Glorious Goodwood Races, Format & History

A Complete History of Glorious Goodwood

Referred to as “A garden party with racing tacked on” by ardent racing – and partying – enthusiast King Edward VII, Glorious Goodwood continues to balance relaxation and top-quality equine action with aplomb.

The racing has in truth cast an ever-larger shadow over the garden party aspect of this meeting as the years have gone by, largely down to the steadily increasing quality of the fare on offer. Here we take a look at the key events which have helped to make Glorious Goodwood the summertime racing highlight that it is today.

1802 – Racing Begins At Goodwood

The first racing of any description actually took place a year earlier than this in 1801. That initial gathering was a largely private affair though, hosted by the Duke of Richmond for the local army officers.

It was the meeting in 1802 which was the first to be open to the public. Held over three days, this marked the day when the seed was sown for the five-day bonanza we know and love today. Before too long the meeting would be christened “Glorious Goodwood” by the press, although the festival wouldn’t really take shape for a number of years.

1808 – Inaugural Goodwood Cup

The Goodwood Cup remains one of the real flagship contests at the Sussex venue to this day, and is one of only three Group 1 (status granted in 2017) contests to be held at the Glorious Goodwood Festival.

Initially held over a three-mile trip, a horse by the name of Bucephalus won each of the first three editions, leading to the race’s silver trophy being awarded to his connections on a permanent basis. A gold trophy has been awarded to the winner ever since.

Whilst stamina is still the number one pre-requisite for success, the race isn’t quite the marathon it was, with the distance being decreased to two miles in 1990.

1814 – Glorious In July For The First Time

Late July/early August wouldn’t be quite the same for modern racing fans without this cracking meeting. It wasn’t always this way though, with the 12 initial editions being held in May, before then switching to July in 1814.

1840 – Nassau Stakes And Stewards’ Cup Make Their Debuts

The majority of the racing festivals to take place over the course of the season offer top notch events restricted to the fillies’ and mares, and Glorious Goodwood is no different. Held over a distance just shy of 1m2f, and named in honour of the House of Orange-Nassau (a Dutch aristocratic house with close ties to the then Duke of Richmond), the race was finally granted Group 1 status in 1999.

Also joining the meeting in this year was the race which has grown into the standout handicap contest to be run over the five days – the Stewards’ Cup. Initially held on the opening day of the meeting, the popularity of the contest saw it moved to a headlining spot in the heart of the card on the closing Saturday in 1993.

1841 – Sussex Stakes Enters The Fray

The Goodwood Cup may have slightly more history behind it, but for many racing fans the undoubted standout contest of the week is this event held over the one-mile trip. A Group 1 affair for runners aged three and older, the event lays on a high-class clash of the generations year after year.

The first ever edition of the Sussex Stakes run in 1841 however bore little resemblance to the event we know and love today, being as it was a 6f affair for the two year olds. It wasn’t until 1878 that the distance was increased to one mile and the race was opened to three year olds. Four year olds were then permitted to enter in 1960, with those aged five and older following in 1975.

1877 – First Richmond Stakes

One of the top events for the juveniles of the meeting, this Group 2 affair was originally open to all, but has been restricted to male runners since 1989. 1949 champ Palestine is perhaps the most significant winner in the race’s history, with the colt having gone on to further success in the 1950 2000 Guineas.

1878 – Hungarian King

There are many international superstars to have strutted their stuff at this meeting over the years, but not many who quite compare to 1878 Goodwood Cup winner, Kingscem. The greatest Hungarian racehorse of all time posted an astonishing 54 race unbeaten record over the course of his career, a feat unlikely to ever be seen again.

1911 – King Honoured At Goodwood

1911 saw the Coronation of a new king in the shape of King George V. Goodwood racecourse paid their own tribute to the new monarch with the introduction of a brand new contest at the meeting.

Held over the flying 5f track, the King George Stakes is one of the major draws of the summer months for the real speedballs in training. Won by many of the true greats of the sprinting game, including the brilliant Lochsong, the race was granted its current Group 2 status in 2010.

1941 – Newmarket To The Rescue

In common with many racecourses in Britain, there was no racing held at Goodwood between the war years of 1915-18 and 1940-45. Whilst this does leave a gap in the history of the great festival races, Newmarket did at least do their bit to help out in 1941 – staging both the Sussex Stakes and King George Stakes that year. As of 2019, this remains the only occasion any of the major Glorious Goodwood contests have been held away from their Sussex home.

1953 – Popularity Booms

Glorious Goodwood became a key date on the social calendars of the elite almost as soon as it began but it didn’t take too long for a groundswell of support to emerge amongst the general public. 1953 marked a real watershed moment in this regard as a record crowd of 55,000 watched the action at the track, with around 21,000 estimated to be observing from the free-to-access Trundle Hill.

1970 – Four Becomes Five

Given the growing popularity of the meeting, it wasn’t too surprising when the decision was taken to add an extra day in order to cater to demand and, dare we suggest, make a few more quid as well. Traditionally a Tuesday to Friday affair, the Saturday was added to this meeting in 1970 and it has been held as a five-day event ever since.

1975 – A Vintage Addition

The 1975 edition of the festival saw a bolstering of the juvenile roster with the introduction of a 7f event, the Vintage Stakes. Initially a Listed contest, the race was granted Group 2 status in 2003, and has thrown up a number of future Classic winners over the years, including Epsom Derby kings, Troy, Dr Devious and Sir Percy.

1980 – Royal Attendance

She may be more famous for her attendance at a certain other summertime racing festival, but Her Majesty the Queen does turn up at Glorious Goodwood from time to time. HRH was called into action at the track in 1980 in order to officially open the brand new March Stand.

