Royal Ascot: Prince of Wales's Stakes
The Prince of Wales's Stakes, currently staged on the second day of the Royal meeting, was established in 1862, and named after the Prince of Wales at that time, the future King Edward VII. The original version was restricted to three-year-olds, and it was contested over 1 mile and 5 furlongs. The race was discontinued after World War II, when there was no Prince of Wales. It returned in 1968, a year before the investiture of Prince Charles. The distance of the new version was 1 mile and 2 furlongs, and it was now open to horses aged three or older. The present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, and for a period the Prince of Wales's Stakes was classed at Group 2 level. It was promoted to Group 1 status in 2000, and at this point the minimum age of participating horses was raised to four. |
| Prince of Wales's Stakes 1866 | Group 1 | 1 mile 5 furlongs | ||
| Pos. | Horse | Jockey | Age'weight | Owner |
| 1 | RUSTIC | George Fordham | 3-8st 13lbs | Duke of Beaufort 5/1 |
| 2 | LORD LYON | Custance | 3-9st 5lbs | Mr R Sutton 40/75 fav |
| 3 | ROBIN HOOD | J Daley | 3-8st 3lbs | Baron Rothschild 6/1 |
| 4 | SEALSKIN | Doyle | 3-8st 3lbs | Mr H Savile 100/7 |
| 5 | CHIBISA | A Edwards | 3-8st 13lbs | Lord Stamford 25/1 |
| 6 | MAORI CHIEF | Challoner | 3-8st 3lbs | Mr W Robinson 10/1 |
| This race took place on Tuesday 29th May 1866 and was won by a chestnut colt by Stockwell out of Blink Bonny, who won a first prize of 6950 sovereigns from 125 subscribers (equivalent to £833,000 in 2020). | Over round 116% | |||
| Prince of Wales's Stakes | Group 1 | 1 mile 2 furlongs | 1862 | ||||||
| 1862 | 1863 | 1864 | 1865 | 1866 | |||||