Coronation Cup

The Group 1 Coronation Cup is one of the prestigious middle-distance races of the season and often features horses that ran in the previous year’s Derby.

The Coronation Cup takes place on the 31st of May 2024.

It is a useful form pointer to races like the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Aidan O’Brien is the leading trainer in the history of the race with eight victories including three-times winner St Nicholas Abbey.

Find out more about the Coronation Cup:

Coronation Cup – The Race Overview

The Coronation Cup takes place on the Friday of the Epsom Derby meeting in early June.

It is over the Derby course of a mile and a half, regarded by traditionalists as the ultimate test of the thoroughbred.

The Coronation Cup is for four-year-olds and upwards and previous experience of handling Epsom’s undulations can be an advantage.

Famous Coronation Cup Winners & History

The Coronation Cup was first run in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII with victory going to Osboch.

It quickly became established as the feature race for older horses at the Epsom Derby meeting with the brilliant Pretty Polly winning it in 1905 and 1906. She had won the Fillies Triple Crown of 1000 Guineas, Oaks and St Leger in 1904.

Her Majesty The Queen’s Aureole won the Coronation Cup in 1954, a year after chasing home Pinza and Sir Gordon Richards in the Derby.

Petite Etoile emulated Pretty Polly with back-to-back victories under Lester Piggott in 1960 and 1961.

Piggott would win the race a record nine times in total, notably aboard Park Top (1969) and Roberto (1973).

Mill Reef won the race in 1972, scrambling home by a neck from Homeric. He was suffering from a virus that day and was rested in preparation for a second Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Sadly he would never race again as he suffered a fracture during a training gallop but was saved for a highly successful stud career.

St Nicholas Abbey is the only horse in history to win the Coronation Cup three times (2011-2013). He had been a disappointment in his Classic season but returned to his best, becoming an international superstar. He won nearly £5million in prize money with his finest hour being his Breeders’ Cup Turf victory in 2011.

Key Coronation Cup Trials

The key trial for the Coronation Cup has been the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket in April/May. The Jockey Club Stakes is one of the earliest opportunities for the top middle-distance horses to get a run under their belt before the big Grade 1 events.

Shirocco was the last horse to win both races in the same season (2006), although Pyledriver finished second at Newmarket in 2021 for scoring at Epsom.

The Group 3 Ormonde Stakes at Chester has also been used as a stepping-stone to the Coronation Cup. St Nicholas Abbey won the Ormonde in 2011 before taking the first of his three Coronation Cups.

Coronation Cup Betting Trends

Favourites have a formidable record in the Coronation Cup, winning 9 of the last 11 renewals. Six of those started odds-on, the shortest being Cracksman (2-7) in 2018. St Nicholas Abbey was only fractionally better at 30-100 when completing his hat-trick in the race in 2013. He was an even-money favourite in 2011 and 8-11 in 2012.

Other high-class winners to start strong favourites include Cirrus Des Aigles (10-11) in 2014 and Ghaiyyath (11-10) in 2020.

There have only been three relative shock winners in recent years. Pether’s Moon started at 11-1 in 2015, the same price as Defoe (2019). Pyledriver started at 8-1 when defeating the well-backed Al Aasy in 2021.

Coronation Cup 2024 Odds

Here are the latest odds for the Coronation Cup in June 2024:

These odds have not yet been released.

Coronation Cup Tips

Here are some tips for Coronation Cup in June 2024:

• 2 points to win for TBC
• 1 point each way for TBC

Some of the horses taking part in the Coronation Cup will run in more races later in the year. Stay updated on the horses and place ante-post bets if you want a chance to win.

For more tips on races at Epsom Course, look at our guide.

For all Epsom racing events, our finest racing tipsters offer free racing tips!

Coronation Cup Previous Winners

Check out the previous winners below:

Coronation Cup Previous Result

Check out this result from the Epsom Racecourse:

Coronation Cup Stats

Key Coronation Cup stats are:

• Horses aged four and five have dominated this race, winning 10 of the last 12 renewals. The only horses to buck the trend were the eight-year-old Cirrus Des Aigles (2014) and St Nicholas Abbey (2013) who won it for the last time as a six-year-old.
• Although some outstanding mares have won the Coronation Cup, they have a poor recent record here.
• Class is key with the last 12 winners all having previously been successful in at least one Group 1 or Group 2 race.
• A rating of 122 or higher is normally required to win here, although recent winners  Defoe (2019) and Pyledriver (2021) were a few pounds short of this mark.
• History shows that this is a difficult race to win first time out with the last 12 winners all having had at least one previous race that season.

Top Trainers and Jockeys for the Coronation Cup

Aidan O’Brien recorded the first of his record-breaking 8 victories with Ascot Gold Cup legend Yeats in 2005. It was the first of a remarkable seven winners within nine years. Scorpion (2007), Soldier Of Fortune (2008) and Fame And Glory (2010) preceded the hat-trick of victories for St Nicholas Abbey (2011-2013). His eighth winner came with another globetrotting superstar in Highland Reel (2017).

Andre Fabre farmed this race successfully with five winners between 1986 and 1996, notably In The Wings (1990) and Swain (1996). He added a sixth career win in the Coronation Cup with Shirocco in 2006.

Lester Piggott’s all-time record of 9 victories is not under any immediate threat.

Frankie Dettori won it for the first time on Swain in the colours of Sheikh Mohammed (1996). He followed up in the same colours aboard Singspiel (1997) and then wore the blue of Godolphin to victory on Daylami (1999) and Mutafaweq (2001). Dettori then had to wait until Cracksman’s last-gasp victory in 2018 before claiming his fifth Coronation Cup.

Betting on the Coronation Cup

Although there is ante-post betting on the Coronation Cup, it does not really take shape until the week of the race.

There is rarely a large field for this race with the genuine Group 1 horses often frightening off the opposition. There can be some generous bookmaker offers for new customers. A recent example was 33-1 Cracksman in 2018 to a £1 stake with Ladbrokes.

The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot is often a target for Coronation Cup winners. They can also go to Royal Ascot for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes or the Hardwicke Stakes but recent trends indicate that there are much stronger middle-distance races during the summer.

Summary of the Coronation Cup

The Coronation Cup can whet the appetite for the top middle-distance races as the flat season gets into full swing.

Horses like Cracksman and Ghaiyyath have won here in recent years before successfully reverting to ten furlongs later in the season.

It provides the perfect foil to Epsom’s Classic races, the Oaks and the Derby.

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