The Windsor Castle Stakes

ASCOT, ENGLAND - JUNE 19: Martin Dwyer and Drawnfromthepast (5) catch the George Baker ridden Kingsgate Native to land The Windsor Castle Stakes Race run at Ascot Racecourse during the First day of The Royal Meeting held at the Berkshire track on June 19, 2007, in Ascot, England. (Photo by Julian Herbert/Getty Images)

The Windsor Castle Stakes is the final race run on day one of the Royal Ascot meeting. The 2008 Windsor Castle Stakes will be run at 5:30pm on the Ascot flat racing course on Tuesday the 20th of June.

The Windsor Castle Stakes was first run at the 1879 Royal Ascot meeting. Today the race is a listed event, and the shortest race of the first day of racing at the Royal Ascot meeting, making it a thrilling race despite the relatively ordinary racehorses involved.

The Windsor Castle Stakes is open to two-year-olds and is run over a distance of five furlongs. Fields for the race tend to be smaller than those for the other races of the day, making the event popular amongst trainers wishing to chalk up maiden Royal Ascot wins.

Windsor Castle Stakes Winners

Drawnfromthepast is the most recent winner of the Windsor Castle Stakes, taking the 2007 event at 9/1 odds. Arguably the most impressive performance by a racehorse in the event in recent years was put on by Elharmi, who defied 20/1 odds to win the race in a relatively big field.

With Windsor Castle Stakes races mainly requiring jockeys coaxing their horses to run flat out over the short distance, it is perhaps unsurprising that not only big-name jockeys like Pat Eddery have triumphed in the race over recent years. Nevertheless, the now-retired Eddery still holds the race win record for the new millennium, having won the race in 2000 and 2001 on Autumnal and Irony.

Trainers appear to have had an equally hard time training Windsor Castle Stakes winners, with none managing to train more than one race winner since the turn of the millennium. John Osborne is the trainer of the most recent winner, Drawnfromthepast.

Windsor Castle Stakes Betting

Despite being a relatively minor race within the overall context of the Royal Ascot meeting, the Windsor Castle Stakes offers some good betting opportunities to punters. The field for the race can be quite small, with as few as eight horses competing in 2006, which in turn simplifies the Windsor Castle betting options and choices.

Windsor Castle Stakes betting trends show that race favourites tend not to win the race. However other short-odds horses have a good record of obtaining a placing, making place betting a good option.

For live horse race betting we use William Hill, one of the world's largest betting companies.