Greatwood Gold Cup

The Greatwood Gold Cup is a Grade 3 chase over two and a half miles at Newbury.

It takes place in late February or early March and trainer Paul Nicholls has a phenomenal record in the event.

He has won it nine times including Big Fella Thanks (2010) and Pacha Du Polder (2013). The highest profile winner was Madison Du Berlais in 2007, trained by David Pipe and ridden by Tom Scudamore.

Find more about the Greatwood Gold Cup:

Race Overview – The Greatwood Gold Cup

Horses five years old and older may enter the Greatwood Gold Cup, a Grade 3 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain.

There are sixteen fences to jump during the race, which is held at Newbury over a distance of around 2 miles and 4 furlongs (2 miles, 3 furlongs, and 187 yards, or 3,993 metres).

It will take place each year in late February or early March and is a handicap race.

If you are looking for more racing tips for events taking place at Newbury Racecourse then check out our Newbury betting tips page.

For all Newbury races, our finest racing tipsters give free horse racing tips!

Greatwood Gold Cup 2024 Result

Check out the latest result from this race:

Famous Greatwood Gold Cup Winners

The Greatwood Gold Cup was first run in 2004 with victory going to Nicky Henderson’s Isio.

The race produced a thrilling dead-heat in 2006 between Cornish Sett and Horus, trained by Paul Nicholls and Martin Pipe respectively.

2006 winner Madison Du Berlais won a Grade 2 at Kempton in 2009 and gained his biggest career success in the Aintree Bowl. He beat Exotic Dancer after the favourite Denman had fallen earlier in the contest.

Nicholls put together an incredible sequence of seven winners in nine seasons from 2008 to 2016. These include Big Fella Thanks (2010) who became a Grand National meeting regular. He started 10-1 joint-favourite at Aintree in 2010 when finishing fourth. He later changed stables to join Ferdy Murphy, finishing seventh in 2011, and then moved to Tom George.

He finished second here in 2013 but unseated his rider at Aintree. He finished seventh in the Topham in 2014 and eighth and third in the Aintree Fox Hunters in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

Nicholls also won this race with Pacha Du Polder who would go on to win the Cheltenham Foxhunters in 2017 and 2018.

Key Greatwood Gold Cup Trials

There are no obvious trials for this race but, with decent prize money on offer, Paul Nicholls has targeted this race with great success.

The proximity of the race to Cheltenham means this generally attracts runners with no festival entries.

Only two of the last ten winners have run at the festival, Shangani (2014) and Thomas Crapper (2017), but both were beaten.

Three of the ten winners ran in the Topham Chase but none of them were placed.

Greatwood Gold Cup Betting Trends

Despite the dominance of Paul Nicholls, favourites have a surprisingly modest record in this race.

There have only been three winning market leaders in the past ten renewals; Aerial (2012), Shangani (2014) and Sound Investment (2015).

The longest-priced winner during that spell was Pacha Du Polder at 18-1 in 2013. Fine Parchment (2011) won at 12-1 while San Benedeto (2019) was only a point shorter at 11-1.

Greatwood Gold Cup – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Paul Nicholls must have this race highlighted in his diary with a record nine winners; Cornish Sett (2006), Natal (2008), New Little Bric (2009), Big Fella Thanks (2010), Aerial (2012), Pacha Du Polder (2013), Sound Investment (2015), Sametegal (2016) and San Benedeto (2019).

Nick Scholfield leads the jockey standing with three winners, all trained by Nicholls.

Betting on the Greatwood Gold Cup

Any entries from the Paul Nicholls stable are clearly worth a second look. He does not make it simple for punters and has saddled two or more runners on occasions.

The race has attracted nine or more runners nine times in the last ten years so plenty of each-way possibilities.

Greatwood Gold Cup Facts

• The Greatwood Gold Cup is a National Hunt steeplechase in England which is open to horses aged 5 years or older.
• The race is run at Newbury over a distance of 2 miles and 4 furlongs, and during its running, there are sixteen fences to be jumped.
• It is a Grade 3 race and it is scheduled to take place each year in late February or early March.

Summary of the Greatwood Gold Cup

Thank you for reading our Greatwood Gold Cup guide.

We have looked at history, facts, figures, betting and more, so you can find out more about the racing whether you are placing a bet or watching it live.

Other March Horse Races