Royal Ascot 2021 Stats Guides: Wolferton Stakes

This is the fourth year of the Wolferton being a Listed race (rather than a Listed handicap) over 1m2f on the round course.

It usually features a double-figure field where they meet a bend after a furlong, so the draw can be important. What is a low draw since the switch of stall numbers ten seasons ago has been an advantage as 12 of the last 16 winners at Ascot were drawn in what are now single-figure stalls. Addeybb managed to overcome that two years ago but he did go on to win two Group 1s in Australia and the Champion Stakes. The draw is also easier to overcome on soft ground which was the case in his year.

Four-year-olds have filled 19 of the 25 positions in the last eight years which has contributed to 15 wins in the last 20 years. Not so last season as Mountain Angel improved on is fifth place in 2019 to win. This becomes more significant when we consider that four-year-olds and horses aged five and upwards have more or less been responsible for a similar number of runners within that time.

There have been 18 runnings since this race became part of Royal Ascot and punters have sent a Sir Michael Stoute-trained contender off as the beaten favourite on as many as seven occasions and Saeed bin Suroor on another three. Stoute did win with the fancied Perfect Stride 11 years ago and the unfancied Imperial Stride five years earlier though.

On a more positive note, John Gosden won three Wolferton’s when it was run as a handicap and the also the first when it became a non-handicap with Monarch’s Glen. Mark Johnston and Ed Dunlop's runners are also worth a second look. Johnston supplied the runner-up and third in 2015 in addition to a winner and third in 2006 whilst Dunlop was successful in 2014 and in 1997 plus two of his five other runners have also hit the frame.

Positves: Four-year-olds, a single-figure draw, respect John Gosden, Mark Johnston and Ed Dunlop.

Negatives: Unplaced last time out, a Sir Michael Stoute or Saeed bin Suroor-trained favourite.