The Queen’s Vase

ASCOT - JUNE 20: Frankie Dettori and New South Wales are behind Kevin Darley and Shanty Star (grey horse) during The Queen's Vase run on the fourth day of The Royal Meeting held on June 20, 2003 at the Ascot Racecourse, in Ascot, England. (Photo by Julian Herbert/Getty Images)

The Queen’s Vase is a Group 3 race, and the penultimate race of day four at the Royal Ascot meeting. The 2008 Queen’s Vase will be run at 4:55pm on Friday the 23rd of June.

The Queen’s Vase dates back to 1838, and was named after Queen Victoria. In 1908 the name of the race changed to the King’s Vase, before switching back to the Queen’s Vase in 1960. The race was initially run as a listed event, before being upgraded to a Group 3 race in 1991.

The Queen’s Vase was originally run over two miles and 45 yards, but following the two mile running of the race in York in 2005 the distance was changed permanently to two miles. The Queen’s Vase is open to three-year-old thoroughbreds.

Queen’s Vase Winners

The quality of the runners in the Queen’s Vase has varied somewhat over the race’s history as repeated changes to the event’s status determined the type of horses that competed. The most recent Queen’s Vase winner was Mahler, who went onto claim third place in the prestigious Melbourne Cup in 2007.

The Queen’s Vase has developed into something of an arm wrestle between Michael Kinane and Kevin Darley. Darley has dominated the event in recent years, taking his fourth race victory in 2006. Kinane pulled a race back in 2007 to take his win total in the Queen’s Vase to three.

Although Henry Cecil has the best record of any trainer in the Queen’s Vase, having trained five Queen’s Vase winners, the years following his retirement have been dominated by Mark Johnston. Johnston has trained an impressive total of four Queen’s Vase winners since taking the race for the first time in 2001.

Queen’s Vase Betting

The Queen’s Vase offers an interesting variation on the typical Royal Ascot races, as it takes place over a long distances of two miles. Many of the contestants will be racing the two-mile distance for the first time, which makes picking a winner very tricky. One Queen’s Vase betting tactic is to put your money on horses with experience over two miles.

Queen’s Vase betting trends also show that the horses with the shortest odds tend to show, making this an excellent race to follow the betting markets.

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