About
King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes is an annual British Group 1 horse race open to three-year-olds and above. Every July, the finest horses from Europe and beyond come to run in this one and a half mile (2,414 metres) race.
The contest has a prize fund of £1,250,000, making it the second richest race in the country. In 2011, Ascot joined Breeders’ Cup Challenge series thereby giving its winner an automatic qualification for Breeders’ Cup Turf.
History
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a product of a merger of two races previously held at Ascot. King
George VI race was held in October while Queen Elizabeth contest was held in July. The first combined race was run on 21 July 1951 with Charlie Elliot emerging as the winner, riding on Supreme Court. With a prize fund of £25,322, it was the richest race in Britain. The race has traditionally taken place at Ascot Racecourse, Britain except in 2005 when it was held at Newbury.
Record
Lester Piggott holds the record of the jockey with the most wins at King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Piggott has seven wins with the first win coming in 1965 and the last one in 1984. He won the races with different horses.
Only two horses have recorded two wins at this prestigious British horse race. Dahlia was the first to do it in 1973 and 1974 under two jockeys, Bill Pyers and Lester Piggott respectively. Swain also won with two jockeys, John Reid
(1997) and Frankie Dettori (1998).
Previous Winners
In 2017, Enable, with her jockey, Frankie Dettori took the number one position. The jockey has been one of the most successful ones in the contest with five wins on his record with the first one coming in 1995. In 2016, the winner was Highland Reel, under jockey Ryan Moore. Johnny Murtagh has recorded four wins with Novellist (2013), Duke of Marmalade (2008), Dylan Thomas (2007), and Alamshar (2003).