Day three at Royal Ascot revolves around the only Group One on the card, the Ascot Gold Cup. This historic race takes place over a grueling trip of two-and-a-half miles, and Her Majesty, The Queen comes down from the stands to hand the famous trophy to winning connections.
Many of flat racing's most famous stayers have won Ascot Gold Cup, including multiple winners Sagaro, Touchstone, Kayf Tara and Yeats.
Ascot Gold Cup Key Facts
Date
Thursday June 20, 2024
Track
Royal Ascot
Distance
2m4f
Class
Group 1
Prizemoney
£400,000
Age
4YO+
2024 Ascot Gold Cup Odds
No odds are available for the Ascot Gold Cup.
2024 Ascot Gold Cup Tips
Once the field has been finalised, we'll publish our guide to the Ascot Gold Cup.
2023 Ascot Gold Cup Result
Position
Name
SP
1st
Courage Mon Ami
15/2
2nd
Coltrane
11/4f
3rd
Subjectivist
9/2
Ascot Gold Cup History
The Ascot Gold Cup is the biggest staying race during the Royal Ascot festival.
Established in 1807 in the presence of King George III and Queen Charlotte, the first running was taken out by Master Jackey as a three-year-old.
There were many three-year-old winners in the early stages of the Gold Cup, but the race is now only open to horse four years old and above.
1844 winner The Emperor was unnamed when winning the Ascot Gold Cup, but was named after Nicholas I of Russia, who was in attendance.
The Emperor would again win a year later to make it a winning double.
Estimate gave Queen Elizabeth II a win in 2013 as an owner. A massive roar of the crowd was heard when the four-year-old crossed the line first.
Champion stayer Yeats won the Ascot Gold Cup on four straight occasions. The Aidan O'Brien-trained runner received a big ovation when winning his fourth and he has been immortalised with a statue in the parade ring.
Lestor Piggott has the record for most wins with 11. The jockey won his first in 1957 with Zarathustra and his last in 1982 with two-time winner Ardross.
Aidan O'Brien is the leading trainer. He has saddled up Yeats, Fame and Glory, Leading Light and Order of St George to victory.
Big Orange claimed a famous Ascot win for Michael Bell and his team when he lowered Order Of St George's colours in 2017.
Stradivarius then took over in 2018, winning his first Ascot Gold Cup. John Gosden's star stayer defended his crown the following season and powered to a superb 10-length triumph on soft ground in 2020 to complete a hat-trick of Gold Cup wins.
Gosden's star was then beaten in 2021 and 2022, as he attempted to match Yeats' tally of four wins. Mark Johnson Subjectivist made all to score in 2021, before Aidan O'Brien's Kyprios proved too quick for Stradivaius in 2022.
Ascot Gold Cup Betting Guide
Big Orange, Order of St George and Trip to Paris are all recent winners and all three have gone on to win on the world stage.
Big Orange was able to upset 5/6 favourite and 2016 champion Order of St George in 2017, winning at odds of 5/1 for trainer Michael Bell.
Order of St George had won in 2016 at an odds-on quote with bookmakers.
Included in the 2016 field were Melbourne Cup entrants Tiberian and Max Dynamite, so the quality of the field was high and considered one of the best Ascot Gold Cup fields in history.
Trip to Paris scored for trainer Ed Dunlop in 2015. The world class runner scored at 12/1 before running well in the Melbourne Cup later in his career.
Estimate won as the 7/2 favourite in 2013 and was disqualified in 2014.
The Queen's horse finished second behind 10/11 favourite Leading Light but was disqualified after testing positive to a prohibited substance.
The controversy rocked Royal Ascot and the each way punters which took the 8/1 on offer were left to lick their wounds.
The 20/1 odds around Rite Of Passage was good value for punters in 2010, but most of the money was on Ask at 11/4.
Yeats paid 7/1 when winning his first Ascot Gold Cup. He started at 8/13, 11/8 and 6/4 in his three subsequent wins and bettors were happy with the better than odds-on prices for his last two wins.
