May Hill Stakes

The May Hill Stakes is a Group 2 race for two-year-old fillies at the Doncaster St Leger meeting in September.

The May Hill Stakes is held on Friday 15th September 2023.

This race takes place on Day 2 of the St Leger Festival at Doncaster Racecourse, typically a fantastic Ladies’ Day.

Other popular races take place on Day 2 of the meeting such as the Park Hill Stakes.

It is over a mile and can have a big impact on the ante-post betting for the 1000 Guineas and Oaks.

Numerous top-class winners have emerged from this race including Midway Lady (1985), Reams of Verse (1996), Laurens (2017) and Inspiral (2021).

Find out more about the May Hill Stakes:

Contents

1 Race Overview – May Hill Stakes
2 May Hill Stakes Odds 2023
3 May Hill Stakes Tips 2023
4 May Hill Stakes Previous Winners
5 May Hill Stakes 2022 Result
6 Famous May Hill Stakes Winners
7 Key May Hill Stakes Trials
8 May Hill Stakes Betting Trends
9 May Hill Stakes – Top Trainers and Jockeys
10 Best May Hill Stakes Betting Sites
11 Popular Questions
12 Summary of May Hill Stakes
13 2023 Doncaster St Leger Festival Posts
14 Related September Articles

Race Overview – May Hill Stakes

The May Hill Stakes is a two-year-old fillies’ flat race in the United Kingdom held every year in September, it takes place on a one-mile course at Doncaster.

May Hill Stakes Odds 2023

Here are the latest odds for the May Hill Stakes in September 2023:

2.35 Doncaster (Race 3) - BOG Date: Friday 3rd of March 2023 Time: 14:35 Details: 7 Runners Handicap Hurdle Hurdle 2m 0f 128y
7 Pretending	1/1
1 At A Pinch	9/2
2 Gilbertina	5/1
4 Minelladestination	11/2
3 Ravenscar	12/1
5 Emma Lamb	18/1
6 Rhyme Scheme	50/1

May Hill Stakes Tips 2023

Here are some tips for May Hill Stakes in September 2023:

2 points to win for DANCE IN THE GRASS at odds of 5-4
1 point each way for FRANKNESS at odds of 4-1

Some of the horses in the May Hill Stakes will run in other events later in the year. Stay updated on the horses and place ante-post bets if you want to wager on them.

May Hill Stakes Previous Winners

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Time
1976	Triple First	Greville Starkey	Michael Stoute
1977	Tartan Pimpernel	Willie Carson	Dick Hern
1978	Formulate	Joe Mercer	Henry Cecil
1979	The Dancer	Willie Carson	Dick Hern
1980	Exclusively Raised [a]	Greville Starkey	Michael Stoute
1981	Height of Fashion	Joe Mercer	Dick Hern
1982	Bright Crocus	Lester Piggott	Henry Cecil
1983	Satinette	Willie Carson	Dick Hern
1984	Ever Genial	Lester Piggott	Henry Cecil
1985	Midway Lady	Lester Piggott	Ben Hanbury	1:38.98
1986	Laluche	Steve Cauthen	Henry Cecil	1:40.42
1987	Intimate Guest	Steve Cauthen	Henry Cecil	1:39.27
1988	Tessla	Michael Roberts	Henry Cecil	1:39.24
1989	Rafha	Steve Cauthen	Henry Cecil	1:41.85
1990	Majmu	Willie Carson	John Gosden	1:41.67
1991	Midnight Air	Pat Eddery	Henry Cecil	1:38.72
1992	Marillette	Pat Eddery	John Gosden	1:38.56
1993	Hawajiss	Walter Swinburn	Michael Stoute	1:40.61
1994	Mamlakah	Richard Hills	Harry Thomson Jones	1:39.59
1995	Solar Crystal	Willie Ryan	Henry Cecil	1:39.44
1996	Reams of Verse	Pat Eddery	Henry Cecil	1:38.87
1997	Midnight Line	Kieren Fallon	Henry Cecil	1:37.49
1998	Calando	Frankie Dettori	David Loder	1:41.37
1999	Teggiano	Frankie Dettori	Clive Brittain	1:40.01
2000	Karasta	Johnny Murtagh	Sir Michael Stoute	1:37.95
2001	Half Glance	Richard Quinn	Henry Cecil	1:42.64
2002	Summitville	Micky Fenton	James Given	1:38.48
2003	Kinnaird	Kevin Darley	Patrick Haslam	1:40.66
2004	Playful Act	Jimmy Fortune	John Gosden	1:35.40
2005	Nasheej	Richard Hughes	Richard Hannon Sr.	1:36.67
2006	Simply Perfect [b]	Darryll Holland	Jeremy Noseda	1:39.24
2007	Spacious	Jamie Spencer	James Fanshawe	1:37.58
2008	Rainbow View	Jimmy Fortune	John Gosden	1:42.42
2009	Pollenator	Ryan Moore	Richard Hannon Sr.	1:37.93
2010	White Moonstone	Frankie Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor	1:38.73
2011	Lyric of Light	Frankie Dettori	Mahmood Al Zarooni	1:38.39
2012	Certify	Mickael Barzalona	Mahmood Al Zarooni	1:38.92
2013	Ihtimal	Silvestre de Sousa	Saeed bin Suroor	1:43.30
2014	Agnes Stewart	Billy Lee	Edward Lynam	1:37.20
2015	Turret Rocks	Kevin Manning	Jim Bolger	1:36.82
2016	Rich Legacy	Oisin Murphy	Ralph Beckett	1:41.24
2017	Laurens	P. J. McDonald	Karl Burke	1:40.06
2018	Fleeting	Donnacha O'Brien	Aidan O'Brien	1:38.71
2019	Powerful Breeze	James Doyle	Hugo Palmer	1:39.31
2020	Indigo Girl	Frankie Dettori	John Gosden	1:38.84
2021	Inspiral	Frankie Dettori	John and Thady Gosden	1:37.47
2022	Polly Pott	Daniel Tudhope	Harry Dunlop	1:38.34

