The Middle Park Stakes is a
Group 1 flat horse race
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
in Great Britain open to two-year-old
colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at
Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.
History
The event was founded by
William Blenkiron, and it is named after his stud at
Eltham
Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The thre ...
. It was established in 1866, and was initially titled the Middle Park Plate. It was originally open to horses of either gender.
The race was formerly staged during Newmarket's Cambridgeshire Meeting in late September or early October. It was restricted to colts in 1987. It became part of a new fixture called Future Champions Day in 2011.
From 2015, the Middle Park Stakes was moved from Future Champions Day and brought forward two weeks, returning to the Cambridgeshire meeting, to avoid a clash with the similar Dewhurst Stakes.
The Middle Park Stakes was added to the
Breeders' Cup Challenge series in 2012. The winner earned an automatic invitation to compete in the
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint.
The Middle Park Stakes was dropped from the Challenge series when the Juvenile Sprint Stakes was discontinued after the 2012 running.
The leading horses from the Middle Park Stakes sometimes go on to compete in the following season's
2000 Guineas. The first to win both was Prince Charlie (1871–72), and the most recent was
Rodrigo de Triano (1991–92).
Records
Leading
jockey (6 wins):
*
Danny Maher – ''Minstead (1901), Flotsam (1902), Lesbia (1907), Bayardo (1908), Lemberg (1909), Corcyra (1913)''
*
Sir Gordon Richards
Sir Gordon Richards (5 May 1904 – 10 November 1986) was an English jockey. He was the British flat racing Champion Jockey 26 times and is often considered the world's greatest jockey ever. He remains the only flat jockey to have been knigh ...
– ''Medieval Knight (1933), Scottish Union (1937), Khaled (1945), The Cobbler (1947), Abernant (1948), Royal Challenger (1953)''
*
Lester Piggott
Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...
– ''Petingo (1967), Steel Heart (1974), Junius (1978), Mattaboy (1980), Cajun (1981), Diesis (1982)''
Leading
trainer (7 wins):
*
Aidan O'Brien – ''Minardi (2000), Johannesburg (2001), Ad Valorem (2004), Crusade (2011), US Navy Flag (2017), Ten Sovereigns (2018), Blackbeard (2022)''
Leading owner (7 wins) (includes part ownership):
*
Susan Magnier
John Magnier (born 10 February 1948; also known as "The Boss") is an Irish business magnate. He is Ireland's leading thoroughbred stud owner and has extensive business interests outside the horse-breeding industry.
Magnier has also been a Senat ...
- ''Minardi (2000), Johannesburg (2001), Ad Valorem (2004), Crusade (2011), US Navy Flag (2017), Ten Sovereigns (2018), Blackbeard (2022)''
Winners
See also
*
Horse racing in Great Britain
*
List of British flat horse races
*
Recurring sporting events established in 1866 ''– this race is included under its original title, Middle Park Plate.''
References
* Paris-Turf:
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Racing Post
''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of ...
:
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galopp-sieger.de– ''Middle Park Stakes (ex Middle Park Plate).''
ifhaonline.org– ''International Federation of Horseracing Authorities – Middle Park Stakes (2019).''
pedigreequery.com– ''Middle Park Stakes – Newmarket.''
*
{{Race Meeting, Cambridgeshire Meeting, Turf
Flat races in Great Britain
Newmarket Racecourse
Flat horse races for two-year-olds
Recurring sporting events established in 1866
1866 establishments in England