Cherry Hinton Stakes Betting

Each summer, the Newmarket July Festival in Suffolk becomes the focus of attention for bookmakers and handicappers alike, as crowds gather for three days to see Thoroughbred horse racing in the sport’s birthplace and global centre. One of the highlights of Day One is the Group 2 Cherry Hinton Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for two-year-old fillies worth £80,000.

Each of the runners carries eight stone twelve pounds over the straight turf of the famed July Course. This race is typically a “coming out” Group event for many of the entrants, and a penalty of three pounds is applied to any previous Group 1 or Group 2 winners.

The Cherry Hinton Stakes was inaugurated here in 1947, when Great Fun won the initial running. The present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, and for a period the Cherry Hinton Stakes was classed at Group 3 level. It was promoted to Group 2 status in 1996.

Hillsdown was one of the earliest sponsors of the race, followed in the 1990s by Charles Heidsieck Champagne. After the turn of the new millennium, thehorsesmouth.co.uk took up the title role and then passed it on to Chippenham Lodge Stud. Since 2006, however, a division of Horse Racing Ireland has been the primary backer, and the official event name of the race is the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cherry Hinton Stakes.

Because the event is limited to two-year-olds, no horse may win the Cherry Hinton Stakes twice, but there was one year when the race had two winners. Omelia and Pirouette dueled to an exciting photo finish, which resulted in a dead heat in 1952.

A number of the sprinters that have done well here have found success in one or more of the following season’s Classics. The 2003 winner, Attraction, was the most recent filly to do so, going on to victory in both the 1,000 Guineas and the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2004.

Of course, more than a few jockeys have obtained multiple wins in the Cherry Hinton Stakes, including Steve Cauthen, Frankie Dettori, Richard Quinn, Michael Kinane and Richard Hughes. But the only rider to achieve five victories to date was Walter Swinburn, who began with Top Socialite in 1984, and then followed up with Kerrera in 1988, Chicarica in 1990, Red Carnival in 1994 and Wannabe Grand in 1998.

Two trainers have claimed four winners apiece here. Henry Cecil completed his with Roussalka in 1974, Diminuendo in 1987, Chimes of Freedom in 1989 and Musicale in 1991, while Sir Michael Stoute accomplished it with Swinburn’s first three winning rides, plus Dazzle in 1996.

Most recently, trainer Richard Hannon added a third Cherry Hinton Stakes triumph to his curriculum vitae. He started out with Lemon Souffle ridden by Lester Piggott in 1993 and then brought Dazzle to the track in 1995 to be guided to victory by Kieren Fallon. But his 2010 win proves he has not lost his touch, as Memory carried Richard Hughes to the finish line first as the 5/4 favourite.

Although the top-rated fillies typically live up to expectations in the Cherry Hinton Stakes, the event is not without its surprises. In 2008, the 2/1 favourite was the Aiden O’Brien-trained Heart Shaped, but she never gained the lead and finished out of the money in fourth. That made a pleasant payday for those who picked the 14/1 winner Please Sing, and with 10/1 Art Princess and 25/1 Ahla Wasahl trailing right behind, it was a happy occasion for those with the right money on place and show, too.

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