Her Majesty The Queen presents the trophy to winning connections of just two races a year, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day and the Gold Cup at Ascot. This makes the Royal Ascot showpiece one of the most prestigious races in the British racing calendar. We will have Royal Ascot tips for every one of the thirty races shown live on ITV.
Frankie Dettori has lifted the trophy on six occasions, including last season on Stradivarius, who goes for a defence of his title this campaign. Check out our Ascot Gold Cup Preview here!
For anyone who is unsure about whether Stradivarius can defend his crown, one thing that shouldn’t be concerning is the record of previous winners of the race. Since 1965, nine horses have successfully retained the Gold Cup and Order Of St George went very close to making that ten when only narrowly denied by Big Orange in the 2017 renewal.
Having won the Yorkshire Cup on his only start prior to Gold Cup victory in 2018, John Gosden has opted for the same route again this season. It wasn’t as comfortable a win as last year, but he did the business carrying a penalty, which is all his supporters will have wanted to see.
For those people wanting to take on the market leader, encouragement is found in the age of recent winners. Six of the last seven winners were four-year-olds, with Big Orange – a six-year-old winner in 2017 – the only one bucking that trend. But there were only three, four-year-old challengers in that renewal priced at 66/1, 66/1 and 33/1, with the latter being St Leger hero Harbour Law who ran a terrific race in third.
All five of Stradivarius’ nearest market rivals; Cross Counter, Dee Ex Bee, Kew Gardens, Southern France and Flag Of Honour, are aged four. If he fluffs his lines, the youngsters are waiting in the wings to pick up the pieces.
Of the last eight Gold Cup winners, seven of them won their prior start and all of those wins came within 50 days of them heading to Ascot. Alongside that, six of those seven winners were in the top two in the betting.
Even though Cross Counter won his last race, that was back on 30th March so will have to overcome one of these strong stats at least. Stradivarius and Dee Ex Bee both tick the recent form box and are high up in the market, so would look the strongest candidates based on the stats mentioned, dependant upon whether you favour last years winner or the young pretender.