Richmond Stakes Betting

The £80,000 Richmond Stakes is a six-furlong Group 2 flat race. Conducted on the penultimate day of the five-day Glorious Goodwood Festival held in late July or early August, it shares the card with six other races. The running takes place on the straight turf of the Goodwood Racecourse immediately following the day’s main event—The Totesport Mile.

Entry in the Richmond Stakes is limited exclusively to two-year-old Thoroughbred colts and geldings. Each runner carries exactly nine stone, with a penalty of three pounds applied to previous winners of Group 1 or Group 2 events.

The very first installment of the Richmond Stakes was run in 1877, when horses of either gender were permitted to race. The name of this event refers to the Duke of Richmond, one of several dukedoms—including the Duke of Lennox—held by the owner of the Goodwood Racecourse. It was not until 1989 that entry here was restricted to male horses.

For most of its illustrious history, the Richmond Stakes has been run without a formal backer. In 2005, Sterling Insurance agreed to sponsor the race for two years, and in 2008 it was run as the Sir Tristram Ricketts Memorial Richmond Stakes. Since 2010, however, title sponsorship has been provided by gin-maker Tanqueray and the relationship appears to be quite firm going into its second year.

Each sprinter gets a single opportunity to gain success in the Richmond Stakes. One of the most memorable winners to leave a mark here was a bay colt named Pommern, winning here in 1914 before going on to capture the British Triple crown in 1915. Many horses have used this race as a stepping stone to the Epsom Derby, too, including 1879-80 winner Bend Or as well as Persimmon in 1895-96 and Mahmoud in 1935-36.

Among jockeys, two managed to ride to a half dozen victories in the Richmond Stakes. Fred Archer got his by riding six of the race’s first eight winners, including Jannette in 1877, Wheel of Fortune in 1878, Bend Or in 1879, Bal Gal in 1880, Dutch Oven in 1881 and Rosy Morn in 1884.

Almost a century later, Lester Piggott repeated the feat. He finished first here aboard Romantic in 1962, Swing Easy in 1970, Dragonara Palace in 1973, J O Tobin in 1976, Persian Bold in 1977 and Gallant Special in 1982.

A single trainer posted five triumphs in the Richmond Stakes. That was Mathew Dawson, who schooled all of Archer’s mounts except Bend Or. More recently, Richard Hannon has been the trainer to beat. He brought his first winner, Son Pardo, to the Goodwood event way back in 1992, but recently he’s found his groove with three victories—Able Speed in 2008, Dick Turpin in 2009 and Libranno in 2010—all ridden by Richard Hughes.

Challenging Hannon for dominance here is Peter Chapple-Hyam. The winners he has trained include Polaris Flight in 1995, Montgomery’s Arch in 2004 and Hamoody in 2006.

Of the past five editions of this race, three have been won by favourites and the two odds leaders that were not successful came in place and show. Winning at low odds is the rule here, and no horse has paid out at double digits since Heart Of Arabia came in at 11/1 back in 1988.

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