Stewards Cup

The Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood Racecourse is one of the most valuable sprint handicaps of the season. It ranks alongside races like the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Ayr Gold Cup as a prime target for sprinters.

The Stewards Cup takes place on Saturday 5th August 2023.

The Glorious Goodwood 2023 takes place on the final day of the Glorious Goodwood Festival.

The race has been won by several horses who went on to win at Group 1 level including Lochsong (1992), Coastal Bluff (1996) and Borderlescott (2006).

Find out more about The Stewards Cup:

Contents

1 Stewards Cup – Race Overview
2 Famous Stewards’ Cup Winners & History
3 Stewards’ Cup Trials
4 Stewards’ Cup Betting Trends
5 Stewards’ Cup Stats
6 Top Trainers and Jockeys
7 Stewards’ Cup 2023 Odds
8 Stewards’ Cup Tips
9 Stewards’ Cup Previous Winners
10 Stewards’ Cup Previous Result
11 Betting on the Stewards’ Cup
12 Summary of The Stewards Cup
13 Popular Questions
- 13.1 Where is the Stewards Cup held?
14 Other Glorious Goodwood Related Articles
15 Related August Articles
16 Resources

Stewards Cup – Race Overview

The Stewards’ Cup is a flat handicap horse event taking place in the UK for horses aged three and older. It is hosted at Goodwood over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres) and is held every year in late July or early August.

The Stewards’ Cup is the big betting race of the week at the Glorious Goodwood festival meeting in late July or early August.

The Stewards Cup is run on the closing Saturday over six furlongs with a maximum field of 28 runners.

The draw is always the subject of much debate with 12 of the last 16 winners starting from a double-figure stall.

Check out our guides to all the other UK Premier Handicap horse races.

Famous Stewards’ Cup Winners & History

The inaugural Stewards’ Cup took place in 1840 with victory going to Epirus.

Marvel (1890, 1892) became the first of five dual winners, the most recent being the popular Sky Diver (1967, 1968).

The race acquired its first commercial sponsor in Spillers in 1970 and was soon established as one of the top sprint handicaps of the season.

Ahonoora was a shock 50-1 winner in 1978 and would go on to win the King George Stakes and the William Hill Sprint Championship the following year. He proved even more successful as a stallion where his progeny included Derby winner Dr Devious and the high-class Park Express.

In 1979 punters latched on to Clive Brittain’s flying grey Standaan who won off a lightweight under apprentice Paul Bradwell. He would also prove to be a Group class sprinter, a trend that continued through the 1980s and 1990s. The brilliant Soba won at odds of 18-1 in 1982 while Petong (1984) was another Stewards’ Cup winner destined for better things.

1992 winner Lochsong went on to win the Portland Handicap at Doncaster and the Ayr Gold Cup before proving herself a sprint champion in 1993 and 1994. Her Group race wins included the King George Stakes (1993, 1994), the Prix de l’Abbaye (1993, 1994) and the King’s Stand Stakes (1994).

The high quality of Stewards’ Cup winners was maintained with the likes of Coastal Bluff (1996), Danetime (1997) and Borderlescott (2006).

Hoof It defied the welter burden of 10 stone to win for Mick Easterby and Kieren Fallon with Summerghand winning off a 4lbs lower mark in 2020.

Stewards’ Cup Trials

The Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot has been the most influential race for finding the Stewards’ Cup winner over the years. That is an equally competitive sprint where the field often splits into two groups and there are always hard-luck stories for beaten runners.

Summerghand was beaten in a photo-finish in the Ascot race before winning here in 2020.

Other Royal Ascot races worth noting include the Commonwealth Cup and the King’s Stand Stakes. Khaadem (2019) and Gifted Master (2018) were well beaten in those races prior to winning here.

The Betfred Mobile Heritage Handicap at Newmarket produced Magical Memory (2015) and Dancing Star (2016) who both followed up in the Stewards’ Cup as three-year-olds.

Stewards’ Cup Betting Trends

Although the Stewards’ Cup has produced more than its fair share of shock results, punters have enjoyed some success in recent times. There has been a trend towards improving three-year-olds with heavily-supported Magical Memory (2015), Dancing Star (2016) and Khaadem (2019) all starting favourite.

