The Queen Mary Stakes
The Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes is run as the second last race on the second day of the Royal Ascot meeting. The 2008 Queen Mary Stakes will be run at 4:55pm on Wednesday the 21st of June.
The Queen Mary Stakes was first run in 1921, making it one of the more recent additions to the Royal Ascot meeting. The race is named after Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. For much of its history the Queen Mary Stakes was run as a Group 3 race, and was only upgraded to Group 2 status in 2004.
The Queen Mary Stakes is only open to two-year-old thoroughbred fillies. The fast-paced race is run over five furlongs on the Ascot flat racing course. The Queen Mary Stakes carries a £80,000 purse.
Queen Mary Stakes Winners
Every thoroughbred filly has only one chance to win the Queen Mary Stakes. The most recent Queen Mary Stakes winner was Elletelle, who clocked one of the fastest times in the history of the race on her way to the title. The fastest Queen Mary Stakes time belongs to the aptly named Flashy Wings, who tore up the turf to record a 58-second time over the five-furlong course.
Michael Kinane and Walter Swinburn are the two jockeys with the best records in the Queen Mary Stakes. Both jockeys have ridden two Queen Mary Stakes' winners in the past two decades, with their small win tallies reflecting the competitiveness of the race.
1992 British Champion Trainer Richard Hannon is the trainer with the best record of fielding Queen Mary Stakes' winners. Hannon trained two race winners in the early 1990s and made a comeback in 2004 with his third Queen Mary Stakes win.
Queen Mary Stakes Betting
The Queen Mary Stakes is one of the sprint highlights of the year, but poses a real challenge to punters. Queen Mary Stakes' betting trends show that the draw plays an important role in the performance of the winning horses, which means that punters need to pay close attention to pre-race field information.
The openness of the race also means long-odds outsiders can pay excellent dividends, as was the case in 2006 when Baddam won the race at 33-1 odds.
For live horse race betting and daily special offers we recommend William Hill.
