A Group 2 contest, run over six furlongs and worth £175,000, the Coventry Stakes currently has the distinction of being the first two-year-old race at Royal Ascot, scheduled, as it is, as the second event on the opening day. The race was established in 1890 and takes its name from that of George William Coventry, the ninth Earl, who was Master of the Buckhounds during the reign of Queen Victoria. Between 1971 and 2003, the Coventry Stakes held Group 3 status, but was promoted to Group 2 status in 2004.
The legendary Sir Gordon Richards remains the leading jockey in the history of the Coventry Stakes win nine winners, while current trainer Aidan O’Brien leads the way with no fewer than 11 winners, including two of the last three, River Tiber (2023) and Gstaad (2025). Perhaps the most notable winner of the Coventry Stakes in recent year, though, was Dawn Approach (2012), who went on to win the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on his three-year-old debut and returned to Royal Ascot to win the St. James’s Palace Stakes later in the campaign.
Five favourites, four of which were saddled by Aidan O’Brien, have won the Coventry Stakes in the past decade, but Nando Parrado (2020) and Rashabar (2024) caused seismic shocks at odds of 150/1 and 80/1 respectively. Recent winning, or at least placed, form, preferably over six furlongs, has been a prerequisite for winning the Coventry Stakes more often than not in that period. It is also worth noting that trainers Richard Hannon and Richard Fahey both have a poor recent record.