Vintage Stakes

Vintage Stakes

The Vintage Stakes is a Group 2 race for two-year-olds over seven furlongs at the Glorious Goodwood Festival. It often attracts juveniles that ran well at Royal Ascot and have produced numerous Classic winners.

The roll of honour includes Epsom Derby winners Troy (1978), Dr Devious (1991) and Sir Percy (2005), and 2000 Guineas winners Don’t Forget Me (1986), Mister Baileys (1993) and Galileo Gold (2015).

Find out more about the Vintage Stakes:

Race Overview – The Vintage Stakes

The Vintage Stakes is a two-year-old flat horse event held on day one of the Glorious Goodwood Festival.

It takes place at Goodwood Racecourse over a distance of 7 furlongs.

The Vintage Stakes is a Group 2 Race for two-year-olds that is usually run well at the Royal Ascot Festival.

In our Vintage Stakes guide, we provide the betting odds, tips and history of the horse racing event.

Vintage Stakes Previous Winners

Check out the previous winners of this race:

YearWinnerJockeyTrainer
2013ToormoreRichard HughesRichard Hannon Sr.
2014Highland ReelJoseph O’BrienAidan O’Brien
2015Galileo GoldFrankie DettoriHugo Palmer
2016War DecreeRyan MooreAidan O’Brien
2017Expert EyeAndrea AtzeniSir Michael Stoute
2018Dark VisionSilvestre de SousaMark Johnston
2019PinatuboJames DoyleCharlie Appleby
2020BattlegroundRyan MooreAidan O’Brien
2021Angel BleuFrankie DettoriRalph Beckett
2022MarbaanJamie SpencerCharlie Fellowes
2023HaatemSean LeveyRichard Hannon Jr.
2024Aomori CityWilliam BuickCharlie Appleby
2025ZavateriCharles BishopEve Johnson Houghton

Famous Vintage Stakes Winners

The Vintage Stakes was first run as a Listed race in 1975, with victory going to Riboboy, the first of four winners in the first six years for Trainer Dick Hern. It was not upgraded to Group status until 1986, by which time it was already established as a serious Classic trial.

Troy won this race in 1978 before going on to win the 200th Epsom Derby the following season. He also won the Irish Derby, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the International Stakes (then known as the Benson & Hedges Gold Cup). His Epsom victory was remarkable for he turned for home in thirteenth place but stormed through the field to win by 7 lengths.

Hern also trained Petoski to win this race in 1984. He won the King George the following season, defeating the brilliant Oh So Sharp and Rainbow Quest in a top-class renewal. It was the fastest winning time in the Ascot race since Grundy’s epic victory in “the race of the century” in 1975.

Dr Devious (1991) went on to win the Dewhurst Stakes for Peter Chapple-Hyam. He was prepared for an ambitious tilt at the Kentucky Derby the following season after being purchased for $2.5 million by American Jenny Craig. He finished seventh and was returned to turf racing in England, winning the Epsom Derby and Irish Champion Stakes under jockey John Reid.

Mister Baileys (1993) went on to win the Royal Lodge Stakes for Mark Johnston. He went straight to the 2000 Guineas as a three-year-old and beat Grand Lodge by a short-head at odds of 16-1. Jockey Jason Weaver attempted to make all the running on him in the Epsom Derby, but his stamina gave out, and he faded into fourth place.

The Vintage Stakes has continued to produce Classic colts with Sir Percy (2005) winning the Derby and Galileo Gold (2015) winning the 2000 Guineas.

Pinatubo (2019) was also placed in the Guineas while other notable winners include Olympic Glory (2012), Highland Reel (2014) and Expert Eye (2017).

Key Vintage Stakes Trials

The key form guide to the Vintage Stakes in recent years has been the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket. Four of the last twelve winners ran in that race on their previous start, two of them winning and two placed.

Victory in the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood opens up a range of top two-year-old races as potential targets. The most popular in recent seasons has been the Prix Jean Luc Lagardere at Longchamp in October. Four of the last twelve winners have run in that event next time, with Olympic Glory (2012) and Angel Bleu (2021) both being successful. Toormore (2013) and Pinatubo (2019) both won the National Stakes at the Curragh on their next outing.

Favourites have an outstanding record in the Vintage Stakes with eight victories in the past 12 seasons. Only one of them started odds-on, Highland Reel at 10-11 in 2014.

Toormore (2013), War Decree (2016), Expert Eye (2017), Pinatubo (2019), and Battleground (2020) were all heavily supported and started at 7-4 or shorter odds.

Marbaan (14-1) in 2022 bucked the trend by flooring the Royal Ascot winner Holloway Boy (11-8 favourite).

All twelve previous winners had been in the first three in the betting, with Galileo Gold (2015) the longest priced winner at 9-2.

Nine of the twelve winners had at least one previous race over seven furlongs, with six of them having won at that distance.

Very few of them had been given an official rating, although Pinatubo was an outstanding juvenile and was rated 110 ahead of his Goodwood victory.

Vintage Stakes – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Dick Hern’s success in the early years of this event has left him in a share of the all-time trainers’ list with six winners: Riboboy (1975), Sky Ship (1976), Troy (1978), Church Parade (1980), Petoski (1984) and Alhaarth (1995).

His record is shared by Sir Henry Cecil, successful with Marathon Gold (1979), Trojan Fen (1983), Faustus (1985), High Estate (1988), Be My Chief (1989) and Eltish (1994).

Richard Hannon Snr won it for four successive seasons between 2010 and 2013, his last success coming with Toormore.

Frankie Dettori drew level with Willie Carson on six winners when he rode Angel Bleu to victory in 2021. His previous winners were Aljabr (1998), Naheef (2001), Rio de la Plata (2007), Orizaba (2008) and Galileo Gold (2015).

Betting on the Vintage Stakes

The Vintage Stakes has produced some top-class colts, and punters have enjoyed plenty of success in this event over the years.

The 2022 renewal won by a 14-1 shot may have been no more than a blip and it would be no surprise to see market leaders back on top. Certainly, a race where the form can be followed with confidence

Summary of Vintage Stakes

We hope you enjoyed our review of the Vintage Stakes.

It is one of our favourite races at the Goodwood Festival and often produces a star performer of the future.

If you have enjoyed this Glorious Goodwood race, here are some other articles related to Glorious Goodwood betting you may also like: