"Cesarewitch" is an anglicised version of Tsesarevich, the title of the heir to the throne in Imperial Russia.
The event was established in 1839, and the inaugural running was won by Cruiskeen.
It was founded in the same year as another major handicap at Newmarket, the Cambridgeshire.
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 the feat has been rarely attempted since then.