Dream Still Alive Ahead of Stewards Cup

The Coral Stewards’ Cup is a historic and highly competitive Class 2 heritage handicap horse race held annually in the United Kingdom over a sprint distance of 6 furlongs.

It serves as the absolute showpiece of the final day of the prestigious five-day Qatar Goodwood Festival on the Sussex Downs

Race Breakdown & Key Trends

  • The Cavalry Charge: The event is famous for its massive field size, featuring a maximum line-up of 28 runners barrelling straight down the undulating Goodwood track simultaneously.
  • Draw Bias: Historically, high starting stalls hold a massive advantage. Eight of the last nine winners broken from stall 15 or higher, making the final draw declaration critical for punters.
  • Age Demographics: The race heavily favours seasoned sprinters. Across the last 28 renewals, 24 of the winners were aged between 4 and 6 years old, whereas horses aged 7 or older rarely find the winner’s enclosure.
  • Weight Trends: Carrying a sturdy weight is no barrier; eight of the last nine winners carried 9-0 or more to victory

Let’s get into today’s preview and tips.

Dream Still Alive Ahead of Stewards Cup

A field of twenty eigth runners line up for the Coral Stewards’ Cup (Heritage Handicap).

Far Above Dream did us a good turn when winning at Newbury in May. That win was enough to see him raised four pounds and run in the Wokingham Stakes. He ran a cracker in the Wokingham finishing fourth. I love the way this horse cruises through his races and finishes them off strongly.

The handicapper has left him on a mark of 99 which give him every chance of winning at Stewards’ Cup. Far Above Dream has an impressive one hundred percent strike rate from three runs at Goodwood. He is progressing from run to run for his trainer, James Owen. A high draw in stall 23 should be fine as there is pace in the low and high numbers.

Dark Thirty finished second to Sondad, beaten half a length in the Scurry handicap at the Curragh a fortnight ago. He travelled like the winner that day and only gave way in the final 100 yards finding that stiff six and a half furlongs a little too far. The one and only positive of finishing second is he escapes a penalty. He won at Chester on June 27th which was the cut-off date before six-pound win penalties applied.

Dark Thirty is in cracking form this season since switching from Richard Hannon to John and Sean Quinn. The handicapper has raised him to a mark of 101, however as this is an early closing handicap he is allowed race off a five-pound lower mark of 96! Jason Hart rides and can let Dark Thirty free wheel on the front end over this fast six furlongs.

It’s a massively competitive race with Soldier’s Tree and Ferrous the final two stuck from the shortlist!

Goodwood – 3:35

0.5 point each way Far Above Dream 11/2 generally, 6 places.

0.5 point each way Dark Thirty 11/1 PricedUp else 10/1 generally, 6 places.

Best of Luck, Nicky

Latest winner: Urban Lion @ 12/1

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