Cesarewitch Handicap
Encyclopedia
The Cesarewitch Handicap is a flat
horse race
in Great Britain
which is open to thoroughbred
s aged three years or older. It is run at Newmarket
over a distance of 2 miles and 2 furlongs (3,621 metres), and the latter part is on the Rowley Mile. It is scheduled to take place each year in October.
The event was established in 1839, and the inaugural running was won by Cruiskeen. The name "Cesarewitch" is an anglicised version of Tsesarevich
, the title of the heir to the throne in Imperial Russia. The race was named in honour of Tsesarevich Alexander
(later Tsar Alexander II), after he had donated £300 to the Jockey Club
. It was founded in the same year as another major handicap at Newmarket, the Cambridgeshire
. The two events came to be known as the "Autumn Double".
The Cesarewitch initially took place before the Cambridgeshire, but the schedule was later reversed and it is now held two weeks after the other race. Three horses completed the double in the 19th century — Rosebery (1876), Foxhall (1881) and Plaisanterie
(1885) — but since then the feat has been rarely attempted.
The Cesarewitch Handicap is usually contested by a large field, and the maximum number of runners is currently 34. From 2011 it will be staged on Future Champions Day along with the Dewhurst Stakes
and Middle Park Stakes
.
Most successful horse:
----
Leading jockey
(6 wins):
----
Leading trainer
(4 wins):
The 1986 and 1999 editions were held on Newmarket's July Course over a slightly shorter distance.
* The 1893 race was a dead-heat and has joint winners.
Flat racing
Flat racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing which is run over a level track at a predetermined distance. It differs from steeplechase racing which is run over hurdles...
horse race
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
which is open to thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
s aged three years or older. It is run at Newmarket
Newmarket Racecourse
The town of Newmarket, in Suffolk, England, is the headquarters of British horseracing, home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations. Newmarket Racecourse has two courses - the Rowley Mile Course and the July Course. Both are wide, galloping...
over a distance of 2 miles and 2 furlongs (3,621 metres), and the latter part is on the Rowley Mile. It is scheduled to take place each year in October.
The event was established in 1839, and the inaugural running was won by Cruiskeen. The name "Cesarewitch" is an anglicised version of Tsesarevich
Tsesarevich
Tsesarevich was the title of the heir apparent or presumptive in the Russian Empire. It either preceded or replaced the given name and patronymic.-Usage:...
, the title of the heir to the throne in Imperial Russia. The race was named in honour of Tsesarevich Alexander
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
(later Tsar Alexander II), after he had donated £300 to the Jockey Club
Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the largest commercial organisation in British horseracing. Although no longer responsible for the governance and regulation of the sport, it owns 14 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham and Newmarket, amongst other concerns such as the National Stud and...
. It was founded in the same year as another major handicap at Newmarket, the Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire Handicap
The Cambridgeshire Handicap is a flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile and 1 furlong , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late September or early October.The event...
. The two events came to be known as the "Autumn Double".
The Cesarewitch initially took place before the Cambridgeshire, but the schedule was later reversed and it is now held two weeks after the other race. Three horses completed the double in the 19th century — Rosebery (1876), Foxhall (1881) and Plaisanterie
Plaisanterie
Plaisanterie was a Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by the Comte de Dauger, she was sold in England for FF825 at the Tattersalls September yearling sale. She was purchased by trainer Thomas Carter, Jr., a member of the renowned English Racing Colony at Chantilly , in equal partnership with...
(1885) — but since then the feat has been rarely attempted.
The Cesarewitch Handicap is usually contested by a large field, and the maximum number of runners is currently 34. From 2011 it will be staged on Future Champions Day along with the Dewhurst Stakes
Dewhurst Stakes
The Dewhurst Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in October.The event was established in 1875, and it...
and Middle Park Stakes
Middle Park Stakes
The Middle Park Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 6 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late September or early October.The event was established...
.
Records
Most successful horse:
- no horse has won this race more than once
----
Leading jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
(6 wins):
- Doug SmithDoug Smith (jockey)Doug Smith was an English flat racing jockey and trainer. During his career he was champion jockey 5 times finishing second on the rider's list 7 times, riding a total of 3,112 winners...
– Canatrice (1939), French Design (1954), Sandiacre (1957), Come to Daddy (1959), Alcove (1960), Persian Lancer (1966)
----
Leading trainer
Horse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
(4 wins):
- William Day – Haco (1853), Dulcibella (1860), Thalestris (1864), Foxhall (1881)
- Mathew DawsonMathew DawsonMathew Dawson was a British racehorse trainer. In a career which lasted from 1840 until his death in 1898 he trained the winners of twenty-eight British Classic Races, a figure surpassed by only two other men. He was significant as one of the first trainers to run a public stable, rather than...
