Queen's Vase Group 2 | Class 1 | 3YO only Winner £150,282 - 17 entered to run  Last year’s race Winner: Gregory Jockey: Frankie Dettori Trainer: John & Thady Gosden Owner: Wathnan Racing Age: 3 Weight: 9st 2lbs Starting Price: 1/1 Season Form Figures: 11 Previous Best: 1st - Cocked Hat Stakes (Listed), Goodwood (May 2023) By Paul Jones Since 2017 the Queen’s Vase has taken place over 1m6f rather than 2m, so the draw has become more important, with low numbers favoured, as there is a very short run to the first bend. True, evens-favourite Gregory imposed his class on proceedings to win from stall 8 last year, but the five runners drawn 10+ occupied the last five positions. It's maybe no surprise, therefore, that in the first running over the shortened trip five of the first six horses were drawn in single figures. The affect of the draw wasn’t so pronounced in 2019 but that race took place on the softest ground of the meeting, giving the jockeys more time to find a good position. In 2020 there were only eight runners, so it was largely irrelevant, but in the last two years stall 3 beat stall 5 before a 3-6-1 outcome in 2022, so low draws near to the rail were favoured again. The race was also upgraded to Group 2 status in 2017 in an attempt to breathe new life into the staying division, with the move working perfectly, with four of the first six winners since that change being three-time Gold Cup hero Stradivarius, subsequent St Leger winners Kew Gardens and Eldar Eldarov, and Santiago, who went on to win the Irish Derby in the Covid-affected season. It had seemed to be doing largely okay to me ahead of the change, though having recently featured three other St Leger winners and two more Gold Cup winners, it is certainly now a race to take more note of moving forward. Kyprios was also declared for the 2021 running before being withdrawn after becoming upset in the stalls, and three races later he won the 2022 Gold Cup. It has been the Aidan O’Brien, Mark Johnston, Sir Michael Stoute and Godolphin show since the turn of the century, carving up 20 of the 24 runnings between them. Only John Gosden (two winners after last year’s success), Andrew Balding and Roger Varian have got in on that act during that period. Five years ago it was even a 1-2-3 for O’Brien, and he is now chasing a sixth win in the last 12 years (and an eighth in 18). With his father having trained seven of the last 23 winners, we wait to see what Charlie Johnston can do with his runners, but it will be harder for him now that it’s a Group 2 over 1m6f and not a lower-class race over 2m, like it was when the stable was having the majority of their winners. We are going back a long way now but the Aga Khan and Sir Michael Stoute have successfully combined twice with Maridpour (1998) and Dalampour (2000), with Stoute has also having won two of the last 16 runnings with Patkai and Estimate for different owners. It's also worth taking note that Sheikh Mohammed has won seven Queen’s Vase's since 1990 - four in his maroon and white colours and three in the blue og Godolphin - the latest with Kemari in 2021. Also note that the Queen’s Vase has been a mighty good race for followers of the market, with 26 of the last 29 winners starting in the first four in the betting and just one winner during that time period starting bigger than 11/1. The favourite has obliged on ten occasions in the last 24 years following Gregory’s success last year. Fifteen winners this century had recorded a victory earlier in the campaign, so it is a little surprising that 11 of the last 22 winners were beaten last time out. That said, 11 of the last 16 winners to beaten on their most recent start were contesting Group or Listed races in defeat. Of all the winners since 1992, just six were sired by a stallion with a Stamina Index of less than 10f. These SI stats aren’t surprising given that this a stern test of stamina for three-year-olds in June (even over 1m6f now rather than 2m), so horses with plenty of staying power in their pedigree have unsurprisingly come to the fore. The most surprising statistic with regards to winners since 1996 is that as many as eight were unraced at two. However that trend is slightly deceiving, as up until Gregory last year the previous 14 winners raced as juveniles. Positives The first four in the betting  A low draw  Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Charlie Johnston or Sir Michael Stoute  Owned by Godolphin  Won this season  Negatives By a sire with a Stallion Index of under 10f