The St James’s Palace Stakes is one of three group 1 races taking place on day 1 of Royal Ascot, which kicks off on Tuesday 16th June. Run over a mile for 3yos only, it brings together horses that have been running in the different 2000 Guineas races around Europe. Recent winners include Canford Cliffs, Dawn Approach, Kingman and the mighty Frankel.

Below we take a look at the trends for the past 10 years:

Age (Win-Place-Runners)
Race for 3yos

Breeding


9 of 10 winners were by a group 1 winner (8 of those 9 had won a group 1 over 1M or shorter)

Recent/Past Form


7 of 10 winners won last time out (3 others beaten in French 2000 Guineas/Derby or Epsom Derby)
10 of 10 winners had posted an RPR of 116+ in one or both of last 2 runs
10 of 10 winners posted an RPR of 116+ on last run over 7F or 1M
8 of 10 winners had won a group 1 (2 exceptions had finished in the first 3 in a group 1)
9 of 10 winners had won a group race (exception placed in a group 1)
9 of 10 winners ran in last 30 days
9 of 10 winners won first time out as a 2yo (exception short head 2nd)
8 of 10 winners won a group race as a 2yo (1 exception didn't run in a group 1 or 2 as a 2yo and other was placed in Dewhurst)
4 of 10 winners had won a group race at Ascot as a 2yo (other 6 were having first course start)

Guineas Form


Irish 2000 Guineas winner (Gleneagles): 15111091 (5-0-8)
English 2000 Guineas winner (Gleneagles): 517112 (3-1-6)
Highest placed finisher from English 2000 Guineas: 5151271212 (4-3-10)
French 2000 Guineas winner (Make Believe): 1359 (1-1-4)
7 of 10 winners ran in the English 2000 Guineas, finishing 4153112
5 of 10 winners ran in the Irish 2000 Guineas last time out, finishing 11111
2 of 10 winners ran in the French 2000 Guineas, finishing 14
2 of 10 winners ran in French Derby last time, finishing 10
8 of 10 winners had finished in first 2 in Irish, French or English 2000 Guineas (1 exception was 4th in French 2000 & other exception bypassed Guineas for French Derby)

Other Races


Dewhurst Stakes winner (Belardo): 156114 (3-0-6)
National Stakes winner (Gleneagles): 116 (2-0-3)
Solario Stakes winner (Aktabantay): 21 (1-1-2)
Vintage Stakes winner (Highland Reel): 176 (1-0-3)
Richmond Stakes winner (Ivawood): 2 (0-1-1)
Tyros Stakes winner (Gleneagles): 2 (0-1-1)
July Stakes winner (Ivawood): 3 (0-1-1)
Champagne Stakes winner (Estidhkaar): 23 (0-1-2)
Prix de Fontainebleau winner (Territories): 520 (0-1-3)
Futurity Stakes winner (Gleneagles): 0304 (0-1-4)
4 of 10 winners ran in the Dewhurst Stakes, finishing 1131
3 of 10 winners ran in the Coventry Stakes, finishing 111
3 of 10 winners ran in Greenham Stakes, finishing 211
2 of 10 winners ran in the Prix Morny, finishing 33
2 of 10 winners ran in the Railway Stakes, finishing 31
2 of 10 winners ran in the Phoenix Stakes, finishing 21
2 of 10 winners ran in the National Stakes, finishing 11

Trainers


British trained runners: 6-9-52
Irish trained runners: 4-7-32
French trained runners: 0-2-8
German trained: 0-1-1
Other: 0-0-2
Aidan O’Brien (3-8-24) has won 4 of the last 13 runnings of this race. His first string has a record since 2005 of 3-3-10.
The Richard Hannon yard (1-3-8) saddled the 1-2 in 2010 and the runner-up in 2013 & 2014.
Andre Fabre hasn’t saddled a runner since filling runner-up spot in 2004.

Draw (excluding 2005 when run at York)
horses drawn 1 to 3: 3-2-27
horses drawn 4 to 6: 4-4-27
horses drawn 7 or higher: 2-12-36
No very strong trends on the draw, though 7 of last 9 winners at Ascot came from 5 or lower.

Price


10 of 10 winners were priced 9/1 or below
This has not been a race for upsets in the past 10 years with the winner coming from the first 4 in the betting in each of last 10 years and no winner going off bigger than 9/1.
Favourites (7-0-11) have won 7 of the last 10, giving a level stakes profit of 4.58.





Summary:


Based on the trends from the past 10 years you are looking for a horse:


- Sired by a group 1 winner over 6F to 1M
- Won first time out & won a group race as a 2yo (or placed in a group 1)
- First 3 in Morny, National, Phoenix, Coventry, Dewhurst and/or Railway Stakes as 2yo
- Ran in the past 30 days
- Won last time out (or beaten in a Classic)
- Posted an RPR of 116+ on last run over 7F or 1M
- Group 1 winner (finished in first 3 in a group 1)
- Finished in the first 2 in Irish, French and/or English 2000 Guineas
- Finished in first 2 in Greenham Stakes
- Ran in Irish 2000 Guineas or a French Classic last time out
- Priced 9/1 or below (favourite has a very strong record)
- Trained by Aidan O’Brien or Richard Hannon.