Gold Cup Races Guide – Gold Cups in British & Irish Horse Racing
Even casual fans of horse racing may have noticed some of the biggest events in the sport are Gold Cup races. The are different ones dotted all over the British Isles and beyond.
In this guide to such top-tier races, we look at those in the UK and Ireland. Think of it as a look at some of the best of British horse racing, plus what goes on in the Emerald Isle.
The Biggest Gold Cup Races
Gold Cups are a mix of jump racing and Flat action. The best known of these are big betting races with lots of horse racing tips given for them.
No two are alike either. Some are Group 1 races on the level and others Grade 1 chases. There are handicap steeple chase contests and those on the Flat. Here are eight of the biggest Gold Cups in the British Isles in alphabetical order and more detail.
Ascot Gold Cup
- Founded: 1807
- Race Status: Group 1 Flat Race
- Distance: 2m 4f
- Age of Horses: 4yo+
- When: June
First up, we have the centrepiece of Royal Ascot itself. Often referred to as the Gold Cup, this long-distance Flat event is a stallion-making race. Although open to geldings as well, winning the big one in front of the Royal Family guarantees any entire male horse a future career as a National Hunt sire.
Ascot Gold Cup races take place right in the middle of the Royal meeting, halfway through the third of five days on the Thursday or Ladies Day. Although many horses have won it more than once, only three have three or more victories. Standing alone on four consecutive successes is Yeats, clear of fellow staying superstars Stradivarius and Sagaro.
Ayr Gold Cup
- Founded: 1804
- Race Status: Heritage Handicap (Flat)
- Distance: 6f
- Age of Horses: 3yo+
- When: September
Older still is the big-field betting feature of the Western Meeting at Ayr races today in the autumn. So oversubscribed with runners is this historic sprint handicap that there are not one, but two consolation races. These are the Ayr Silver Cup and Ayr Bronze Cup.
As for Ayr Gold Cup races, they happen on the third and final day of the Western Meeting. In a bid to modernise this fixture and build up its showpiece sprint, the track often calls it the Ayr Gold Cup Festival now.
Run over six furlongs since 1908, it was previously a mile handicap from the mid-Victorian era. Funfair Wane is the only horse in modern times to win it more than once.
bet365 Gold Cup from Sandown
- Founded: 1957
- Race Status: Premier Handicap (Chase)
- Distance: 3m 4f 146y
- Age of Horses: 5yo+
- When: April
Best known as the Whitbread Gold Cup, this end of National Hunt season long-distance handicap chase can see many horses who ran in the Grand National turn out again. Wins for Arkle and Mill House within its first decade or so carrying massive weights gave the race immediate credibility.
Four horses have two victories in the Whitbread / bet365 Gold Cup; Larbawn, Diamond Edge, Topsham Bay and Ad Hoc. Other famous winners on its roll of honour include Desert Orchid, Mr Frisk, Tidal Bay and Hewick.
While there are more valuable Sandown races today on the Flat and on the Jump Finale card like the Celebration Chase, this Gold Cup sees the track’s iconic Railway Fences down the back straight and Pond Fence before the home turn all taken twice.
Cheltenham Gold Cup
- Founded: 1924
- Race Status: Grade 1 Steeplechase
- Distance: 3m 2f 70y
- Age of Horses: 5yo+
- When: March
Called the Blue Riband of steeplechases, it is the most valuable race of the entire Cheltenham Festival. Run at Cheltenham Racecourse in the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire for a century, this is the Friday feature of the track’s major meeting.
Competing horses climb up and down Cleeve Hill twice before facing a stiff uphill finish at the end of a gruelling three-and-a-quarter miles. Legends from past Cheltenham Gold Cup races include record five-time winner Golden Miller, Cottage Rake, Arkle and Best Mate, who all won three editions.
Other multiple victors include Easter Hero, L’Escargot, Kauto Star, Al Boum Photo and Galopin Des Champs. Those modern winners continued the trend of recent Irish dominance only broken by Native River around Prestbury Park.
