Horse Racing Links
- Want your site listed here? Contact Us.
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes
The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes were introduced into the British racing calendar in 1955, partly to honour the monarch and partly to replace a previous event called the Knights Royal Stakes, which had been run since 1947.
The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes are run over a distance of one mile and traditionally takes place in late September at Ascot Racecourse, on the same day as the Fillies' Mile. There have been a few changes to the race over the years. In 1971, when the Horse Racing Authority developed the system of ratings and classifications, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes were classed as a race of Group 2 level; a decision to be revised in 1987 when the race was promoted to Group 1 status. It was also one of the last races to accept or receive corporate sponsorship. After a brief period of being backed by NetJets and later Barclays, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes are now sponsored by Sony. Since 2008 the race is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge, granting the winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes an automatic entry into the Breeders' Cup Mile in the same year.
Because of the extraordinary contenders starting in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, the race is hailed as Europe's Top Mile; meaning the winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes will be crowned the Top Miler in Europe. This huge honour at stake seems to have given wings not only to the ambitions of up-and-coming trainers and jockeys but also to the horses fighting it out on the track. The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes record some of the fastest times for one mile races every season. The event still attracts entries belonging to foreign royalty, with the latest success being the win of Raven's Pass owned by Princess Haya of Jordan in 2008.
Recent Winners of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes:
| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Time |
2010 |
Poet's Voice |
Frankie Dettori |
Saeed bin Suroor |
1:39.76 |
2009 |
Rip Van Winkle |
Johnny Murtagh |
Aidan O'Brien |
1:38.82 |
2008 |
Raven's Pass |
Jimmy Fortune |
John Gosden |
1:38.94 |
2007 |
Ramonti |
Frankie Dettori |
Saeed Bin Suroor |
1:42.45 |
2006 |
George Washington |
Michael Kinane |
Aidan O'Brien |
1:40.06 |
2005 |
Starcraft |
Christophe Lemaire |
Luca Cumani |
1:37.87 |
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Odds and News
16 Aug 2011: Excelebration Plans To Upset Unbeaten Frankel
Trainer Marco Botti is looking to take on the unbeaten Frankel with his horse Excelebration in both the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp in September and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in October.
Frankel has beaten Excelebration at their last two meetings, however, the Exceed And Excel three-year-old showed much improvement when winning the Group 2 CGA Hungerford Stakes by six lengths last Saturday.
“He’s already proved that’s he a good horse, and he was very impressive,” Botti said.
“We left a little bit to work on, so I expect him to come on a lot for the run.
“We will go for another Group One race now.
“It could be the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp next month and maybe the QEII at Ascot. I’ve never had any doubt he’s a Group One horse.
“Frankel is not just a normal good horse, he is something else.
“To think we can beat him at this stage is probably a bit unrealistic but who knows, a race is a race.”
In further horse racing news, Census beat Brown Panther to win the Group 3 CGA Geoffrey Freer Stakes.
The win was confirmation for trainer Richard Hannon that Census is up to running in the Ladbrokes St Leger.
“The Leger is the plan,” said Hannon.
“I thought about going to York (Great Voltigeur), but I didn’t want the travelling for him.”
“He’d have needed a gallop, probably here, so I thought why not run him and earn a few quid.”
Racing manager for Census’ owners, Harry Herbert, believes the horse is beginning to show what he can really do.
“He was too far back at Ascot and we were giving Brown Panther 3lb,” Herbert said.
“He was babyish there and now he’s grown up. We’re really excited. The Leger here we come.”
Trainer Tom Dascombe is still planning to take runner-up, Brown Panther, to the St Leger.
“The Leger is in four weeks’ time and we’ll take him on again,” Dascombe said.
We’ve gone back to basics to try to get him to settle and relax.
“Obviously we’d have rather won, but we haven’t and there will be a certain amount of improvement in the next few weeks.
“He may well have needed that and we’re very happy.”
Make sure you open an account with 
Bet365 before this year’s St Leger.
Bet365 offer great odds on all horse races throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.
So make Bet365 your number one online bookmaker and start winning today!
27 Sep 2010: Poet’s Voice Wins Queen Elizabeth II Stakes
23 Sep 2010: Queen Elizabeth II Stakes 2010 – Odds & Runners
26 Aug 2010: Horse Racing – September Racing