The structure wasn’t just liked by the Queen though. The Concrete Society most certainly approved of Goodwood’s latest offering, awarding the March Stand their annual award for 1980. Who says Glorious Goodwood isn’t glamourous?

1990 – Modern Modifications

Always keen to move with the times, the racecourse underwent extensive modifications prior to the 1990 festival, with improvements made to the pre-parade ring and winner’s enclosure amongst other areas. A big improvement for racegoers overall, some of the changes also made things a little easier for the horses themselves due to a decrease in race distances. As a result of the reconfiguration, it was necessary to move the winning post a total of 31 yards closer to the race start lines.

1998 – Double Does The Treble

There had been a fair number of horses do the double in Goodwood’s showpiece staying contest over the years – but until 1998 no horse had landed three Goodwood Cups. The horse to change all that was Mark Johnston’s hugely popular stayer, Double Trigger. First successful in 1995, he missed the 1996 edition, but returned to stamp his authority on proceedings in 1997 and 1998.

2000 – Endless Infamy

The turn of the century saw one of the more unusual incidents in the history of this marvellous meeting, in an ultimately ill-fated act of fraud. John Gosden (who it should be noted was innocent in all of this) sent out Endless Summer to come home in front in the Richmond Stakes, with the colt later going on to finish second in a Group 1 over in France.

Nothing unusual in that, but upon closer inspection it was discovered that the horse’s birth had been deliberately mis-registered, and Endless Summer was in fact officially a three year old throughout his “juvenile” season. Such unfair advantages are frowned upon by the authorities and the horse was subsequently disqualified from all four of his juvenile starts.

2000 – Lennox Makes Debut

The turn of the century saw a welcome addition to the Goodwood offering as the Lennox Stakes made its debut. A replacement for the discontinued Beeswing Stakes at Newcastle, the race provides a Group race platform for those specialist 7f performers. Initially introduced as a Group 3, the status of the race was raised to Group 2 just three years after its debut.

2003 – Lillie Latest Group Addition

The Lilly Langtry Stakes entered the fray in 2003, although this 1m6f event for the fillies and mares went under the title of the Gladness Stakes in that first year. Goodwood Cup winner Gladness had her name in up in lights for just the one year though, as in 2004 the contest was renamed in honour of one of the mistresses of King Edward VII, and has been known as the Lilly Langtry Stakes ever since. 2015 champ Simple Verse is easily the most famous winner in the brief history of the event, having gone on to claim Classic glory in the St. Leger.

2006 – Goodwood’s Race Of The Century

The 1975 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot is widely touted as the race of the 20th century, but when it comes to head to head battles in the 21st century, the 2006 Nassau Stakes laid down a marker that may be tough to beat.

Defending champion Alexandra Goldrun and all-time great Ouija Board were the fillies involved in what turned into a truly titanic tussle. Seven fillies went to post that day, but there were only two in this from well over 2f out. Alexandra Goldrun initially looking to be travelling better, but following a prolonged hammer and tongs battle, it was Ouija Board who prevailed by a short head under the Frankie Dettori drive. This brilliant finish is now a contest etched in racing folklore.

2011 – Midday Magnificent

The great Sir Henry Cecil will be forever associated with the wonder horse that was Frankel, but he did have a few other good ones come through his ranks prior to the “greatest of all time”, including the tough and talented filly, Midday.

Roussalka (1975,1976) and Ruby Tiger (1991,1992) had been the only dual winners of the Nassau Stakes prior to 2009. Not only did Midday equal that when coming home in front in 2009 and 2010, she then promptly went on to claim top spot in 2011 too – becoming the first ever three-time champ, 171 years after the inaugural running of the race.

2012 – The Greatest Graces Goodwood

It takes a good horse to win the Sussex Stakes on one occasion. To land the prize twice had proved beyond all those who had attempted it until 2012. It was no ordinary horse lining up to defend his crown in that year though.

Five lengths too good for Canford Cliffs in the “duel on the downs” in 2011, the mighty Frankel was sent off at odds of just 1/20 in 2012, and duly delivered when slamming his unfortunate rivals by six lengths – becoming the first ever dual winner in the history of the race.

2014 – Qatar Boost

Already competitive in terms of the prize money on offer, Glorious Goodwood received a big sponsorship boost ahead of the 2014 festival. So big in fact that it was the biggest sponsorship agreement in the history of British horseracing.

The gulf nation of Qatar were the significant new backers, immediately boosting the prize money over the course of the week by £2million, with an agreement in place to increase this still further year upon year. The official title of the meeting has been the Qatar Goodwood Festival ever since, although, of course, almost everyone still refers to it as Glorious Goodwood.

2017 – Double Figures For Sir Michael

Renowned for his success with older horses, the truth is that Sir Michael Stoute is a master trainer across the board – including with his three year olds. One of the finest examples of his prowess comes in Glorious Goodwood’s Gordon Stakes. First successful with Electric in 1982, Stoute landed this Group 3 prize for a remarkable tenth time with Crystal Ocean in 2017.

2019 – History Makers

The King George Stakes and Goodwood Cup may come at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the distance over which they are run, but in 2019 they did have something in common – namely that the winner of each race entered the history books for the very same reason.

Prior to 2019 no horse had won either race three years in succession. Now both contests have treble heroes on their roll of honour. Stradivarius was the first to deliver in the opening day’s Goodwood Cup, joining Double Trigger (who missed a year between his first and second wins) on three successes in the race. Then came the bullet-like Battaash from the yard of Charles Hills who scorched the turf for the third year in a row in the Day Four event for the speedsters.