Royal Ascot 2022: King Edward VII Stakes Stats Guide

Last year’s race

Winner: Alenquer

Jockey: Tom Marquand

Trainer: W J Haggas

Owner: M M Stables

Age: 3 Weight: 9st 0lbs

Starting Price: 13/8

Season Form Figures: 111

Previous Best: 1st - Listed Newmarket Stakes, Newmarket (May 2021)

By Paul Jones

As with the Hampton Court Stakes run over 2f shorter for 3yos, the King Edward VII Stakes, which has been a punter-friendly race with 17 of the last 27 winners starting favourite or second favourite, was a Derby trial last year given the one-off changes to the racing calendar. Back to taking place after Epsom, seven winners since 1989 ran in the Derby.

Last season’s winner, Pyledriver, went on to win the Coronation Cup and the 2019 winner, Japan, later added the Juddmonte International (the highest rated race in Britain in recent years on official ratings). In addition two other fairly recent winners went on to win the Dubai World Cup (Monterosso) and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Nathaniel) and the 2014 runner-up later won the Cox Plate (Adelaide) so the race often referred to as the Ascot Derby has been a big guide to the very biggest races on the planet in recent years.

Also note that as many as ten of the last 27 subsequent St Leger winners have run with credit here so stamina genes counts for plenty.

Across The Stars was giving Sir Michael Stoute his sixth winner since 1991 five years ago adding to the successes of Papal Bull, Balakheri, Foyer, Saddlers Hall and Hillstar (should have been seven as the subsequent dual Breeders’ Cup Turf winner, Conduit, was given too much to do). Also respect Mark Johnston and John Gosden who have won this race three times.

The Irish, however, have only mustered two wins in the last 46 years and one of those was in a very poor five-runner renewal. Aidan O’Brien’s Japan hacked up in 2019 though after going close in the Derby but he has been responsible for five of the last eight losing favourites after Mogul last year (four of which started at no bigger than 6/5), two of which ran big races in the Derby plus his At First Sight was also only fifth here as favourite in 2010 after finishing second in the Derby.

Of the last 25 winners, all but four were winning a Group race for the first time and, of the last 26 winners, only eight had failed to visit the Winners' Enclosure earlier in the season. Fourteen winners had contested a recognised Derby trial including 12 of the last 20 - four of which in the Lingfield Derby Trial.

As with the Ribblesdale Stakes (the fillies' equivalent of this race at Royal Ascot), proven two-year-old form counts for little. In fact, the 2014 winner, Eagle Top, was given his racecourse debut just nine weeks before he won this prize and the 2015 winner, Balios, ran only once as a two-year-old as late as November and just once beforehand in his three-year-old campaign. So this has proven to be very much a race for unexposed horses likely to show their true potential when sent over this trip for the first time and 22 of the last 25 winners had not previously won over 1m4f so the majority were unexposed at this trip.

At a glance summary:

POSITIVES

The favourite or second-favourite

Contested a recognised Derby Trial

Yet to win over 1m4f+

Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, John & Thady Gosden or Mark & Charlie Johnston

NEGATIVES

Irish-trained contenders