Coral Gold Cup at Newbury
- Founded: 1957
- Race Status: Premier Handicap (Chase)
- Distance: 3m 2f
- Age of Horses: 5yo+
- When: November / December
Known as the Hennessy up until 2016, this is one of the pre-Christmas highlights of the core National Hunt season. Briefly changing its name to the Ladbrokes Trophy, the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury races sees horses jump round two complete circuits of the track.
As old as the Whitbread from Sandown, it too has a storied history. Famous winners of the Hennessy include Mandarin, Mill House, Arkle, Spanish Steps, Bregawn, Burrough Hill Lad, Teeton Mill, Denman, Bobs Worth, Many Clouds and Native River.
Fairyhouse Gold Cup
- Founded: 1960
- Race Status: Grade 1 Novice Chase
- Distance: 2m 4f
- Age of Horses: 5yo+
- When: Easter Sunday
Another event with longstanding race sponsorship as the Powers Gold Cup, unlike other events of its type this two-and-a-half-mile contest is only for novices over fences. There are two Grade 1 Easter Fairyhouse races today with this joining the Honeysuckle Mares Novice Hurdle.
Its heyday saw the likes of Arkle, Fort Leney, Kinloch Brae, Captain Christy, Carvill’s Hill, Dorans Pride, Native Upmanship and Like-A-Butterfly all win Powers Gold Cup races in County Meath. Al Boum Photo and Galopin Des Champs also appear on the roll of honour, even though they’re better known for their Cheltenham Festival exploits.
Irish Gold Cup from Leopardstown
- Founded: 1987
- Race Status: Grade 1 Steeplechase
- Distance: 3m 70y
- Age of Horses: 5yo+
- When: January / February
Initially the Vincent O’Brien Irish Gold Cup and then the Irish Hennessy despite being a conditions races, not a handicap, this is the first of two such races in the Emerald Isle during the second half of the jumps season. More on the other in a moment.
Florida Pearl holds the record with four Irish Gold Cup victories, but Jodami, Beef Or Salmon and Galopin Des Champs all have three wins apiece. The creation of the Dublin Racing Festival in 2018 has only shone more light on the race.
Punchestown Gold Cup
- Founded: 1999
- Race Status: Grade 1 Steeplechase
- Distance: 3m 1f
- Age of Horses: 5yo+
- When: April / May
A relatively modern addition as Gold Cups go, but a chance for winners at Leopardstown and Cheltenham to race again right at the end of the Irish jumps season. Neptune Collonges and Fastorslow are the only dual victors.
The Punchestown Gold Cup race takes place on the second day, the Wednesday, of the track’s five-day Festival in the spring. It often has a sponsored title and a small field, but a big prize fund of Euros.
Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh
- Founded: 1962
- Race Status: Group 1 Flat Race
- Distance: 1m 2f 110y
- Age of Horses: 4yo+
- When: May
Originally the Ballymoss Stakes, this middle-distance Flat race for older horses became the Rogers Gold Cup in 1984. It then closed to three-year-olds the following season.
For more than three decades now, this biggest of springtime Curragh races has been the Tattersalls Gold Cup. Magical became the fourth multiple winner of this in 2020 when it was run in July.
Other Gold Cup Races of Note
Away from the most famous and prestigious examples, there are t more Gold Cups, particularly in the National Hunt code. These are steeplechases run as handicaps.
Elsewhere, also look out for occasional middle-distance Flat handicap races but they are rarer. Let’s discover more about both types or lesser known Gold Cups right now.
Paddy Power Gold Cup
- Founded: 1960
- Race Status: Premier Handicap (Chase)
- Distance: 2m 4f 44y
- Age of Horses: 4yo+
- When: November
Cheltenham Racecourse has not one, not two, but three Gold Cups. The first in chronological order as the jumps season progresses is the Paddy Power during the November Meeting.
While this isn’t quite the sporting occasion of the Cheltenham Festival, it is the second most popular fixture from the track. The Paddy Power Gold Cup is the most valuable race at the November Meeting.
Inaugurated as the Mackeson Gold Cup, that sponsorship lasted 35 years. Five horses have won the race more than once including Fortria and Gay Trip in its early history.
