Category: Races

Often deemed the most prestigious event for Stayers (horses best suited to running over long distances), the Ascot Gold Cup is a held each year at Ascot racecourse over a distance of 2m 3f 210 yards. The race takes place in June of each year as part of the Royal Ascot meeting and four year old horses and above are eligable to enter the race.

Inaugurated in 1807 there is clearly a wealth of history attached to this routinely competitive Group one affair.

As has been stated, this event is seen as central to long distance racing, and it forms part of Britain’s Stayers’ Triple Crown, along with the Goodwood Cup and the Doncaster Cup

The winner of the very first Ascot Gold Cup in 1807 was Master Jackey winning 100 guineas (don’t spend it all at once!). King George III and Queen Charlotte attended the event. In 1844 Nicholas I of Russia attended the race, so there is a real royal flair to proceedings during this period.

With an event with such history, a trend is bucked in that the most successful ever horse at the event occured relatively recently. Not only that but it was done in style, as Irish thoroughbred Yeats was the winner of the Ascot Gold Cup in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, a feat not achieved before or since. Leading jockey at the event is Lester Piggott with 11 wins between 1957 and 1982.

The 2018 winner of the Gold Cup was 7/4 joint favourite Stradivarius ridden by Frankie Dettori and trained by John Gosden. The purse for the race was a cool £500,000 with £283,550 going to the winner.

The Grand National aside, it’s hard to think of a more highly anticipated race than the Cheltenham Gold Cup. This grade 1 National Hunt race, run over a distance of 3 miles 2 1/2 furlongs (with 22 fences) at Cheltenham racecourse is for 5 year olds and up. It has a sizeable purse of £575,000, with over £325,000 going to the winner,making it the most valuable non handicap chase in the country. The race is part of the prestigeous Cheltenham Festival, with the Gold Cup taking place on the final day of the Festival.

Jockey, trainers and owners frequently set their sights on the Cheltenham Festival due to its reputation as the Blue Riband event of jump racing. Previous winners have included a who’s who of racing greats including Arkle (three years running from 1964 to 1966), L’Escargot (in 1970 and 1971), Desert Orchid (1989), Master Oats (1995), Best Mate (2003, 2004, 2005) and Kauto Star (2007 and 2009).

The first Cheltenham Gold Cup took place in 1819 and Spectre won the race picking up a 100 guineas prize in the process. At the time the event was actually a flat race, and it wasnt until 1924 that the race was held over the jumps. Moving from the old to the new course in 1959 the race was dominated in the mid 60’s by the aforementioned Arkle, one of the now legends of the sport of racing. The starting price (SP) of his third and final win was an incredibly short 1/10, which speaks to his perceived, and actual, superiority. To this day, he’s still the shortest odds winner of the race. The longest odds being the 100-1 offered on the 1990 winner Norton’s Coin.

Over the years the Gold Cup has had many others memorable moments, such as in 2015 when Coneygree became the first novice to win the race in 40 years, and Kauto Star becoming the first ever horse to ‘regain’ the Cheltenham Gold Cup title with wins in 2007 and 2009.

Winner of the 2018 Cheltenham Gold Cup was fancied 5-1 shot Native River, with Richard Johnson on board and trained by Colin Tizzard. The Irish bred, british trained thoroughbred is also a winner of the Hennessy Gold Cup, Welsh Grand National and Denman Chase (x2).

Each and every year the Epsom Derby (aka the Investec Derby, and the Derby) is one of the most highly anticipated events of the flat racing season. It’s classed as ‘one to watch’ for both casual and serious followers of horse racing and is held on the first Saturday of June each year at the Epsom downs racecourse in Surrey. The race is named after the 12th earl of Derby and prize money for the first ever Derby was £1,065. Serious money at that time.

The race is for three year old horses and distance 1 mile 4f 6y on a left hand track. The inaugural Derby took place in 1780 which gives you a clear idea of how much history is attached to the race and how much winning it means to every jockey, trainer and owner with an involvement in flat racing.

In the 1800’s and beyond the Epsom Fair which at the time coincided with the Epsom Derby was a big draw, with a focus on entertainment offered by musicians, clowns and magicians. Charles Dickens famously attended the event in the 1850s and a famous painting ‘Derby Day’ by William Powell Frith brings that time to life. The event has since fizzled out though.

The Epsom Derby is one of the five Classics, all of which are races from a similar time period which are seen as representing the height of achievement in flat racing. For a horse to win more than one of these races marks it out as being exceptional. The races that make up the British Classic races are: 1000 Guineas, 2000 Guineas, Epsom Oaks, Epsom Derby and St Leger Stakes. The Epsom Derby is also part of the Triple Crown, which consists of the 2000 Guineas, Epsom Derby and St Leger.

Wartime aside, the Epsom Derby has always been held at Epsom racecourse and the reputation of the race has travelled around the world, where there are regional versions of the Derby. Derby Italiano, the Deutsches Derby, the Irish Derby and the Prix du Jockey Club and others all took their inspiration from the event.

Lester Piggott’s legendary reputation was in part cemented due to his performance in the Derby. He’s won the event 9 times, including such legendary rides as Sir Ivor and Nijinsky. The 2018 winner was 16-1 Masar riden by William Buick and trained by Charlie Appleby. Odds-on favourite Sacon Warrior underperformed on the day, placing forth. It was the first Derby win for the Godolphin stable.

Inaugurated on 18th April 1809, The 2000 Guineas is a Group one flat racing event that takes place in late April or early May each year, just prior to the 1000 Guineas. The 1000 Guineas is for three year old fillies, whereas this, the 2000 Guineas race is for both colts and fillies.The race is over a straight 1 mile at Rowley Mile, Newmarket and the purse for the event is some £500,000, with £283,550 going to the winner in 2018.

The race is one of the five Classics, a group of prestigious races from the 18th and 19th century that have come to represent the pinnacle of flat racing achievement. Winners of one or more of the Classics (1000 Guineas, 2000 Guineas, Epsom Oaks, Epsom Derby, St Leger Stakes) are a rarity, hence doing so really does catapult a horse into the history books. No horse has ever won all five of the British Classic Races, the closest is Formosa in 1868 and Sceptre in 1902.

An arguably more doable version of the above achievement is the Triple Crown which consists of the 2,000 Guineas, the Derby and the St Leger. The 2000 Guineas is sometimes seen as a trial for the Derby with Camelot ‘doing the double’ in 2012. In the same way the Greenham Stales and Craven Stakes can act as a trial for the 2000 Guineas.

It took perhaps 50 years for the 2000 Guineas to be held in as high regard as it still is to this day, and its stellar reputation has led to versions of the race popping up around the world, from Europe to Australia: the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the Poule d’Essai des Poulains , the Australian Guineas , Satsuki Shō and more besides.

Leading jockey at the 2000 Guineas is Jem Robinson with 9 wins, leading trainer Aidan O’Brien also with 9 wins and owner Sue Magnier whas 10 wins. The O’Brien Magnier pairing has proved very successful in the race in recent years with these recent wins: King of Kings (1998), Rock of Gibraltar (2002), Footstepsinthesand (2005), George Washington (2006), Henrythenavigator (2008), Camelot (2012), Gleneagles (2015), Churchill (2017), Saxon Warrior (2018) . Saxon Warrior was the 3-1 winner in 2018 just ahead of 50-1 shot Tip Two Win.