Nowadays, the Sandringham Stakes is a 0-105 handicap, run over a straight mile, open to three-year-old fillies only and worth £110,000 in prize money. It is currently scheduled as the fifth race on the fourth day of Royal Ascot. The race was inaugurated, as the Fern Hill Stakes, in 1834, when it was staged at the Ascot Heath meeting on the Saturday following Royal Ascot. Royal Ascot was extended to a fifth day in 2002, at which point the Fern Hill Stakes was renamed after the Royal estate in Norfolk. The Sandringham Stakes was downgraded, losing it previous Listed status, after the 2017 renewal, following a rule change by the European Pattern Committee.
Nine of the last 10 renewals of the Sandringham Stakes have attracted a least 21 runners and, while five winners in the last decade came from the first three in the betting, including four outright or joint favourites, they were accompanied by winners at 33/1 (twice), 22/1, 20/1 and 14/1. Trainers John Gosden – latterly, in combination with his son, Thady – and Charlie Fellowes have both saddled two winners apiece in the same period, while the recently-retired Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori, Hayley Turner and Jamie Spencer have likewise ridden two winners each.
Generally speaking, horses drawn high or low, close to either rail, tend to fare better in large fields on the Straight Mile at Ascot than those drawn in the centre of the pack. This is borne out by recent results of the Sandringham Stakes, with four of the last 10 winners drawn in single-figures and two more drawn in stall 21 or higher. Hold-up types have also done well, on the whole, with Soprano (2024) – who was, in fact, drawn 18 of 30 – the latest winner to come from off the pace.