There was considerable confidence that Nahaarr would continue this trend in 2020 but he finished a disappointing ninth. He bounced back to win the Ayr Gold Cup next time and was later placed in Group 2 company.

These successful gambles have been interspersed with long-priced winners including Lancelot Du Lac (2017) at 25-1 and Gifted Master (2018) at 20-1.

Other Stewards’ Cup winners to leave punters scratching their heads include Madraco (1987) at 50-1 and Conquest (2008) at 40-1.

Stewards’ Cup Stats

Horses aged three and four have the best recent record in the race, particularly those with relatively few miles on the clock.

Prior to Magical Memory’s 2015 victory, Danetime (1997) had been the only three-year-old to win in over 30 years.

There have now been three winners from that age group in the past six seasons.

The age of the lightweight seems to have gone as the race has attracted a better quality of sprinter with a narrower weights range.

No winner has carried less than 8 stone 9 pounds since Bond Boy’s victory in 2002.

The stats indicate a slight preference for a double-figure draw, although Khaadem (2019) won from stall 3 and Dancing Star (2016) from stall 4.

Top Trainers and Jockeys

Only two trainers have ever managed to win the Stewards’ Cup on four occasions; John Scott (1840 to 1860) and James Jewitt (1884 to 1898). That illustrates what a tough race it is to win.

The late David Nicholls, dubbed “The Sprint King”, won it three times while William Haggas and Charles Hills have both won it twice in recent years.

Richard Hughes became the winning-most jockey in the history of the race when bagging a fourth victory aboard Intrinsic in 2014.

Frankie Dettori won it for the first time aboard Magical Memory (2015) and added another on Lancelot Du Lac two years’ later.

Stewards’ Cup 2023 Odds

Stewards' Cup Date: Saturday 30th of July 2022 Time: 15:20 Details: 14 Runners
Mr Wagyu	9/1
Whenthedealinsdone	10/1
Inver Park	11/1
Tanmawwy	12/1
Regional	16/1
Ropey Guest	20/1
Tinto	25/1
Tabdeed	33/1
Typhoon Ten	40/1
Zargun	50/1
Vintage Clarets	66/1
Gabrial The Devil	80/1
Tyger Bay	100/1
Dark Shot	150/1

Stewards’ Cup Tips

Our Stewards’ Cup tips are:

2 points to win on TBC
1 point each way on TBC

There are horses from the Stewards’ Cup that will also run in other races through the year so stay updated on them and place ante-post bets.

We highly recommend signing up to some amazing bonuses available in June 2023 with the highest Glorious Goodwood Free Bets.

