It may, or may not, come as a surprise to learn that, for five-furlong sprinters, races at the highest, Group 1 level are few and far between in the British Flat racing calendar. As a matter of fact, there just two such contests, but – notwithstanding the fact that the European Pattern race system was not introduced until 1971 – they have histories dating back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries respectively.
The older of the pair is the King’s Stand Stakes, inaugurated as, the Queen’s Stand Plate, in 1860 and renamed in 1901, following the accession of King Edward VII. Indeed, the race is due to be re-titled the King Charles III Stakes from 2024 onwards. Run on the stiff straight course at Ascot, currently on the first day of the Royal Meeting in June, the King’s Stand Stakes is open to horses aged three years and upwards and, nowadays, worth £600,000, making it the most valuable race of its kind run in Britain. The King’s Stand Stakes was first designated a Group 1 contest in 1973 and, although demoted to Group 2 status 15 years later, was promoted back to the highest level in 2008.
The Nunthorpe Stakes, currently scheduled for the third day of the four-day Ebor Festival at York in August, is a more recent addition to the racing programme, having first been run, in its current guise, in 1922. The five-furlong course on the Knavesmire is flat, fair and considerably faster – two and a half seconds faster, according to standard times – than that at Ascot and, as such, plays to the strengths of out-and-out speedsters. By contrast to the King’s Stand Stakes, the Nunthorpe Stakes is open to horses aged two years and upwards, including geldings, which makes it unique in the upper echelon of Flat racing in Britain. The race has been a Group 1 contest since 1984 and currently offers £350,000 in total prize money.