The Great Voltigeur Stakes – An eagerly awaited event
The Great Voltigeur Stakes is held annually at York in England and three-year-old thoroughbred colts and geldings are invited to take part in it. The distance to cover in the event is 1 mile and 4 furlongs, thus the stamina of all participants is put to
a stern test in it.
The Group-2 event is a part of the four-day race meeting, Ebor Festival, and is held on the first day, which is known as the Juddmonte International Day. Plenty of owners and trainers look forward to this event, as it offers them a great opportunity to earn
respect amongst the horseracing fraternity.
Voltigeur was the name of a British thoroughbred racehorse, who enjoyed a very good time between 1849 until 1852. He participated in a total of 10 events and was victorious on five occasions, which goes onto show what he was capable of. His rivalry with
The Flying Dutchman is considered to be one of the greatest in history of the sport and both runners gave a tough time to each other.
Other than having a wonderful career as a racehorse, Voltigeur was successful as a sire. He entertained a lot of horseracing fans worldwide, thus an event was named after him in 1950.
Earlier, it was called the Voltigeur Stakes, but the word “Great” was added to it after seven years in 1957. Many top class jockeys and trainers have enjoyed success in the prestigious race, but a few have simply been the best.
The most successful jockey in the Group-2 event was Lester Piggott, who won it on nine occasions. He was one of the greatest riders of his time and had claimed 4,493 career victories.
On the other hand, Sir Michael Stoute has enjoyed the highest number of victories as a trainer in this event. He has been successful on six times and can still add more victories to that tally, as he is still going strongly.
Over the past decade, trainers like Mark Johnston, Aidan O'Brien, Saeed bin Suroor and Sir Michael Stoute have been prominent in the Great Voltigeur Stakes. The latter of them was victorious last year with his runner, Sea Moon. He will once again be eying
a strong show in the mega event this year.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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