The Royal Heroine Stakes is a

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and

mares A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...

that are four years old or older, over a distance of one mile on the turf held annually in April at Santa Anita Park,

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

. The event currently carries a purse of $200,000.

History

The event was named in honor of the great

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

filly,

Royal Heroine Royal Heroine (1980–2002) was a Hall of Fame Thoroughbred Champion racehorse foaled in Ireland who raced in England and France and then in the United States where she set a North American record for a mile on turf while winning the inaugur ...

, who won the inaugural running of the Breeders' Cup Mile at

Hollywood Park Racetrack Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, the original Hollywood Park Casino was added to the ...

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

record time. The event was inaugurated on 12 December 1986 as the Royal Heroine Handicap held at

for three year old fillies over the miles distance and was won by Mary Jones Bradley's Miraculous who was ridden by US Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens and trained by US Hall of Fame trainer

Charles E. Whittingham Charles Edward Whittingham (April 13, 1913 – April 20, 1999) was an American Thoroughbred race horse trainer who is one of the most acclaimed trainers in U.S. racing history. Early career Born in Chula Vista, California, Whittingham began w ...

in a time of 1:41. After an absence of 11 years, the event was renewed on 18 July 1998 as the Royal Heroine Stakes over the one mile distance with conditions for fillies and

, three years old and older and was won by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

bred mare Tuzla who won by a neck defeating the favorite Sonja's Faith (

IRE Ire or IRE may refer to: Ire * Extreme anger; intense fury * Irē, the Livonian name for Mazirbe, Latvia * A town in Oye, Nigeria * ''Ire'' (album), a 2015 album by the Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive * Ire (Iliad), a town mentioned in ...

) and four other runners in a time of 1:34.33. The following year, Tuzla would start the favorite and repeat winning by three-quarters of a length. In 2001 the event was upgraded to a Grade III event. In 2006 with the influx of sponsorship dollars from CashCall the events purse was raised to $750,000 and renamed to the CashCall Mile Stakes. In 2007 the event was upgraded to a

event and was an invitational event which reflected in the name. The sponsorship of CashCall ended in 2009 and the event was changed to the Royal Heroine Mile Stakes. In 2014 with the closure of Hollywood Park Racetrack the event was moved to Santa Anita Park and scheduled in June. The conditions of the event in 2016 changed so that three year old fillies were not included. In 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...

, Santa Anita closed their track and the event was cancelled

Records

Speed record: * 1 mile: 1:33.33 – Dance in the Mood (JPN) (2006) Margins: * lengths – Vasilika (2019) Most wins: * 2 – Tuzla (FR) (1998, 1999) Most wins by an owner: * 2 – David Milch (1998, 1999) * 2 –

Jerry Hollendorfer Jerry Hollendorfer (born June 18, 1946, in Akron, Ohio) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse Horse trainer, trainer whose notable horses include Eclipse Award winners Blind Luck, Shared Belief and Songbird (horse), Songbird. He has the most wins ...

(2014, 2019) Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

: * 4 – Corey Nakatani (1998, 1999, 2003, 2017) Most wins by a trainer: * 3 –

Julio C. Canani Julio Canani (November 13, 1938 – February 5, 2021) was a Peruvian-born American horse trainer in Thoroughbred horse racing. He won three Breeders' Cup races. Biography Canani emigrated to the United States in 1954, and settled in California ...

(1998, 1999, 2000) * 3 – Philip D'Amato (2015, 2021, 2022)

Winners

References

{{reflist, 2 Graded stakes races in the United States Grade 2 stakes races in the United States Horse races in California Open mile category horse races Turf races in the United States Santa Anita Park Sports in Los Angeles County, California 1986 establishments in California Recurring sporting events established in 1986

History

Records

Winners

See also

References