December Gold Cup
- Founded: 1963
- Race Status: Premier Handicap (Chase)
- Distance: 2m 4f 127y
- Age of Horses: 4yo+
- When: December
Let’s not forget yet another Gold Cup race from Cheltenham Racecourse either. This one started life as the Massey Ferguson Gold Cup when Flyingbolt and Pendil featured on its early roll of honour, and it’s the pre-Christmas highlight of the track’s eponymous December Meeting.
Frodon, who went on to Ryanair Chase victory at the Cheltenham Festival and King George glory at Kempton races later in his career, is one of only two horses to land the December Gold Cup twice. He first won it as a four-year-old after going over fences very young.
Haldon Gold Cup
- Founded: 1969
- Race Status: Grade 2 Limited Handicap
- Distance: 2m 1f 109
- Age of Horses: 4yo+
- When: November
The biggest of all Exeter races today became a limited handicap in 1996. Long predating this jumps version of the Haldon Gold Cup was a Flat race from the early nineteenth century.
Although it’s a relatively short distance compared to other Gold Cup races over fences, the course at the Devon venue is very testing. Famous winners include Best Mate and Cue Card.
Sodexo Gold Cup
- Founded: 2006
- Race Status: Premier Handicap Chase
- Distance: 2m 7f 180y
- Age of Horses: 4yo+
- When: October / November
Besides its Gold Cup on the Flat, Ascot races today have another over jumps. An infinitely more modern addition to the programme, the Sodexo Gold Cup is the first of three staying handicap chases over about three miles run here.
The Ascot Silver Cup in December and Swinley Chase in February use the same course and distance as the Sodexo Gold Cup. They too are Premier Handicaps at winter jumps fixtures from the Berkshire track.
Greatwood Gold Cup
- Founded: 2004
- Race Status: Premier Handicap (Chase)
- Distance: 2m 3f 187y
- Age of Horses: 5yo+
- When: March
Newbury, like Cheltenham races today, has three Gold Cups every year. The key difference lies in that only two of those here happen over jumps. For the Greatwood Gold Cup, horses run over two-and-a-half miles in the spring.
London Gold Cup
- Race Status: Heritage Handicap
- Distance: 1m 2f
- Age of Horses: 3yo
- When: May
Now, to the Flat contest among Gold Cup races from Newbury. As a middle-distance race for three-year-olds on the Lockinge card, it can prove informative for the rest of the season moving forward.
Zetland Gold Cup
- Race Status: Class 2 Handicap
- Distance: 1m 2f
- Age of Horses: 3yo+
- When: May / June
Redcar wouldn’t be the first place on anyone’s mind for a Gold Cup, but they have one. This little-known track in the Cleveland area of North Yorkshire offers this as its feature handicap when spring gives way to summer.
Perth Gold Cup
- Race Status: Class 2 Handicap Chase
- Distance: 2m 7f 180y
- Age of Horses: 5yo+
- When: June
Perth Racecourse in Scotland is another surprising venue for a race of this nature. One of the summer jumping highlights, at a time when most of the attention is on the Flat. The Perth Gold Cup takes place on parkland near the seat of ancient Scottish kings, Scone Palace.
FAQs
What are Gold Cup races?
These are valuable horse races where the runners compete for a gold cup trophy and good prize money.
Which of the Gold Cup races in the British Isles is the oldest?
The Ayr Gold Cup is the oldest continuous race of this kind on the Flat. Over jumps, meanwhile, the Cheltenham Gold Cup has been run for more than a century now.
What time is the Gold Cup race?
Times differ depending on when in the year such races are. As the feature contest on any card, however, horse racing fans can expect them to be towards the end of the card.
Have any of the Gold Cups every switched venues?
Yes, there are two notable examples of this. The Hennessy Gold Cup was first staged at Cheltenham Racecourse before moving to Newbury in the late 1950s. When Ascot closed for renovation, meanwhile, the Gold Cup and entire Royal meeting moved north to York races in 2005.
How long is a Gold Cup race?
It depends on the event in question. The Ayr Gold Cup is a sprint on the Flat over 6f, for example. At the other end of the scale, the Gold Cup at Sandown is an extended three-and-a-half miles steeplechase.
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