Middle Park Stakes
| Group 1 race | |
| Location |
Rowley Mile Newmarket, England |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1866 |
| Race type | Flat / Thoroughbred |
| Sponsor | Juddmonte |
| Website | Newmarket |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 6f (1,207 metres) |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Straight |
| Qualification | Two-year-old colts |
| Weight | 8 st 12 lb |
| Purse |
£180,000 (2015) 1st: £102,078 |
| 2015 | ||
 |
 |
 |
| Shalaa | Buratino | Steady Pace |
| Previous years | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | ||
| |
 |
 |
| Charming Thought | Ivawood | Muhaarar |
| 2013 | ||
 |
 |
 |
| Astaire | Hot Streak | Justice Day |
| 2012 | ||
 |
 |
 |
| Reckless Abandon | Moohaajim | Gale Force Ten |
| 2011 | ||
| |
 |
 |
| Crusade | Lilbourne Lad | Reply |
| 2010 | ||
 |
 |
 |
| Dream Ahead | Strong Suit | Approve |
| 2009 | ||
| |
 |
 |
| Awzaan | Radiohead | Showcasing |
| 2008 | ||
 |
 |
 |
| Bushranger | Sayif | Huntdown |
| 2007 | ||
 |
 |
|
| Dark Angel | Strike The Deal | Tajdeef |
| 2006 | ||
 |
 |
 |
| Dutch Art | Wi Dud | Captain Marvelous |
| 2005 | ||
| |
|
 |
| Amadeus Wolf | Red Clubs | Always Hopeful |
| 2004 | ||
| |
 |
 |
| Ad Valorem | Rebuttal | Iceman |
| 2003 | ||
 |
 |
|
| Balmont | Holborn | Auditorium |
The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.
History
The event was founded by William Blenkiron, and it is named after his stud at Eltham. It was established in 1866, and was initially titled the Middle Park Plate. It was originally open to horses of either gender.
The race was formerly staged during Newmarket's Cambridgeshire Meeting in late September or early October. It was restricted to colts in 1987. It became part of a new fixture called Future Champions Day in 2011.
From 2015, the Middle Park Stakes was moved from Future Champions Day and brought forward two weeks, returning to the Cambridgeshire meeting, to avoid a clash with the similar Dewhurst Stakes.
The Middle Park Stakes was added to the Breeders' Cup Challenge series in 2012. The winner now earns an automatic invitation to compete in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint.[1]
The leading horses from the Middle Park Stakes sometimes go on to compete in the following season's 2,000 Guineas. The first to win both was Prince Charlie (1871–72), and the most recent was Rodrigo de Triano (1991–92).
Records
Leading jockey (6 wins):
- Danny Maher – Minstead (1901), Flotsam (1902), Lesbia (1907), Bayardo (1908), Lemberg (1909), Corcyra (1913)
- Sir Gordon Richards – Medieval Knight (1933), Scottish Union (1937), Khaled (1945), The Cobbler (1947), Abernant (1948), Royal Challenger (1953)
- Lester Piggott – Petingo (1967), Steel Heart (1974), Junius (1978), Mattaboy (1980), Cajun (1981), Diesis (1982)
Leading trainer (4 wins):
- Joseph Dawson – The Rake (1866), Frivolity (1869), Prince Charlie (1871), Peter (1878)
- John Porter – Green Sleeve (1867), Pero Gomez (1868), Friar's Balsam (1887), Orme (1891)
- Mathew Dawson – Busybody (1883), Melton (1884), Minting (1885), Ladas (1893)
- Peter Gilpin – Pretty Polly (1903), Flair (1905), Galvani (1906), Argos (1915)
- Atty Persse – Stefan the Great (1918), Tetratema (1919), Portlaw (1930), Hyacinthus (1940)
- Fred Darling – Press Gang (1929), Medieval Knight (1933), Sun Chariot (1941), The Cobbler (1947)
- Frank Butters – Felicitation (1932), Bahram (1934), Khaled (1945), Saravan (1946)
- Aidan O'Brien – Minardi (2000), Johannesburg (2001), Ad Valorem (2004), Crusade (2011)
Leading owner (6 wins):
- HH Aga Khan III – Diophon (1923), Costaki Pasha (1928), Felicitation (1932), Bahram (1934), Khaled (1945), Buisson Ardent (1955)
Winners since 1965
a Three Valleys finished first in 2003, but he was subsequently disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance.
