Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Betting Tips

The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is one of five championship contests run on British Champions Day. It takes place over 1m on the straight course, just like the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, but unlike that race, is open to horses aged three and over as opposed to four.

Run since 1955, the race has been fortunate enough to host some of the greatest ever flat horses. The likes of Brigadier Gerard, Dubai Millennium and Frankel all appear on the roll call of illustrious honours.

The 2024 field for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes will crown another great champion on Saturday, 19th October. Our tipsters Andrew Mount and Matty Sutcliffe will both pick their tips for the race, and can be found here.

Tips to follow

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Favourites Runners & Form

The standout miler among the older generation this season has been Charyn, with Roger Varian’s four-year-old improving with every start this term. The grey had found it very difficult to win during his Classic campaign, but has stepped forward markedly to win four of his five races this term, with the last two being Group 1s.

Those victories were both secured by more than two lengths, including a dominant display in the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville. He deals with any surface, and will be very difficult to beat.

Closest to him in the market are a trio of three-year-olds, two of whom are Classic winners. That pair are Fallen Angel, the Irish 1000 Guineas winner in impressive style, and Notable Speech, who bounced back from a disappointment at Royal Ascot to win the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, backing up his 2000 Guineas success. As well as them, Opera Singer could well prove popular if dropping back to 1m having claimed the Nassau Stakes for her first top level victory of the year.

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Racecourse 

Though it can host races over 1m on the round course too, the straight course is utilised for this contest. This is the same track used for the Queen Anne Stakes and every handicap hosted over 1m at the royal meeting.

The race is open to any horse aged three and upwards, and can be contested by both colts and fillies. The Classic generation has dominated of late, but horses aged five have also been victorious in the last decade too.

In big-field races, the pace bias can actually help those held up, while the track bias is only recognisable come the time of the race, with it varying between the stands and far side. However, depending on how many runners turn up, smaller fields can lead to front runners dominating.

Betting Strategies for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

Champions Day is one of the last flat meetings of the season, making it a good time to win some final bets on the level. The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes can be betted on in numerous ways.

Each Way

33/1 shot Bayside Boy would have rewarded win backers as well as those betting each-way in 2022, but in recent years, 14/1 shot Facteur Cheval finished runner-up in 2023, while Lady Bowthorpe was a 40/1 third in 2021. Had bettors backed these horses each-way, guaranteeing money back for those finishing in the places as well as if they won, they would have returned healthily in profit.

Non Runner No Bet

This race is well prescribed from an early stage of the flat season. However, few of those early entries will actually turn up on the day. Some horses may be priced up at odds which are too tempting, but backing them with NRNB terms can ensure you do not lose out fully.

Without the Favourite

The 2015 edition was a great renewal for those who backed the runner-up in the “without the favourite” market. The winner was French great Solow, who scored at 11/10, but the runner-up, Belardo, was a 33/1 shot, and would not have traded too much shorter in the without the favourite stakes.

Are There Any Specific Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Betting Offers?

There will definitely be betting offers in place for Champions Day when the event approaches. Some of these will pertain specifically for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes too, whether these are odds boosts on certain horses, or each-way extra promises.

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Trends & Historic Data

As mentioned earlier, the record of three-year-olds in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is excellent in the past decade. Seven of the ten renewals since 2014 have gone to that age group, including the last three. That is something current favourite Charyn will have to overcome significantly as a four-year-old.

Favourites have been surprisingly unsuccessful though. Although Baaeed was just a 2/1 shot in 2021, he still started as second favourite behind Palace Pier, ensuring we are without a market leader winning this race since Roaring Lion in 2018. Champions Day is often run on soft ground in mid-October due to prevailing weather conditions, which has the propensity to throw up shocks.

Seven of the last decade’s winners have been drawn in the higher half too, with Solow in 2015 the last horse to be drawn in the lowest five stalls. With some of those ten runnings being run in fields of ten or smaller, this is a noteworthy trend.

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Past Winners

Year	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
2023	Big Rock	Christopher Head	Aurelien Lemaitre	6/1
2022	Bayside Boy	Roger Varian	Tom Marquand	3/1
2021	Baaeed	William Haggas	Jim Crowley	2/1
2020	The Revenant	Francis-Henri Graffard	Pierre-Charles Boudot	5/1
2019	King Of Change	Richard Hannon	Sean Levey	12/1
2018	Roaring Lion	John Gosden	Oisin Murphy	2/1F
2017	Persuasive	John Gosden	Frankie Dettori	8/1
2016	Minding	Aidan O’Brien	Ryan Moore	7/4F
2015	Solow	Freddie Head	Maxime Guyon	11/10F
2014	Charm Spirit	Freddie Head	Olivier Peslier	5/1