Stewards’ Cup Previous Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Weight	Jockey	Trainer	SP	Time
1978	Ahonoora	3	8-00	Philip Waldron	Brian Swift	1050 50/1
1979	Standaan	3	7-10	Paul Bradwell	Clive Brittain	1005 5/1 F
1980	Repetitious	3	7-02	Tony Clark	Guy Harwood	1015 15/1
1981	Crews Hill	5	9-09	Greville Starkey	Frankie Durr	1011 11/1
1982	Soba	3	8-04	David Nicholls	David Chapman	1018 18/1
1983	Autumn Sunset	3	8-02	Willie Carson	Michael Stoute	1006 6/1 F
1984	Petong	4	9-10	Bruce Raymond	Michael Jarvis	1008 8/1 JF
1985	Al Trui	5	8-01	Michael Wigham	Stan Mellor	1009 9/1 F
1986	Green Ruby	5	8-12	John Williams	Toby Balding	1020 20/1	1:12.80
1987	Madraco	4	7-02	P. Hill	Peter Calver	1050 50/1	1:10.24
1988	Rotherfield Greys	6	8-08	Nigel Day	Chris Wall	1014 14/1	1:12.84
1989	Very Adjacent	4	7-04	Dale Gibson	Geoff Lewis	1012 12/1	1:10.60
1990	Knight of Mercy	4	9-00	Bruce Raymond	Richard Hannon Sr.	1014 14/1	1:10.73
1991	Notley	4	8-07	Richard Perham	Richard Hannon Sr.	1014 14/1	1:11.62
1992	Lochsong	4	8-00	Willie Carson	Ian Balding	1010 10/1	1:10.86
1993	King's Signet	4	9-10	Willie Carson	John Gosden	1016 16/1	1:15.00
1994	For the Present	4	8-03	Jimmy Fortune	David Barron	1016 16/1	1:09.58
1995	Shikari's Son	8	8-13	Richard Hughes	John White	1040 40/1	1:10.86
1996	Coastal Bluff	4	8-05	Jimmy Fortune	David Barron	1010 10/1 JF	1:10.14
1997	Danetime	3	8-10	Pat Eddery	Neville Callaghan	1005 5/1 F	1:10.95
1998	Superior Premium	4	8-12	Robert Winston	Richard Fahey	1014 14/1	1:10.65
1999	Harmonic Way	4	8-06	Richard Hughes	Roger Charlton	1012 12/1	1:10.30
2000	Tayseer	6	8-11	Richard Hughes	David Nicholls	1006.5 13/2	1:10.08
2001	Guinea Hunter	5	9-00	Jamie Spencer	Tim Easterby	1033 33/1	1:11.49
2002	Bond Boy	5	8-02	Chris Catlin	Bryan Smart	1014 14/1	1:10.87
2003	Patavellian	5	8-11	Steve Drowne	Roger Charlton	1004 4/1	1:10.43
2004	Pivotal Point	4	8-11	Seb Sanders	Peter Makin	1007 7/1 CF	1:10.78
2005	Gift Horse	5	9-07	Kieren Fallon	David Nicholls	1004.5 9/2	1:12.26
2006	Borderlescott	4	9-05	Royston Ffrench	Robin Bastiman	1010 10/1	1:09.93
2007	Zidane	5	9-01	Jamie Spencer	James Fanshawe	1006 6/1 F	1:10.50
2008	Conquest	4	8-09	Dane O'Neill	William Haggas	1040 40/1	1:11.91
2009	Genki	5	9-01	Steve Drowne	Roger Charlton	1014 14/1	1:12.28
2010	Evens and Odds	6	8-10	Billy Cray	David Nicholls	1020 20/1	1:11.55
2011	Hoof It	4	9-14 10-00	Kieren Fallon	Mick Easterby	1006.5 13/2 JF	1:09.91
2012	Hawkeyethenoo	6	9-09	Graham Lee	Jim Goldie	1009 9/1	1:11.27
2013	Rex Imperator	4	9-04	Neil Callan	William Haggas	1012 12/1	1:10.35
2014	Intrinsic	4	8-11	Richard Hughes	Robert Cowell	1006 6/1	1:10.27
2015	Magical Memory	3	8-12	Frankie Dettori	Charles Hills	1006 6/1 F	1:10.28
2016	Dancing Star	3	8-12	David Probert	Andrew Balding	1004.5 9/2 F	1:09.81
2017	Lancelot Du Lac	7	9-05	Frankie Dettori	Dean Ivory	1025 25/1	1:12.28
2018	Gifted Master	5	9-06	Jason Watson	Hugo Palmer	1020 20/1	1:09.56
2019	Khaadem	3	9-06	Jim Crowley	Charles Hills	1004 4/1 F	1:09.79
2020	Summerghand	6	9-10	Daniel Tudhope	David O’Meara	1022 22/1	1:10.83
2021	Commanche Falls	4	9-01	Connor Beasley	Michael Dods	1010 10/1	1:15.86
2022	Commanche Falls	5	9-05	Connor Beasley	Michael Dods	1025 25/1	1:10.01

Stewards’ Cup Previous Result

Commanche Falls wins the Coral Stewards' Cup by a nostril ahead of Tabdeed

It's a second successive win!#ITVRacing | #GloriousGoodwood pic.twitter.com/eNXnjGWMs0

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) July 30, 2022

Betting on the Stewards’ Cup

Betting on the Stewards’ Cup hots up soon after Royal Ascot as punters take note of the Wokingham Stakes form.

With so much top-class racing on offer these days, it is usually best to hold fire on those Goodwood ante-post bets until running plans are confirmed by connections.

Bookmakers offer enhanced each-way terms on the Stewards’ Cup during Glorious Goodwood, paying out down to fifth or sixth place.

Summary of The Stewards Cup

The Stewards’ Cup provides a thrilling spectacle on the Sussex Downs as the runners hurtle down the straight.

A competitive sprint is a difficult race to bet on with confidence but that will not deter punters if they think they have a horse ahead of the handicapper.

Watch out for those improving three-year-old sprinters.