Goodwood Cup Betting Preview, Tips and Trends

Glorious Goodwood is one of the biggest flat meetings of the season and the first day is headlined by the Goodwood Cup. A Group 1 that is part of the British Champions Series, the post time for the 2020 renewal is 3.15pm on Tuesday 28th July. It will be broadcast on both the ITV main channel and Racing TV.

It’s a race with an illustrious roll of honour, with notable recent winners being Yeats, Saddler’s Rock, Big Orange and for the past three years, Stradivarius. John Gosden’s star bids to become the most successful horse in the race outright, an honor he currently shares with Double Trigger.

You can find everything you need to know about the Goodwood Cup below, from the thoughts and analysis of our experts, valuable stats and trends, free bets and our Goodwood Cup tip.

Goodwood Cup Runners and Riders

Stradivarius

He needs no introduction, with Stradivarius being the best stayer of the past few seasons in Britain. A six-time Group 1 winner, he’s won the last three renewals of this top-class contest. He posted perhaps the best effort of his career when landing the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot last month and rates as the one to beat.

Santiago 

The younger pretender who is looking to overthrow the King. Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-old won the Queen’s Vase on seasonal return and followed up by winning the Irish Derby in grand style. He receives plenty of weight from Stradivarius and is unexposed, but this is the first time he faces his elders.

Nayef Road

A classy stayer in his own right, he’s a dual Group 3 winner who was placed at Group 1 level at Doncaster last September. He was no match for Stradivarius in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, however, and his best form leaves him some way short of the front two in the betting. The lack of a third placing in the each-way terms means he’ll need one of the front two to underperform by quite some margin to take advantage.

Eagles By Day

His form tailed off for the Michael Bell stable but he made a winning debut for David O’Meara, landing a Group 3 at York earlier this month. There was plenty to like about his performance and although he’s unlikely to trouble Stradivarius on these terms, he’s interesting in terms of the forecast spot.

Goodwood Cup Tip

Stradivarius

Regardless of the weight he’s conceding to his young adversary Santiago, Stradivarius is still the King of the staying division. He loves it on the Sussex Downs and bids for history, a record-breaking fourth victory in the day one feature. His victory at Royal Ascot was quite simply mesmerizing and proved that the six-year-old was perhaps better than ever.

He’s the one they all have to beat and try as they might, his incredible turn of foot is likely to be the difference in the closing stages.

Goodwood Cup Stats and Trends

• 11 of the last 12 winners had won a race at group level
• 8 of the last 12 winners had run at least once at Goodwood previously
• 8 of the last 12 winners were aged 4, 5 or 6
• 7 of the last 12 winners had at least 1 win over the two-mile distance
• 7 of the last 12 winners were sent off favourite

The trends line-up towards another victory for Stradivarius. A six-time Group 1 winner, he has plenty of Goodwood experience and is in the right age bracket. He’s the short-priced favourite for a reason and no horse in this race will see out the two-mile distance stronger than him.

Goodwood Free Bets

Get a head start with your bets for Glorious Goodwood and the ITV Racing by signing up to a bookmaker account and claiming a free bet. With Goodwood hosting an epic five-day Festival, free bets can come in handy, especially with firms competing against one another to offer the best deals. Check out our Free Bets page for more offers.