History
The event was founded by William Blenkiron, and it is named after his stud at Eltham. It was established in 1866, and was initially titled the Middle Park Plate. It was originally open to horses of either gender.
The race was formerly staged during Newmarket's Cambridgeshire Meeting in late September or early October. It was restricted to colts in 1987. It became part of a new fixture called Future Champions Day in 2011.
From 2015, the Middle Park Stakes was moved from Future Champions Day and brought forward two weeks, returning to the Cambridgeshire meeting, to avoid a clash with the similar Dewhurst Stakes.
The Middle Park Stakes was added to the Breeders' Cup Challenge series in 2012. The winner earned an automatic invitation to compete in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint.[1] The Middle Park Stakes was dropped from the Challenge series when the Juvenile Sprint Stakes was discontinued after the 2012 running.
The leading horses from the Middle Park Stakes sometimes go on to compete in the following season's 2000 Guineas. The first to win both was Prince Charlie (1871–72), and the most recent was Rodrigo de Triano (1991–92).
Records
Leading jockey (6 wins):
- Danny Maher – Minstead (1901), Flotsam (1902), Lesbia (1907), Bayardo (1908), Lemberg (1909), Corcyra (1913)
- Sir Gordon Richards – Medieval Knight (1933), Scottish Union (1937), Khaled (1945), The Cobbler (1947), Abernant (1948), Royal Challenger (1953)
- Lester Piggott – Petingo (1967), Steel Heart (1974), Junius (1978), Mattaboy (1980), Cajun (1981), Diesis (1982)
Leading trainer (7 wins):
- Aidan O'Brien – Minardi (2000), Johannesburg (2001), Ad Valorem (2004), Crusade (2011), US Navy Flag (2017), Ten Sovereigns (2018), Blackbeard (2022)
Leading owner (7 wins) (includes part ownership):
- Susan Magnier - Minardi (2000), Johannesburg (2001), Ad Valorem (2004), Crusade (2011), US Navy Flag (2017), Ten Sovereigns (2018), Blackbeard (2022)
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