Earlier winners
- 1866: The Rake
- 1867: Green Sleeve
- 1868: Pero Gomez
- 1869: Frivolity
- 1870: Albert Victor
- 1871: Prince Charlie
- 1872: Surinam
- 1873: Newry
- 1874: Plebeian
- 1875: Petrarch
- 1876: Chamant
- 1877: Beauclerc
- 1878: Peter
- 1879: Beaudesert
- 1880: St Louis
- 1881: Kermesse
- 1882: Macheath
- 1883: Busybody
- 1884: Melton
- 1885: Minting
- 1886: Florentine
- 1887: Friar's Balsam
- 1888: Donovan
- 1889: Signorina
- 1890: Gouverneur
- 1891: Orme
- 1892: Isinglass
- 1893: Ladas
- 1894: Speedwell
- 1895: St Frusquin
- 1896: Galtee More
- 1897: Dieudonne
- 1898: Caiman
- 1899: Democrat
- 1900: Floriform
- 1901: Minstead
- 1902: Flotsam
- 1903: Pretty Polly
- 1904: Jardy
- 1905: Flair
- 1906: Galvani
- 1907: Lesbia
- 1908: Bayardo
- 1909: Lemberg
- 1910: Borrow
- 1911: Absurd
- 1912: Craganour
- 1913: Corcyra
- 1914: Friar Marcus
- 1915: Argos
- 1916: North Star
- 1917: Benevente
- 1918: Stefan the Great
- 1919: Tetratema
- 1920: Monarch
- 1921: Golden Corn
- 1922: Drake
- 1923: Diophon
- 1924: Picaroon
- 1925: Lex
- 1926: Call Boy
- 1927: Pharamond
- 1928: Costaki Pasha
- 1929: Press Gang
- 1930: Portlaw
- 1931: Orwell
- 1932: Felicitation
- 1933: Medieval Knight
- 1934: Bahram
- 1935: Abjer
- 1936: Fair Copy
- 1937: Scottish Union
- 1938: Foxbrough
- 1939: Djebel
- 1940: Hyacinthus *
- 1941: Sun Chariot
- 1942: Ribbon
- 1943: Orestes
- 1944: Dante
- 1945: Khaled
- 1946: Saravan
- 1947: The Cobbler
- 1948: Abernant
- 1949: Masked Light
- 1950: Big Dipper
- 1951: King's Bench
- 1952: Nearula
- 1953: Royal Challenger
- 1954: Our Babu
- 1955: Buisson Ardent
- 1956: Pipe of Peace
- 1957: Major Portion
- 1958: Masham
- 1959: Venture VII
- 1960: Skymaster
- 1961: Gustav
- 1962: Crocket
- 1963: Showdown
- 1964: Spanish Express
* The 1940 running took place at Nottingham.
See also
- Horseracing in Great Britain
- List of British flat horse races
- Recurring sporting events established in 1866 – this race is included under its original title, Middle Park Plate.
References
- ↑ "2012 Breeders' Cup Challenge Schedule" (PDF). breederscup.com. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
- Paris-Turf:
- Racing Post:
- galopp-sieger.de – Middle Park Stakes (ex Middle Park Plate).
- horseracingintfed.com – International Federation of Horseracing Authorities – Middle Park Stakes (2015).
- pedigreequery.com – Middle Park Stakes – Newmarket.
- Abelson, Edward; Tyrrel, John (1993). The Breedon Book of Horse Racing Records. Breedon Books. pp. 197–200. ISBN 1-873626-15-0.
| ||||||