– Lioness (1863), Julius (1867), Salvanos (1872), Stone Clink (1886)
Winners since 1974
- Weights given in stones and poundPound (mass)The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
s.Year Winner Age Weight Jockey Trainer SP Starting PricesIn horse racing, the starting price is the odds prevailing in the on-course fixed-odds betting market at the time a race begins. The method by which SPs are set for each runner varies in different countries but is generally by consensus of an appointed panel on the basis of their observations of...Time 1974 Ocean King 8 7-07 Tommy Carter Arthur Pitt 25/1 1975 Shantallah 3 8-10 Brian Taylor Brian Taylor (jockey)Brian Taylor was a successful jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing best known for riding Snow Knight to victory in the 1974 Epsom Derby.Taylor was born in Southend-on-Sea, in Essex, England...Harry Wragg Harry WraggHarry Wragg was a British jockey and trainer.Wragg became a jockey in 1920. The Champion Jockey in 1941, he rode 13 winners of British Classic Races, as follows:*1,000 Guineas - Campanula , Herringbone , Sun Stream...7/1 1976 John Cherry 5 9-13 Lester Piggott Lester PiggottLester Keith Piggott is a retired English professional jockey, popularly known as "The Long Fellow". With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, he is one of the most well-known English flat racing jockeys of all time....Jeremy Tree Jeremy TreeArthur Jeremy Tree, was a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.-Background:Born into a prominent London, England family, Tree was always known by his middle name, Jeremy. His father was Ronald Tree, an American-born British journalist, investor and Conservative Member of Parliament for the...13/2 1977 Assured 4 8-04 Philip Waldron Henry Candy 10/1 1978 Centurion 3 9-08 John Matthias Ian Balding Ian BaldingIan Balding emigrated with his family to England in 1945. He is the son of the polo player and racehorse trainer Gerald Barnard Balding, Sr. and the younger brother of trainer Toby Balding. Kingsclere became his home at the age of 26 and it is here that earned his reputation as an internationally...9/2 F 1979 Sir Michael 3 7-08 Mark Rimmer Geoff Huffer 10/1 1980 Popsi's Joy 4 8-06 Lester Piggott Lester PiggottLester Keith Piggott is a retired English professional jockey, popularly known as "The Long Fellow". With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, he is one of the most well-known English flat racing jockeys of all time....Michael Haynes 10/1 1981 Halsbury 3 8-04 Joe Mercer Joe Mercer (jockey)Joseph Mercer is a retired English Thoroughbred race horse jockey. He was active as a jockey from 1947 to 1985 and rode a total of 2,810 winners in Britain, a figure exceeded only by Sir Gordon Richards, Lester Piggott and Doug Smith at the time of Mercer’s retirement, and subsequently only...Peter Walwyn Peter WalwynPeter Tyndall Walwyn is a retired British racehorse trainer. He was based at stables at in the Lambourn, Berkshire, area and enjoyed his period of greatest success in the mid 1970s when he was British flat racing Champion Trainer twice....14/1 1982 Mountain Lodge 3 7-10 Willie Carson Willie CarsonWilliam Fisher Hunter Carson, OBE is a retired jockey in thoroughbred horse racing.-Life and career:Best known as "Miserable Willie", Carson was born in Stirling, Scotland. In 1957 he was apprenticed to Captain Gerald Armstrong at his stables at Tupgill, North Yorkshire...John Dunlop John L. DunlopJohn L. 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His father was Ronald Tree, an American-born British journalist, investor and Conservative Member of Parliament for the...20/1 1987 Private Audition 5 7-09 Gary Carter Mark Tompkins Mark TompkinsMark Tompkins is a British horse racer and trainer. He is currently the chairman of the Newmarket Trainers Federation. He worked as an assistant for the trainers Walter Wharton and Ryan Jarvis before working he began training independently. He has been a trainer at the Flint Cottage Stables for the...50/1 3:59.05 1988 Nomadic Way 3 7-09 Willie Carson Willie CarsonWilliam Fisher Hunter Carson, OBE is a retired jockey in thoroughbred horse racing.-Life and career:Best known as "Miserable Willie", Carson was born in Stirling, Scotland. In 1957 he was apprenticed to Captain Gerald Armstrong at his stables at Tupgill, North Yorkshire...Barry Hills Barry HillsBarry Hills is a British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England.-Biography:Barry Hills had three sons in his first marriage: John, Michael, and Richard. John is a horse trainer, and both Michael and Richard are jockeys. After his divorce, he married Penny Hills, and had two more...6/1 JF 4:00.61 1989 Double Dutch 5 9-10 Billy Newnes Brooke Sanders 15/2 3:51.32 1990 Trainglot 3 7-12 Willie Carson Willie CarsonWilliam Fisher Hunter Carson, OBE is a retired jockey in thoroughbred horse racing.-Life and career:Best known as "Miserable Willie", Carson was born in Stirling, Scotland. In 1957 he was apprenticed to Captain Gerald Armstrong at his stables at Tupgill, North Yorkshire...Jimmy FitzGerald 13/2 3:50.90 1991 Go South 7 7-11 Nicky Carlisle John Jenkins 33/1 3:52.76 1992 Vintage Crop Vintage CropVintage Crop was a popular Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in flat racing in Ireland, England, and Australia from 1992 to 1995. He won 16 races in Ireland and England, and one of his greatest achievements was winning over two miles and two furlongs in the 1992 Cesarewitch Handicap at...5 9-06 Walter Swinburn Walter SwinburnWalter R. Swinburn is a retired flat racing jockey who competed in Great Britain and Ireland as well as internationally.Swinburn was born in Oxford...Dermot Weld Dermot WeldDermot K. Weld is one of Ireland's most successful racehorse trainers. He holds the record for the most winners trained in Ireland ....5/1 F 3:49.16 1993 Aahsaylad 7 8-12 John Williams John White 12/1 3:59.52 1994 Captain's Guest 4 9-09 Tony Clark Guy Harwood Guy HarwoodGuy Harwood is a retired British racehorse trainer. Harwood was born in Pulborough, West Sussex, in 1939. 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The 1986 and 1999 editions were held on Newmarket's July Course over a slightly shorter distance.
Earlier winners
* The 1857 running finished as a three-way dead-heat, but it was decided by a run-off.* The 1893 race was a dead-heat and has joint winners.