Queen’s Vase

The Queen’s Vase is a Group 2 race for three-year-olds over a mile and three-quarters at Royal Ascot. The race is currently held on day 2 of the meeting and has become a serious St Leger trial in recent years.

Notable past winners include Le Moss (1978), Mamool (2002), Estimate (2012), Leading Light (2013), Hartnell (2014), Stradivarius (2017) and Santiago (2020).

Find out more about the Queen’s Vase:

Race Overview – Queens Vase

The Queen’s Vase is a Group 2 flat horse race for three-year-olds conducted in the United Kingdom. Every year in June, it takes place at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs, and 34 yards.

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

Queen’s Vase Odds

Here are the latest odds for the Queen’s Vase in June 2023:

• These odds have not yet been released.

Queen’s Vase Tips

Here are some tips for Queen’s Vase in June 2023:

• 2 points to win for TBC at odds of TBC
• 1 point each way for TBC at odds of TBC

Some of the horses in the Queen’s Vase 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.

Queen’s Vase Previous Winners

Famous Queen’s Vase Winners

The Queen’s Vase was first run over a distance of two miles in 1838 and remained at this trip until 2017. The race was opened to older horses in 1840 but restricted to three-year-olds again in 1987. It only had listed status in 2014 but was upgraded to Group 2 at the shorter trip in 2017 in an attempt to create opportunities for higher class staying three-year-olds.

1978 winner Le Moss is best remembered for his clashes with Ardross. He won the Stayers’ Triple Crown of Ascot Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup and Doncaster Cup in 1979 and 1980. He was also second to Julio Mariner in the 1978 St Leger.

Godolphin won the race for the first time with Mamool in 2002, trained by Saeed bin Suroor. He would go on to win the Yorkshire Cup in 2003 and German Group 1 races the Grosser Preis von Baden and Preis von Europa.

The Queen’s Estimate won this race in 2012 and famously gave Her Majesty a much cherished victory in the Ascot Gold Cup the following season. It was the first time that the Gold Cup had been won by a reigning monarch. Estimate’s other victories included the Sagaro Stakes (2013) and the Doncaster Cup (2014).

2012 winner Leading Light would go on to win the St Leger for Aidan O’Brien. He then returned to Royal Ascot in 2014 to win the Gold Cup and was named Cartier Champion Stayer. His other victories included the Gallinule Stakes (2013) and the Vintage Crop Stakes (2014).

2014 winner Hartnell would go on to become a multiple Group 1 winner in Australia. He won four Group 1 races “Down under”; The BMW (2015), Turnbull Stakes (2016), C F Orr Stakes (2018) and the Epsom Handicap (2018). He was also known for his clashes with the brilliant Winx, finishing runner-up on three occasions.

2017 winner Stradivarius needs no introduction, the winner of three Ascot Gold Cups (2018-2020), four Goodwood Cups (2017-2020) and countless other top staying prizes. John Gosden’s chestnut has earned over £3 million in prize money and £2 million in bonuses and has been Cartier Champion Stayer on three occasions.

Aidan O’Brien has plundered the race successfully in recent years and his last two winners have both gone on to Classic success. Kew Gardens won the 2018 St Leger and Santiago won the 2020 Irish Derby.

Key Queen’s Vase Trials

The Queen’s Vase is currently enjoying a new lease of life as a St Leger trial. Four recent winners had run in the Lingfield Derby Trial on their previous outing, perhaps not showing enough to warrant a run at Epsom and being re-routed to Doncaster. Races over this trip are rare at this level so it may not be a complete surprise than none of the last twelve winners had even raced over a mile and three-quarters prior to Royal Ascot.

Two of the twelve ran in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York on their next outing but both were beaten. Namibian (2011) won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, Sword Fighter (2016) won the Curragh Cup, Stradivarius (2017) won the Goodwood Cup, Kew Gardens (2018) won the Grand Prix de Paris and Santiago (2020) won the Irish Derby.

Seven of the last twelve winners went on to make the line-up for the St Leger with two of them winning; Aidan O’Brien’s Leading Light (2012) and Kew Gardens (2018).

Queen’s Vase Betting Trends

Five out of six favourites won this race between 2010 and 2015; Mikhail Glinka (2010), Namibian (2011), Estimate (2012), Leading Light (2013) and Aloft (2015). There has only been one winner from outside the top three in the betting in the last twelve seasons. That was Aidan O’Brien’s Sword Fighter who sprang a 33-1 surprise in 2016.

A rating of 94 or higher is usually required to win this race. The highest rated recent winner was Leading Light (110) in 2013, 24lbs higher than Estimate’s official rating a year earlier.

Queen’s Vase – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Sir Henry Cecil retains the honour of leading trainer in the history of the Queen’s Vase with eight winners; Falkland (1972), General Ironside (1976), Le Moss (1978), Arden (1987), River God (1990), Jendali (1991), Stelvio (1995) and Endorsement (1999). The 2013 running was named after Sir Henry who had sadly passed away earlier that month. At the time of his death, Cecil was the winning-most trainer in the history of Royal Ascot with 75 winners.

Aidan O’Brien is closing in on his tally and reached seven when Santiago came home in front in 2020. With all seven having come since Mahler (2007), there is a certain inevitability about O’Brien reaching and surpassing Cecil’s tally. Mark Johnson won this race four times in a six-year spell between 2001 and 2006 and later added wins five and six, courtesy of Holberg (2009) and Hartnell (2014).

Riding honours in the Queen’s Vase currently rest with George Fordham who rode six winners between 1857 and 1882. Ryan Moore needs one more to equal his record after victories on Patkai (2008), Estimate (2012), Aloft (2015), Kew Gardens (2018) and Santiago (2020).

Betting on the Queen’s Vase

The Queen’s Vase has been one of the more predictable races of Royal Ascot with only Sword Fighter’s 2016 victory providing an upset. Aidan O’Brien is rapidly closing in on Sir Henry Cecil’s race record of eight victories and is certain to provide a leading contender from his vast resources of staying three-year-olds. Recent winners of this race have also gone on to do well in top staying events, including the St Leger and the Cup races.

Best Queen’s Vase Betting Sites

Here are the most popular free bets for Queen’s Vase betting:

Summary of Queen’s Vase

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