The Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes is held during the month of April as part of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival. Headlining Day 2 of The Championships at Royal Randwick Racecourse, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a 2000m weight-for-age race that has a capacity field size of 14 runners, plus four emergencies if required. Horses aged three-years-old and upwards are eligible for the race.
In addition to the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Day 2 of The Championships showcases the Sydney Cup (3200m), Australian Oaks (2400m) and the Coolmore Legacy Stakes (1600m).
The race dates back to 1851 where it was known as the Queen’s Plate. Cossack would win the first two editions before Sportsman went back-to-back in 1853 and 1854. In 1874, the race would have a name change and be called the AJC Plate. That name would stay until 1954, apart from the 1934 running where it was called the AJC Kings Cup. From 1954 onwards, the race has been called the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
There have been numerous distance changes throughout the history of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. It has been held over as far as three miles (1851-1913) and the current 2000m is the shortest distance that the race has been run over. Other key distances during the history of the race are 2400m, 2800m, 3200m and 3600m.
As of 2019, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes carries $4 million in prize money, with the winner receiving $2.32 million. The race pays down to 10th place with horses that finish ninth and 10th receiving $27,500.
The Queen Elizabeth Stakes honour roll is something to behold with many champions saluting in the iconic race. Recently, champion mare Winx has dominated the race with victories in both 2017 and 2018; the latter brought up her 25th consecutive win in a streak that continued into the thirties.
Five horses have captured the race on three occasions. The first is Tim Whiffler who won in 1868, 1870 and 1871. He wasn’t first past the post in 1868 but was awarded the race with The Barb not carrying the correct weight. Next is Carbine who won between 1889-91. He also won the Melbourne Cup in 1890 and is in both the Australian and New Zealand Racing Hall of Fames. Trafalgar won in 1909, 1911 and 1912. David won all three in consecutive fashion between 1921-23 and the last is Tulloch who claimed the 1958, 1960 and 1961 editions. Tulloch is one of the greatest thoroughbreds of all time with 36 wins from 53 career starts. He also won a Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup, among many feature race wins.
Other notable winners of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes are Archer (1862), The Barb (1869), Chester (1878-79), Wakeful (1902), Poseidon (1908), Poitrel (1919-20), Windbag (1925-26), Phar Lap (1930), Peter Pan (1933), Rogilla (1934), Flight (1946), Carbon Copy (1949), Ming Dynasty (1978), Rough Habit (1992), Veandercross (1993), Jeune (1995), Doriemus (1996), Might And Power (1998), Lonhro (2003), Grand Armee (2004-05), More Joyous (2012), It’s A Dundeel (2014) and Criterion (2015).
The most successful trainer in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes is Etienne De Mestre who won the race eight times between 1862 and 1879.
