The Criterion Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older.
It is run on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of 7 furlongs (1,408 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.
The present Criterion Stakes was established in 1978, and for a period it was classed at Listed level.
During the eighties the race was known as the Van Geest Stakes.
Its winners included Ormonde (1885), Flying Fox (1898), Pretty Polly (1903) and Gay Crusader (1916).