Ascot Racecourse has
announced that there will be an eighth Group 1 race at Royal Ascot from 2015,
the name of which will be announced in due course.
The new race will be run for £375,000 on the Friday of the Royal Meeting and
the Buckingham Palace Stakes will be removed from the program and the race name
retained for future use at Ascot.
“Much discussion has taken place with the BHA and European Pattern Committee
to address the decline in quality of European sprinters, said Charles Barnett,
Chief Executive at Ascot. “”As a result, we are very pleased to be able to stage
what we hope will now become a significant new option for three-year-old
sprinters at Royal Ascot before they go on to compete against their elders in
the July Cup and beyond.
“As part of the overall program, the Pavilion Stakes at Ascot in the spring
also goes to Group 3 and, to deliver the necessary end of season championship
race in Europe at six furlongs, the British Champions Sprint has been promoted
to Group 1. This brings the number of top level races run at Ascot annually to
13 from next year.
“In order to maximize the field for the new Royal Ascot sprint, the Diamond
Jubilee Stakes will be closed to three-year-olds going forward.
“Importantly for us, this won’t have significant adverse effect on our
overseas promotion of this race as Southern Hemisphere three-year-olds are
counted as four-year-olds in the Northern Hemisphere. Equally, the sprinters we
attract from Hong Kong, Japan, America and such like have always been older
horses.
“The King’s Stand Stakes remains open to three-year-olds as this is quite a
different test to the stiff six furlongs at Ascot and all parties felt that
three-year-olds should still have this option.
“We feel six race cards preserve quality and fit best at Royal Ascot so we
gave a lot of thought as to which race should be removed to make way for the new
race and decided on the Buckingham Palace Stakes.
“The Buckingham Palace does not have as long a Royal Ascot history as some
other races and we have many seven-furlong handicaps at Ascot outside the Royal
Meeting. There are also several other handicap options for this type of horse
during Royal Ascot.
“It is remarkable to think that, in 2001, there were just four Group 1 races
at Royal Ascot, none of which were sprint races. We now have eight Group 1 at
the meeting — three of them are for sprinters and the two established races
amongst them are now major targets for international horses.
“Equally, when British Champions Day was launched in 2011, there were just
two Group 1 races on the card and from next year, there will be four, as
befitting the final major event of the European flat racing season.
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