Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
2025 Balmoral Handicap Preview
The Balmoral Handicap is the only handicap on Champions Day at Ascot which takes place in October. Established in 2014, the 2019 renewal will be just the sixth time this race has been staged. The race is a Class 2 which is open to 3yo+ and is run over a straight mile with a maximum field of 20.
Balmoral Handicap Information:
- Balmoral Handicap Past Winners
- Balmoral Handicap Trainer Statistics
- Balmoral Handicap Jockey Statistics
If you are interested in other predictions at Ascot then head over to the Ascot tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG racing tipsters and also compare those predictions to the runners that make the trend shortlist when added below. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Schedule for British Champions Day at Ascot section for links to these.
How competitive is the Balmoral Handicap market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 11 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2021 when the race had an over-round of 125%. The race in 2014 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 144%, whilst on average over the last 11 renewals of the Balmoral Handicap, the over-round has been 134%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £134 which is bet.
Balmoral Handicap Trends:
Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 11 if you had followed the winner of the Balmoral Handicap next time out then you would have backed a total of 2 winners. Backing all 10 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -6.98. Ahead of the 2025 Balmoral Handicap why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?
When looking over the past 11 renewals, a time of 1:39.70 was set by Yuften in 2016, which is the quickest time over that period, the runner was trained by Roger Charlton and ridden by Andrea Atzeni. The slowest winning time was set in 2023 when The Gatekeeper won in a time of 1:47.11, booked to ride was Joe Fanning by the trainer Charlie Johnston.
These are the top three quickest-run Balmoral Handicap over the last 11 renewals:
- Yuften (1:39.70) in 2016
- Musaddas (1:40.84) in 2015
- Aldaary (1:42.64) in 2021
Balmoral Handicap Past Winners
Here are the Balmoral Handicap past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Balmoral Handicap are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 1:46.59 | Carrytheone (GB) 7yo 9-6 (5 of 20) 14/1 | Christophe Soumillon Michael Bell (GB) |
| 2023 1:47.11 | The Gatekeeper (IRE) 4yo 8-12 (4 of 20) 25/1 | Joe Fanning Charlie Johnston (GB) |
| 2022 1:44.69 | Shelir (IRE) 6yo 9-5 (11 of 20) 80/1 | Jason Watson David O'Meara (GB) |
| 2021 1:42.64 | Aldaary (GB) 3yo 9-6 (11 of 20) 7/2 | Jim Crowley William Haggas (GB) |
| 2020 1:45.03 | Njord (IRE) 4yo 9-5 (4 of 18) 15/2 | Tom Marquand Mrs John Harrington (IRE) |
| 2019 1:45.80 | Escobar (IRE) 5yo 9-6 (21 of 20) 16/1 | Adam Kirby David O'Meara (GB) |
| 2018 1:43.50 | Sharja Bridge (GB) 4yo 9-5 (8 of 20) 8/1 | James Doyle Roger Varian (GB) |
| 2017 1:45.91 | Lord Glitters (FR) 4yo 9-3 (3 of 20) 3/1F | Daniel Tudhope David O'Meara (GB) |
| 2016 1:39.70 | Yuften (GB) 5yo 9-1 (1 of 19) 12/1 | Andrea Atzeni Roger Charlton (GB) |
| 2015 1:40.84 | Musaddas (GB) 5yo 8-2 (4 of 20) 7/1 | Edward Greatrex (5lbs) Saeed bin Suroor (GB) |
Where have the winning runners come from?
Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Balmoral Handicap have been based:
- GB: 10 winners with an additional 33 placings from 210 runners
- IRE: 1 winner with an additional 0 placings from 13 runners
- NOR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
Balmoral Handicap Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the Balmoral Handicap over the last 11 renewals is David O'Meara who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Lord Glitters (2017), Escobar (2019) and Shelir (2022). Two trainers have not had the best of times over the last 11 renewals in the Balmoral Handicap, John Gosden has sent a total of 11 runners to the race without recording any wins whilst Andrew Balding has sent out 11 without a winner.
Here are some of the top Balmoral Handicap trainer statistics over the last 11 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):
| Trainer | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| David O'Meara | 27-3-6 | +75.00 | +45.64 |
| William Haggas | 11-1-3 | -6.50 | -4.81 |
| Roger Varian | 6-1-1 | +3.00 | +0.00 |
| Marcus Tregoning | 4-1-1 | +17.00 | +9.50 |
| Roger Charlton | 2-1-1 | +11.00 | +6.50 |
| Saeed bin Suroor | 2-1-1 | +6.00 | +3.38 |
| Charlie Johnston | 1-1-1 | +25.00 | +15.63 |
| Michael Bell | 1-1-1 | +14.00 | +8.75 |
| Mrs John Harrington | 1-1-1 | +7.50 | +4.69 |
| John Gosden | 11-0-5 | -11.00 | +0.25 |
Balmoral Handicap Jockey Statistics
Here are some of the top Balmoral Handicap jockey statistics over the last 11 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Tudhope | 9-1-3 | -5.00 | -2.99 |
| James Doyle | 8-1-1 | +1.00 | -2.00 |
| Jim Crowley | 8-1-1 | -3.50 | -4.81 |
| Jason Watson | 6-1-1 | +75.00 | +45.00 |
| Andrea Atzeni | 6-1-2 | +7.00 | +5.50 |
| Adam Kirby | 5-1-2 | +12.00 | +10.63 |
| Tom Marquand | 5-1-1 | +3.50 | +0.69 |
| Louis Steward | 3-1-1 | +18.00 | +10.50 |
| Joe Fanning | 2-1-1 | +24.00 | +14.63 |
| Christophe Soumillon | 1-1-1 | +14.00 | +8.75 |
2025 Balmoral Handicap Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): (12, 13), 11, 7, 1, 7, 2, 5, 14, 12, 12, 4
The percentage shown is the percentage of the total number of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones as you would expect them to do well.
