Norfolk Stakes

The Norfolk Stakes is a Group 2 five-furlong race for two-year-olds at Royal Ascot.

It currently opens the card on day 3 with colts carrying 9st 1lb and fillies allowed 3lbs.

Famous past winners of the Norfolk Stakes include Superpower (1988), Turtle Island (1993), Johannesburg (2001), Reckless Abandon (2012), No Nay Never (2013) and Perfect Power (2021).

Find out more about the Norfolk Stakes:

Race Overview – Norfolk Stakes

The Norfolk Stakes is a two-year-old flat race in the United Kingdom.

Every year in June, it takes place at Ascot over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres). The race was originally known as the New Stakes, and it began in 1843 and is held as part of Royal Ascot.

Check out our guides to all the other Group 2 horse races.

Norfolk Stakes Previous Winners

Take a look at the previous winners from the Norfolk Stakes:

Norfolk Stakes Previous Result

Check out the latest result on the Ascot Racing Track:

Famous Norfolk Stakes Winners

The Norfolk Stakes was first run in 1843 as the New Stakes with victory going to Rattan. It was renamed the Norfolk Stakes in 1973 after the 16th Duke of Norfolk. The race was upgraded from Group 3 to Group 2 status in 2006.

1983 winner Precocious was trained by Henry Cecil and ridden by Lester Piggott. He went on to win the Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood and the Gimcrack Stakes at York. Unfortunately he suffered an injury after York and was retired to stud unbeaten. Superpower was a brilliant juvenile trained by Bill O’Gorman. He won in 1988 and went on to win the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes.

1992 winner Niche was also ridden by Piggott and won the Lowther Stakes at York. She was also a top-class three-year-old, winning the Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket before finishing runner-up to Sayyedati in the 1000 Guineas. Niche won the Group 2 Falmouth Stakes at the Newmarket July Festival but was tragically killed in a freak accident after getting loose and colliding with a blacksmith’s van.

Turtle Island was an exceptional winner of the Norfolk Stakes in 1993 for Peter Chapple-Hyam. He won the Phoenix Stakes and the Gimcrack Stakes and reappeared to win the Greenham Stakes on his first start at three. He won by 8 lengths at Newbury but bypassed the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket because of his preference for soft ground. He went to Ireland and won the Irish 2000 Guineas by 15 lengths.

Aidan O’Brien’s Johannesburg won seven races as a juvenile including the Norfolk Stakes. His other victories were highlighted by the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He was named the Cartier Champion Two-year-old of 2001.

American Trainer Wesley Ward added this race to his list of Royal Ascot conquests with No Nay Never in 2013. Despite a poor start he set a new course record for two-year-olds of 58.8 seconds. He followed up in the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville.

Key Norfolk Stakes Trials

With winners from Ireland, America and Great Britain, there are no obvious key trials for the Norfolk Stakes.

Eleven of the last twelve winners had won at least once prior to Royal Ascot.

Six of them went on to contest the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket with two of them winning; Reckless Abandon (2012) and Perfect Power (2021).

The winners of the Norfolk Stakes have a wide variety of possible European targets. Reckless Abandon and A’Ali (2019) won the Prix Robert Papin and Sioux Nation (2017) won the Phoenix Stakes.

Norfolk Stakes Betting Trends

The last twelve Norfolk Stakes favourites have all been beaten. Having said that, eight of those winners were in the first three in the betting. Reckless Abandon (2012), No Nay Never (2013) started 4-1 second favourite while A’Ali was also second preference at 5-1.

Despite the poor form of favourites, there have not been many genuine shock results during that time. Approve (2010) was the longest priced winner at 16-1, trained by William Haggas and ridden by Eddie Ahern. Sioux Nation (2017) and Perfect Power (2021) were two points shorter at 14-1.

All twelve winners had raced at least once prior to Royal Ascot with all but one of them having won at least once. Seven of those had won over five furlongs.

Norfolk Stakes – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Lester Piggott remains the leading jockey in the history of the Norfolk Stakes with nine winners; Abermaid (1961), Tin King (1965), Falcon (1966), Swing Easy (1970), Faliraki (1975), Emboss (1977), Precocious (1983), Magic Mirror (1984) and Niche (1992). His final win aboard Niche was achieved at the remarkable age of 57.

Frankie Dettori has won it four times, most recently with A’Ali in 2019.

Four trainers share the honour of leading trainer in the race; Matthew Dawson, James Ryan, John Porter and Atty Persse. The latter was the most recent of those with his four victories coming between 1907 and 1928.

Aidan O’Brien has won the race three times. He struck with Johannesburg in 2001 but had to wait until 2015 and Waterloo Bridge for his second success. Sioux Nation made it three in 2017. American Trainer Wesley Ward won with No Nay Never (2013) and Shang Shang Shang (2018).

Betting on the Norfolk Stakes

The surprisingly poor record of favourites in the Norfolk Stakes suggests this could be a tricky race for punters. There are no real form lines between these speedy juveniles from Great Britain, Ireland and sometimes America. Even so, the race is often won by a fancied horse so plenty of each-way betting opportunities.

When betting on the Norfolk Stakes, we recommend betting through the following links:

• Best odds guaranteed by bookies
• Claim free betting offers to new users
• Place bets with the top rated horse racing betting sites
• If placing large bets only bet with max payout betting sites
• Placing bets on the go then check out the best horse racing betting apps

Summary of Norfolk Stakes

We hope our Norfolk Stakes guide was helpful, thank you for reading.

We have looked at history, tips, betting and more so you have all the info you need.

The Britannia Stakes takes place on the same day as the following races:

• Ascot Gold Cup
• Britannia Stakes
• Ribblesdale Stakes
• Hampton Court Stakes
• King George V Stakes

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