1
7 DESERT TEAM Kevin Manning Jim Bolger Maktoum Al Maktoum 25/1
8 DANCING BLOOM Michael Roberts Sir Michael Stoute Lord Weinstock 20/1
9 BLUSH RAMBLER Walter Swinburn Sir Michael Stoute Maktoum Al Maktoum 11/2
10 RIGHT WIN Pat Eddery Richard Hannon Conal Kavanagh 13/2
11 SILVER WISP Michael Hills David Nicholson Mrs Shirley Robins 9/1
The Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half of the Swinley Course was on Friday 17th June 1994 and the winner, a bay horse by Alzoo out of Brilleaux won a first prize of £63,630 (equivalent to £129,000 in 2020). Over round 114%
Hardwicke Stakes Group 2 1 mile 4 furlongs 1879
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