- 11 / 11 (50%) - Off a break of 14 - 25 days
- 11 / 11 (69%) - Won within last 6 starts
- 11 / 11 (69%) - Ran in 1 - 2 races (30 Days)
- 11 / 11 (70%) - Furthest ran 1m - 1m2f
- 11 / 11 (70%) - Had 4 - 12 placings (Career)
- 11 / 11 (71%) - Ran in 8 - 33 races (Career)
- 11 / 11 (76%) - Break of 14 - 180 days (Last Place)
- 11 / 11 (78%) - Had 1 - 5 placings (180 Days)
- 11 / 11 (82%) - Highest Placed is not G1-2/Cl4
- 11 / 11 (83%) - Achieved an RPR of 85+ (LTO)
- 11 / 11 (83%) - Carried no more than 132lbs
- 11 / 11 (84%) - Ran in 4 - 14 races (1 Year)
- 11 / 11 (84%) - Achieved an RPR of 102+ (Last 3)
- 11 / 11 (85%) - Not in a G2-3/Cl3-5 (LTO)
- 11 / 11 (86%) - No bigger than 22/1 (Career Win)
Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Ascot racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the Balmoral Handicap. Maybe you are looking to back something in this race on the tote, but you are not sure of the process or how the tote works, No problem! We have an article which is dedicated to The Tote for you to read which explains everything you need to know! Be sure to check out the other articles in the OLBG Betting School.
Are you already a member? If not, then why not? With over £6,000 given away each month in the tipster competition, why not get involved? Remember, It is completely FREE! So, head over to the registration page to sign up today! If you are already a member, then share your thoughts on the Balmoral Handicap by adding a tip on the race here.
Balmoral Handicap Trend Analysis
The trend factor which had produced 6+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +80.00 is when runners had 2 career wins in the class. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 0 starts in the past 30 days, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-67.
Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2024: Winner in 5 (22,18,21) [20 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 4 (5,2,7) [20 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 11 (20,2,13) [20 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 11 (15,12,7) [20 Runners]
- 2020: Winner in 4 (7,2,10) [18 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the Balmoral Handicap is Ascot, there has been a total number of 5 winners of this race who ran at Ascot last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Newmarket (Rowley), there has been a total number of 4 winners of this race who ran at Newmarket (Rowley) last time out.
The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 11 winners from a total of 217 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 7 runners.
Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Balmoral Handicap, that stallion Dark Angel has produced 2 winners (2022,2014).
These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Balmoral Handicap despite multiple attempts:
- Dubawi (0 Wins from 9 runners)
- Pivotal (0 Wins from 9 runners)
- Kingman (0 Wins from 5 runners)
- Lawman (0 Wins from 5 runners)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 11 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Shelir in 2022, winning for David O'Meara at odds of 80/1 under the guidance of Jason Watson. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 11 renewals there have been 1 winning favourites in the race. Ahead of the 2025 Balmoral Handicap why not head over to the best racing tipster page to see what the tipsters are backing today?
Schedule for British Champions Day at Ascot
Here is the schedule for the British Champions Day at Ascot, each race will be linked to the race blog and detail last year's winner in the table below.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| British Champions Long Distance Cup | Kyprios (IRE) 6yo - 8/11 | A P O'Brien Ryan Moore |
| British Champions Sprint Stakes | Kind Of Blue (GB) 3yo - 10/1 | James Fanshawe James Doyle |
| British Champions Fillies Mares Stakes | Kalpana (GB) 3yo - 100/30 | Andrew Balding William Buick |
| Queen Elizabeth II Stakes | Charyn (IRE) 4yo - 13/8 | Roger Varian Silvestre De Sousa |
| British Champion Stakes | Anmaat (IRE) 6yo - 40/1 | Owen Burrows Jim Crowley |
| Balmoral Handicap | Carrytheone (GB) 7yo - 14/1 | Michael Bell Christophe Soumillon |
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Balmoral Handicap Preview are at hand, Andy and James. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for Flat Racing.
James Banting
Tipster Competition Assistant
Andy Powell
Content Editor
Other Principal Races at the Ascot Racecourse
Here are some other notable races at the Ascot racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in.
Races in January
Races in February
Races in May
Races in June (Royal Ascot)
- Ascot Stakes
- Copper Horse Stakes
- Coventry Stakes
- King Charles III Stakes
- Queen Anne Stakes
- St James's Palace Stakes
- Wolferton Stakes
- Duke of Cambridge Stakes
- Kensington Palace Stakes
- Prince of Wales's Stakes
- Queen Mary Stakes
- Queen's Vase
- Royal Hunt Cup
- Windsor Castle Stakes
- Ascot Gold Cup
- Britannia Stakes
- Buckingham Palace Stakes
- Hampton Court Stakes
- King George V Stakes
- Norfolk Stakes
- Ribblesdale Stakes
- Albany Stakes
- Commonwealth Cup
- Coronation Stakes
- Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
- King Edward VII Stakes
- Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes
- Sandringham Stakes
- Chesham Stakes
- Golden Gates Stakes
- Hardwicke Stakes
- Jersey Stakes
- Queen Alexandra Stakes
- Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes
- Wokingham Stakes
Races in July
Races in August (Shergar Cup)
- Shergar Cup Challenge
- Shergar Cup Classic
- Shergar Cup Dash
- Shergar Cup Mile
- Shergar Cup Sprint
- Shergar Cup Stayers
