Royal Ascot King’s Stand Stakes

This is the second race on the first day of Royal Ascot, and covers a minimum distance of five furlongs.  Not all the races of Royal Ascot include so many international champions, but it is becoming quite a regular thing for the King’s Stand Stakes.  The race has Group 1 status and is one segment of the Global Sprint Challenge.  The challenge includes races in countries all around the globe, including Australia, Japan, and Singapore. 

While this event is one of the first during Royal Ascot, it is not a standalone sprint.  The horses run again on the final day of Royal Ascot in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.  The last time that a horse won both races was back in 2003, when Irish jockey Johnny Murtagh rode Choisir from Australia.

Recent King’s Stand Stakes winners include:

What trends should you know about?  This is a race where it seldom pays off to bet on the favourites.  In fact, only once in the past fifteen years did a favourite win in the race.  The majority of the winners - thirteen  out of fifteen - ran at least twice during the season.  Eleven out of thirteen had won a Group 1 race previously and had won races by over 6 furlongs in the past.  Interestingly enough, eight of the thirteen had been trained overseas as well, though that trend clearly is not as strong as the rest.  So whether you bet on a horse trained the in the UK or not as not as important, though you still may have a slightly better chance if you go with a horse trained overseas like Shamal Wind.

So with this race, you are looking for experienced horses which have run during the season and preferably have won Group races before, and often by a fair distance.  But you want to probably steer clear of the favourites.  That means that if you do manage to pick the winning horse, the King’s Stand Stakes could offer you great value.  That is an opportunity well worth taking advantage of, so this can be a very fun and profitable race to wager on if you will be betting on Royal Ascot this year. 

If you will not be able to attend Royal Ascot in person, you can still take part in the excitement by registering on a UK betting site.  You can follow the races live on ITV and place your bets online.  It’s fast, fun, and easy, and lets you be a part of it all!