Goodwood Cup Betting Tips and Offers

Qatar Goodwood Cup Preview: Tips, Betting Offers and Odds

Leg two of the stayer’s triple-crown takes place on day one at Glorious Goodwood, with the Goodwood Cup being the showpiece event of the opening day. Here we highlight the best odds and offers and provide our betting tips for the contest.

First run at Goodwood back in 1809, this two mile, Group 2 contest now offers £300,000 in total prize money. Read on for the lowdown on this race or check out all the latest offers for Glorious Goodwood.

Goodwood Cup Tips and Betting Offers, 3:35 at Goodwood, 30 July 2019

The Goodwood Cup is right up there with the biggest long distance races of the flat racing season. Sandwiched between the Ascot Gold Cup and the Lonsdale Cup, this 2 mile contest plays an important role as the middle leg of the Stayers’ Triple Crown. That was won for the first time by Stradivarius last season. By adding the Yorkshire Cup to that tally he claimed the Stayers’ Million and is in good shape to keep the dream of another million alive by winning the 2019 Goodwood Cup.

Stradivarius to Show His Class Once Again

It would have been easy for Stradivarius’ connections to get disheartened when he failed in his attempt to win the St Leger. He had been specifically targeted to win the final Classic of 2017 but any lingering disappointment gave way to hope when he finished third in the Long Distance Cup next time out.

His performances against Order Of St George and Torcedor at Ascot really caught the eye and that race was the last time that John Gosden’s charge has failed to win. When you consider the calibre of races that he competes in it really puts that achievement into perspective.

Frankie Dettori has been talking about his impending retirement seriously over the course of this season. Stradivarius is one of the reasons that the popular Italian hasn’t yet hung up his silks. Dettori loves riding Stradivarius and is very much looking forward to renewing their partnership at Glorious Goodwood.

As the leading stayer, Stradivarius is the horse that all the others are lining up to beat. Some high class performances from his competition have seen the five-year-old pushed very hard so far this season and both of his wins came inside 1 length. That showed he maintains the ability to dig deep and grind out a win which suggests he is worthy of support even at odds on.

Southern France to Be There or Thereabouts

Southern France is one of the horses to have seriously worried Stradivarius this season. He stuck with the favourite in the Yorkshire Cup and while he just fell short of winning the race, he finished clear of the rest of the 5 lengths clear of third place.

The sub-par nature of his two subsequent performances have led some judges to suggest that the run at York has taken its toll on Southern France. That is just conjecture though. Aidan O’Brien knows the truth of that suggestion and the fact that he’s entered him in such a high profile race suggests the four-year-old looks good in training so he could be a major player/

Betting Predictions

Everything we’ve seen from Stradivarius so far this season suggests that he is still right at the top of his game. Defending the Stayers’ Million and Triple Crown would be a massive achievement but everything suggests he is still in tip top shape and he should land another Goodwood Cup at 4/5 with bet365.

Southern France is highly unlikely to get the better of Stradivarius but, if he is back to his best, he could well get the rest of the field beaten. The bookies are not convinced but that makes him a tempting each way bet at 14/1 with Coral.

Qatar Goodwood Cup Previous Winners

• 2018 – Stradivarius – jockey Andrea Atzeni, trainer John Gosden
• 2017 – Stradivarius – jockey Andrea Atzeni, trainer John Gosden
• 2016 – Big Orange – jockey Jamie Spencer, trainer Michael Bell
• 2015 – Big Orange – jockey Jamie Spencer, trainer Michael Bell
• 2014 – Cavalryman – jockey Kieren Fallon, trainer Saeed bin Suroor
• 2013 – Brown Panther – jockey Richard Kingscote, trainer Tom Dascombe
• 2012 – Saddler’s Rock – jockey Johnny Murtagh, trainer John Oxx
• 2011 – Opinion Poll – jockey Frankie Dettori, trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni
• 2010 – Illustrious Blue – jockey Jim Crowley, trainer William Knight
• 2009 – Sciaparelli – jockey Frankie Dettori, trainer Saeed bin Suroor
• 2008 – Yeats – jockey Johnny Murtagh , trainer Aidan O’Brien
• 2007 – Allegretto – jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Sir Michael Stoute
• 2006 – Yeats – jockey Michael Kinane, trainer Aidan O’Brien

Race History Plus Jockey and Trainer Stats

Since its inaugural running in 1808 this contest has always been a race designed for those runners who thrive over a distance. Initially run over a marathon trip of three miles, it was reduced slightly to 2m5f in the early years, and remained contested over the this trip until as recently as 1990 when it became a 2m4f contest. The most drastic alteration came in 1991 when the current two mile trip was first introduced.

Staying legends such as Further Flight, Le Moss, Persian Punch, the brilliant Yeats and most recently Stradivarius (2017 and 2018) have all taken the trophy home on two occasions but only two have prevailed three times. Bucephalus, who was awarded the original silver trophy on a permanent basis and Mark Johnston’s hugely popular Double Trigger.

Top Trainer

Having been with us in one form or another for over 200 years now, we have to sift a fair way through the history books to find the most successful trainer here. That accolade belongs to a certain John Scott who won the race an impressive seven times between the years of 1836 and 1860.

Best Jockey

Five is the magic number when it comes to the leading jockeys, both when it comes to the number of wins and the number of jockeys to have achieved this feat. The names of Jem Robinson, George Fordham and Steve Donohue may not be too familiar to modern racing fans but those of legends Lester Piggott and Pat Eddery won’t soon be forgotten.

One for the Older Horses?

The theory that the stamina of a racehorse improves with age has been borne out to some degree in this contest. Between the years of 1977 and 2015 the prize was taken by those aged four or younger 14 times, compared to 25 times for the older runners. Persian Punch became the joint oldest winner over this period when winning as an eight year old in 2001, and brought the house down in 2003 when defying father time to win again at the age of 10.