Group 1 race | |
Location |
Rowley Mile Newmarket, England |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1966 |
Race type | Flat / Thoroughbred |
Sponsor | Kingdom of Bahrain |
Website | Newmarket |
Race information | |
Distance | 1 mile (1,609 metres) |
Surface | Turf |
Track | Straight |
Qualification | Three-years-old and up fillies and mares |
Weight | 9 st 0 lb (3yo); 9 st 3 lb (4yo+) |
Purse | £250,000 (2016) 1st: £141,775 |
The Sun Chariot Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in early October.
The event is named after Sun Chariot, the fillies' Triple Crown winner in 1942. Due to war, that year's Triple Crown races were all staged at Newmarket.
The Sun Chariot Stakes was established in 1966. It was originally contested by three-year-old fillies over 1 mile and 2 furlongs.
The present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, and the Sun Chariot Stakes was classed at Group 2 level. It was opened to older fillies and mares in 1974.
The race was cut to a mile in 2000, and promoted to Group 1 status in 2004.
The Sun Chariot Stakes was held on the final day of Newmarket's three-day Cambridgeshire Meeting, the same day as the Cambridgeshire Handicap, but was moved to a fixture a week later from 2014.
Most successful horse (3 wins):
Leading jockey (6 wins):
Leading trainer (6 wins):
Leading owner (3 wins):