Stewards Cup Lift Off at Goodwood
We concentrate on the Stewards Cup on the final day of the Qatar Goodwood festival.
The Stewards Cup heritage handicap is one of the highlights of the turf season certainly. A maximum field of 28 line up in this mainly downhill cavalry charge where £128,850 awaits winning connections!
Apollo One finished runner up in this race last season when run on bottomless ground. That run was off a rating of 100 so I think his current rating of 102 is fine. It will be easier for this classy sprinter to carry his 9-9 weight on summer ground. He does go well on fast ground as he finished second in the Wokingham Stakes at the 2022 Royal Ascot meeting.
Apollo One started this season with an excellent second at Newmarket to Desert Cop over six furlongs. He ran well at Epsom when third in June. On his recent start Apollo One finished sixth in the Sprint Stakes won by Makarova with Purosangue second. This race looks to have been the plan all summer and Richard Kingscote who gets on so well with Apollo One rides again. A high draw in stall 27 is questionable however Apollo One is a straightforward ride and will be ridden prominently.
Andrew Balding has a strong chance with progressive Purosangue. This 3yo colt has been running in pattern class races for most of last season and all this season. He won the listed Rockingham Stakes at York over six furlongs on soft ground as a juvenile. He did finish second over five furlongs on fast ground at York last summer so the ground should be fine and has been watered all week at Goodwood.
Purosangue finished third in the Group 3 Pavilion stakes at Ascot in May. He found the opposition too hot in the Sandy Lane stakes and King Charles III stakes, both races won by Inisherin. Last time out he finished off his race strongly over 5f at Sandown in a Group 3 race. Purosangue drops down in class for this valuable handicap with Oisin Murphy riding from a nice draw in stall 14.
Dangers lies everywhere with Rumstar, Summerghand & Dark Trooper on the final shortlist.
Goodwood 3:35
0.5 point each way Apollo One 14/1 Bet365 & Unibet, 6 places.
0.5 point each way Purosangue 11/2 Paddy Power & Betfair SB else 5/1 generally, 6 places.
Compare Odds at https://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing
Best of Luck,
Nicky
Past Results
Click to see past Big Saturday Race Preview Tips results
The Stewards' Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 6 furlongs (1,207 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in late July or early August.
History
For several years in the 1830s the senior steward at Goodwood presented an annual cup to the winner of any race of his choosing. The choice varied each year, and the trophy was awarded for events with distances of up to 1½ miles. A perpetual race for the Stewards' Cup over a sprint distance of 6 furlongs was conceived by Lord George Bentinck in late 1839, and the inaugural running took place the following summer.
The first commercial sponsor of the Stewards' Cup was Spillers, a company associated with the race from 1970 to 1980. The event was backed by the Tote in 1981, and by William Hill from 1982 to 1992.
The race was formerly held on the opening day of the five-day Glorious Goodwood meeting. It was moved to the final day in 1993, and from this point it was sponsored by Vodafone. The sponsorship was taken over by Blue Square in 2007, and in 2013 the race was sponsored by Robins Farm Racing. In 2014 Goodwood announced that 32Red would take over the sponsorship and the race would lose its historic title, being run as the 32Red Cup. The 2015 running was sponsored by Qatar and the name reverted to the Stewards' Cup
Stewards Cup Heritage Handicap winners over past 10 years
| Year | Winner | Age | Weight | Jockey | Trainer | SP | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Aberama Gold | 6 | 8-13 | Andrea Atzeni | David O'Meara | 18/1 | 1:16.93 |
| 2022 | Commanche Falls | 5 | 9-05 | Connor Beasley | Michael Dods | 25/1 | 1:10.01 |
| 2021 | Commanche Falls | 4 | 9-01 | Connor Beasley | Michael Dods | 10/1 | 1:15.86 |
| 2020 | Summerghand | 6 | 9-10 | Daniel Tudhope | David O’Meara | 22/1 | 1:10.83 |
| 2019 | Khaadem | 3 | 9-06 | Jim Crowley | Charles Hills | 4/1 F | 1:09.79 |
| 2018 | Gifted Master | 5 | 9-06 | Jason Watson | Hugo Palmer | 20/1 | 1:09.56 |
| 2017 | Lancelot Du Lac | 7 | 9-05 | Frankie Dettori | Dean Ivory | 25/1 | 1:12.28 |
| 2016 | Dancing Star | 3 | 8-12 | David Probert | Andrew Balding | 9/2 F | 1:09.81 |
| 2015 | Magical Memory | 3 | 8-12 | Frankie Dettori | Charles Hills | 6/1 F | 1:10.28 |
| 2014 | Intrinsic | 4 | 8-11 | Richard Hughes | Robert Cowell | 6/1 | 1:10.27 |
Best of Luck,
Nicky