Glorious Goodwood 2023: Stewards Cup Preview

All good things come to an end, and this Saturday sees the latest edition of the excellent Glorious Goodwood Festival reach its fifth and final day. The Sussex track at least goes out with a bang, with one of the most competitive betting cards of the summer months. The Group 2 Lillie Langtry Stakes tops the bill from a class perspective, but in terms of betting interest, the excellent Stewards Cup is the headline act.

First run back in 1840, this 6f sprint handicap invariably attracts a maximum field of 28, creating the spectacular sight of the runners spread right across the track. Here we take a look at how the big race is shaping up in 2023, using data presented by newbettingsites.uk to highlight those runners most likely to come out on top in one of the most thrilling handicaps of the season.

Stewards Cup: Age of Winner

Open to all runners aged three and older, it is the four and five-year-old contenders who have held the edge in the current century. Of the 23 editions since 2000, 15 winners (65.22%) have fallen into this age bracket. The top two in the market, Orazio and Apollo One, fit the bill, but the age trend would suggest the well-fancied Aberama Gold and Batal Dubai may be slightly up against it.

Stewards Cup: Weight Trends

When looking at the weights carried, it seems that not too high but not too low is the place to be. Again, looking at the past 23 editions, 17 winners were shouldered with between 8st11lb (73.91%) and 9st7lb on the day.

Stewards Cup: Rating of Winner

The first thing to note when looking at the above chart is that the Stewards Cup appears to be showing a definite upwards trend in terms of the quality of horse it takes to prevail. In the 11 editions between 2000 and 2010, only two winners had an official rating of 100 or above. However, in the 12 renewals between 2011 and 2022, only one winner was rated below 100. Focussing on those contenders with a 100+ rating looks like the way to go ahead of the 2023 edition.

Four Trainers at the Double

Of the trainers represented this year, four have landed this event twice in the current century – an impressive feat considering just how competitive this event is. 2003 and 2009 winner Roger Charlton has Batal Dubai and Zaman Jemil amongst the entries, 2008 and 2013 champ William Haggas sends top weight Tiber Flow into battle, whilst Michael Dods has won the last two renewals with Commanche Falls but relies on Tinto this time around. 2015 and 2019 winner Charles Hills is responsible for the current favourite, Orazio, and last time-out winner, Tanmawwy.

When looking at the jockeys confirmed as having a ride in the race, only Frankie Dettori has won the race more than once over this 23-year period, having come home in front in 2015 and 2017. This year, Frankie will partner the Richard Hannon Jr trained Mums Tipple on what will be his final ride in the race.

Last Time Out Finishing Position

Last-time-out winners have a pretty solid record in the Stewards Cup, with seven of the past 23 winners having scored on their previous outing, whilst 56% of winners over this period had at least finished in the top four positions on their most recent racecourse appearance.

Orazio the One to be on, but Red May Strike Again

Other than finishing only 6th last time out, Orazio looks a good fit on the trends as a 102-rated four-year-old, set to carry 9st4lbs, and hailing from the yard of a trainer who knows what it takes to prevail. That sixth-placed effort also represented a solid performance, as he went down by only 2½l in the hugely competitive Wokingham Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting. There may well be more to come from this son of Caravaggio, on what will be only his fifth handicap start, and he has too much in his favour to leave out of our staking plan.

Looking further down the list, Tanmaawy, Strike Red, and Apollo One all tick just about every box from a trends perspective, and all are available at a decent each-way price. We wouldn’t put you off any of that trio - particularly with many firms offering additional places - but Strike Red just gets our vote. Two from three on soft ground, which looks like a real possibility here, he arrives in fine form following a win in tenacious style at the Curragh and can go close under a 6lb penalty.

• Best Win Bet - Orazio @ 6/1 with PariMatch
• Best Each Way Bet - Strike Red @ 12/1 with BetUK

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