The Queen Mary Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to two-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 5 furlongs (1,006 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in June.
The event is named after Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. It was established in 1921, and the inaugural running was won by Wild Mint.
The present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, and for a period the Queen Mary Stakes was classed at Group 3 level. It was promoted to Group 2 status in 2004.
The Queen Mary Stakes is now staged on day two of the five-day Royal Ascot meeting.
Read more about Queen Mary Stakes: Records, Winners Since 1978, Earlier Winners
Famous quotes containing the words queen, mary and/or stakes:
““Speak when you’re spoken to!” the Queen sharply interrupted her.
“But if everybody obeyed that rule,” said Alice, who was always ready for a little argument, “and if you only spoke when you were spoken to, and the other person always waited for you to begin, you see nobody would ever say anything, so that—””
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“Howard Beale is processed, instant God, and right now it looks like he might just go over bigger than Mary Tyler Moore.”
—Paddy Chayefsky (1923–1981)
“Law makes long spokes of the short stakes of men.”
—William Empson (1906–1984)