Middle Park Stakes betting with William Hill

The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 race for two-year-olds over six furlongs at Newmarket in September. Middle Park Stakes betting features a fascinating clash between the season’s more precocious juveniles and un-exposed Classic prospects.

The Middle Park Stakes has produced subsequent 2000 Guineas winners in the past, notably Brigadier Gerard (1970), Known Fact (1979) and Rodrigo de Triano (1991). In more recent years, champion sprinters Oasis Dream (2002) and Dream Ahead (2010) have been successful in this race.

Middle Park Stakes betting tips

Around half of recent Middle Park Stakes winners had won their previous race. Almost all of them had raced at least twice and once within the last seven weeks.

Many previous winners had won two or more races, usually one of those coming in a Group race. Middle Park Stakes winners are usually officially rated 105 or higher.

Leading French trainer Andre Fabre won this race in 1990 and 1992 with Lycius and Zieten. Both horses were trained for the Classics in the spring, Lycius finishing second to Mystiko in the 2000 Guineas.

Zieten was well beaten in the French 2000 Guineas and both colts reverted to sprinting. There have been very few runners from France in this race in recent seasons.

The Newmarket track has no obvious draw bias but it is interesting that many recent winners have led or raced prominently throughout. You should look for horses that have shown plenty of early speed when assessing Middle Park Stakes tips.

Middle Park Stakes betting trends

Favourites have a mixed record in the Middle Park Stakes. Bushranger (2008), Dream Ahead (2010), Shalaa (2015) and Ten Sovereigns (2018) all dominated the Middle Park Stakes betting and returned odds-on favourite.

Reckless Abandon was joint-favourite when successful in 2012, but there have been plenty of surprises in between.

Crusade (2011) and The Last Lion (2016) were both 25-1 outsiders and Charming Thought (2014) was 22-1. They were trained by Aidan O’Brien, Mark Johnston and Charlie Appleby respectively.

The Middle Park Stakes does have a history of throwing up the occasional big priced winner. Steve Cauthen won on 50-1 outsider Creag-An-Sgor in 1983, becoming the longest priced winner in the history of the race.

Middle Park Stakes betting - ante-post pointers

US Navy Flag and Ten Sovereigns both won the Group 3 Round Tower Stakes at the Curragh prior to winning here.

Reckless Abandon won the Prix Robert Papin and the Prix Morny before winning the Middle Park Stakes narrowly in 2012. The Prix Morny was also won by Bushranger before his 2008 victory.

Dark Angel won the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury on his seventh start of the season before adding the Middle Park Stakes in 2007. The Last Lion had also contested many of the top juvenile sprint races prior to his 25-1 victory in 2016.

The Dewhurst Stakes is an option for Middle Park Stakes winners, US Navy Flag winning both races in 2017. He then travelled to Del Mar and was unplaced in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Bushranger and Crusade also made the journey to America after winning at Newmarket, but without success. US Navy Flag was runner-up in the Irish 2000 Guineas before reverting to sprinting to win the July Cup.

Middle Park Stakes winners have gone on to run in the 2000 Guineas the following season. Prince Charlie became the first horse to win both races in 1871-1872. Brigadier Gerard (1970-1971) is the most famous racehorse to complete the double.

The trend has been much more towards top quality sprinters in this race in recent years. Champion sprinters Oasis Dream (2002) and Dream Ahead (2010) both won the Middle Park Stakes as two-year-olds.

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Middle Park Stakes history and memorable winners

The Middle Park Stakes was first run in 1866 when it was won by The Rake. It was originally open to fillies, but was restricted to colts in 1987.

Brigadier Gerard was only third favourite at 11-2 when he defeated Mummy’s Pet and My Swallow in 1970. He won 17 of his 18 career starts including the 2000 Guineas (1971), Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (1971 and 1972) and Eclipse Stakes (1972).

Known Fact won in 1979, trained by Jeremy Tree and ridden by Willie Carson. He became English champion miler in 1980, where his victories included the 2000 Guineas. He finished in second place but was awarded the race when Nureyev was controversially disqualified for causing interference.

Rodrigo de Triano was trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam and won the Middle Park Stakes in 1991 with Willie Carson in the saddle. Lester Piggott took over the reins in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in 1992, winning his 30th and final Classic race.

Johannesburg was a brilliant winner in 2001 for Aidan O’Brien and went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The 2002 victor Oasis Dream was crowned Champion sprinter of Europe the following season after winning the July Cup and the Nunthorpe Stakes.

Dream Ahead won the Middle Park Stakes in 2010 and provided Hayley Turner with a memorable victory in the 2011 July Cup. She became the first female jockey to win a Group 1 race outright in Britain. Alex Greaves had dead-heated for the Nunthorpe Stakes at York on Ya Malak in 1997.

The Middle Park Stakes was part of Newmarket’s Future Champions Day between 2011 and 2015. It then reverted to its original place on the calendar at the Cambridgeshire meeting.

Sir Gordon Richards and Lester Piggott both won the Middle Park Stakes six times. Piggott’s last victory in the race came aboard Diesis for Sir Henry Cecil in 1982.

The victory of Ten Sovereigns in 2018 was the sixth for Aidan O’Brien, establishing him as the leading trainer of all time in the race. It was also a sixth success for owner Susan Magnier, equalling the record of His Highness The Aga Khan III.

Middle Park Stakes betting 2021

Aidan O’Brien will be seeking a third successive victory and his seventh in total in 2019. Ten Sovereigns was very short in the Middle Park Stakes odds last year, winning by half a length at 8/13.

US Navy Flag was not the most fancied of his four runners the previous season and returned at 10/1. Crusade was an even bigger shock in 2011 when winning at 25/1 with his more fancied stable companion Reply back in third.

Both US Navy Flag and Crusade were ridden by Seamie Heffernan. There is almost certain to be another strong contender from Ballydoyle in the Middle Park Stakes betting in 2019.

John Gosden has won the race twice with Oasis Dream and Shalaa, both natural speedsters. Mark Johnston also has two previous victories to his credit, Awzaan (2009) and The Last Lion (2016).

The latter was a precocious two-year-old and won the Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster. He won three of his nine races and was retired to stud after defeating hot favourite Blue Point.

Kevin Ryan trained Amadeus Wolf to win this race in 2005 and won again with Astaire in 2013. Amadeus Wolf was placed in the Nunthorpe Stakes, Prix Maurice de Gheest and Haydock Sprint Cup.

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