Royal Hunt Cup Trends

The Royal Hunt Cup is an extremely competitive handicap over the straight mile on the second day of the Royal Ascot meeting. It has been won in recent years by Portage, Zhui Feng and GM Hopkins and often sees a hardy and loveable handicapper have their moment in the spotlight. Below we will highlight some key trends and statistics that will help you find the winner!

You can also view our Royal Hunt Cup tips here!

Royal Hunt Cup Trends

• Four year olds dominate – 7 of the last 10 winners have been 4 years-old 
• Cream rises to the top – 7 of the last 10 winners have been rated 100 or higher
• Big price no barrier to success – 6 of the last 8 winners have been 16/1 or bigger
• Certain draws benefit – 8 of the last 10 winners have come from stall 11 or higher

A couple fare well in the trends here with Irish raider Settle For Bay and last year’s Britannia winner Bless Him just about coming out on top.

Trends – Key Runners

Keyser Soze ✅❌❌❌

Settle For Bay ✅❌✅✅

Bless Him ✅✅✅❌

Raising Sand ❌✅✅❌

Zhui Feng ❌✅✅❌

Trends Analysis

Ascot is a unique track and course and distance form, especially from previous Royal meetings, often proves key. Both Zhui Feng and Bless Him were victorious at last year’s meeting and are entitled to a great deal of respect. The former fended off a host of challengers to win this race in extremely game fashion last year and although he is now on what looks like a stiff enough mark of 108 he will likely produce another bold bid at a track he very much enjoys. Bless Him looked a very well handicapped horse when storming away from a strong handicap field to win at the 2017 Royal Meeting and though he is up slightly in the weights he will probably have been aimed at this and comes here with every chance.

Settle For Bay completed a four-timer in January at Dundalk when a very ready winner of a handicap off a mark of 91 and was eye-catching to say the least on his seasonal debut at Leopardstown. He finished fourth that day beaten three lengths but dwelt in the stalls and was hampered at a crucial stage. He is back up to a stiff mile here which looks set to suit him nicely and his trainer has been amongst the winners in the past fortnight.

Jamie Spencer is always a jockey booking to take note of at Royal Ascot and that is especially the case in these big handicaps on the straight mile. He rides Raising Sand here for Jamie Osborne and this six-year-old has some excellent course form including an easy win in the Shergar Cup back in August. He was beaten just a length by Queen Anne winner Accidental Agent in October and any cobwebs will have been blown away by a lovely spin in the Victoria Cup where he ran well without threatening.

Richard Spencer’s Keyser Soze went into a lot of notebooks when completely blowing the start on his most recent run but still loomed up two furlongs out, looking the winner. He eventually emptied but can definitely be forgiven that and had previously looked well-handicapped when flying home for third despite being hampered in a Newbury handicap on his seasonal debut. Will need to break on terms here in a very competitive race but has every chance if doing so.

See our Royal Ascot tips section for all our tips, previews and content.