May Hill Stakes 2022 Result

🏆May Hill Stakes (G3)
1610m, 120.000 GBP, for 2yo fillies
🇬🇧Doncaster

Polly Pott (GB)
(Muhaarar – Must Be Me, by Trade Fair)
J : Daniel Tudhope
T :Harry Dunlop
O :The Megsons
B :Biddestone Stud Ltdpic.twitter.com/RuoPX1kpAu

— 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙍𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 (@WorldRacing1) September 8, 2022

Famous May Hill Stakes Winners

The May Hill Stakes was first run in 1976 with victory going to Triple First, trained by Michael Stoute and ridden by Greville Starkey.

Her Majesty The Queen enjoyed success here with Tartan Pimpernel (1977) and Height of Fashion (1981), two of four winners for trainer Dick Hern in a seven-year period.

Height of Fashion won the Princess of Wales’s Stakes but proved to be one of the most successful broodmares of modern times. Her offspring included 2000 Guineas and Derby winner Nashwan, Unfuwain and Nayef.

Hern’s record was soon surpassed by Sir Henry Cecil who dominated the May Hill Stakes throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. His run of success included five wins in six years, highlighted by Rafha in 1989. She won the Lingfield Oaks Trial before taking the French Oaks. The race had produced a dual Classic winner in Midway Lady in 1985. She won the 1000 Guineas and the Epsom Oaks and would also be a successful broodmare, her offspring including Oaks winner Eswarah.

Cecil’s Reams of Verse (1996) also won the Fillies’ Mile that season and the Epsom Oaks as a three-year-old. Clive Brittain’s Teggiano (1999) also won the Fillies’ Mile, as did John Gosden’s Rainbow View in 2008. The latter was slightly disappointing in her Classic season but she did win the Matron Stakes before enjoying some success in America as a four-year-old.

Godolphin won the race for four successive seasons from 2010 to 2013.

Saeed bin Suroor trained White Moonstone (2010) and Ihtimal (2013) while Lyric of Light (2011) and Certify (2012) were in the care of Mahmood Al Zarooni.

Laurens (2017) went on to become a very popular filly, winning the French Oaks, Matron Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes in 2018. She also won the Prix Rothschild in 2019.

Key May Hill Stakes Trials

Three of the last twelve May Hill Stakes winners had previously won the Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket. They were the Godolphin-owned trio of White Moonstone (2010), Certify (2012) and Ihtimal (2013).

The Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket is almost an automatic choice for the next race for winners here. Only two of the last ten winners did not go for that race. Five of them won the Fillies’ Mile; White Moonstone (2010), Lyric of Light (2011), Certify (2012), Laurens (2017) and Inspiral (2021).

May Hill Stakes Betting Trends

There have been five winning favourites in the last twelve runnings of the May Hill Stakes. White Moonstone (2010) was 8-11, Certify (2012) 4-6 and Ihtimal (2013) 11-10. Laurens (2017) returned 11-4 favourite and Inspiral (2021) won at the prohibitive odds of 2-9.

There have also been five winning second favourites with only two horses winning from outside the market leaders. They were Lyric of Light at 9-1 in 2011 and Fleeting at 12-1 in 2018.

Only four of the twelve had official ratings and all were between 101 and 106.

Three of the twelve fillies had at least one previous victory in a Group 1 to 3 race. All twelve winners had won at least once and nine of the twelve had raced at least twice that season.

May Hill Stakes – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Sir Henry Cecil leads the trainer stats for the May Hill Stakes by some way with a remarkable twelve winners; Formulate (1978), Bright Crocus (1982), Ever Genial (1984), Laluche (1986), Intimate Guest (1987), Tessla (1988), Rafha (1989), Midnight Air (1991), Solar Crystal (1995), Reams of Verse (1996), Midnight Line (1997) and Half Glance (2001).

John Gosden has won it six times in total. His winners were Majmu (1990), Marillette (1992), Playful Act (2004), Rainbow View (2008), Indigo Girl (2020) and Inspiral (2021). The last of those was officially trained by John and Thady Gosden. The filly missed the 1000 Guineas but produced a brilliant win in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Frankie Dettori is the leading rider in the history of the race with six winners; Calando (1998), Teggiano (1999), White Moonstone (2010), Lyric of Light (2011), Indigo Girl (2020) and Inspiral (2021).

Best May Hill Stakes Betting Sites

Here are the most popular free bets for May Hill Stakes betting:

The May Hill Stakes is a highlight of the St Leger Festival and has been voted one of the top races in recent seasons.

This race has featured some very talented horses in its time, for example, Inspiral winning the 2021 race with Frankie Dettori.

Here are the best May Hill Stakes betting sites offering free bets or great existing customer promotions:

bet365 St. Leger Festival Free Betting
Bet 10 get 30 in free bets William Hill St Leger offer
BetVictor promo £10 get £40 free bets on May Hill Stakes Race
bet365 ITV free bet promo
Betfred bet £10 get £60 in betting bonuses is a popular 2023 St Leger Festival

All of the above sites made our current list of the best horse betting websites around.

Summary of May Hill Stakes

We hope you enjoyed our guide to the May Hill Stakes.

We have looked at the history of the race, the betting, tips and more to give you an overview of this hugely entertaining and informative race that has produced some great winners over the years.