Bunbury Cup Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (July Festival)

Updated: 6723 Horse Racing

Contested over a distance of 7f is the Bunbury Cup which is scheduled to take place at Newmarket during the July Festival. Below we have detailed past winners along with both trainer and jockey records in the race and see which trends have been set based on past winners of the Bunbury Cup.

Bunbury Cup Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (July Festival)
In this article: Preview
Andy Powell Content Editor

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 Bunbury Cup Preview

Scheduled to take place in July of each year at the Newmarket racecourse is the Bunbury Cup which features at the July Festival. The race is run over a distance of seven furlongs, it is run over a straight and is open to runners who are aged three or older.

One of the popular betting handicaps of the turf flat season in England, the Bunbury Cup is named in honour of Sir Charles Bunbury who founded the two English Classics (1000 & 2000 Guineas) staged at Newmarket.

Bunbury Cup Information:

We also have a dedicated Newmarket tips page that will cover this race as well as all of the other races on the day of the race, see which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are predicting to win this race and the others on the cards. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Other Principal races during the Newmarket July Festival section for links to these.

How competitive is the Bunbury Cup market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2016 when the race had an over-round of 121%. The race in 2015 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 134%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Bunbury Cup, the over-round has been 128%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £128 which is bet.

Bunbury Cup Trends:

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the Bunbury Cup next time out then you would have backed a total of 1 winner. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of +2.00. Before placing your bet on the 2025 Bunbury Cup see which other runners today are being backed on the racing predictions page.

When looking over the past 20 renewals, a time of 1:22.61 was set by Rene Mathis in 2015, which is the quickest time over that period, the runner was trained by Richard Fahey and ridden by Paul Hanagan. The slowest winning time was set in 2012 when Bonnie Brae won in a time of 1:30.91, booked to ride was Ryan Moore by the trainer David Elsworth.

These are the top three quickest-run Bunbury Cup over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Rene Mathis (1:22.61) in 2015
  2. Vale Of Kent (1:22.69) in 2019
  3. Bless Him (1:22.84) in 2022
What the expert says...
Four of the last seven winners came from either the Buckingham Palace Stakes or the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot and going back further, ten of the last twenty winners came from either of those two races.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Bunbury Cup Past Winners

Here are the Bunbury Cup 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 at the time of winning the Bunbury Cup and the jockey is also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2024
1:24.08
Aalto (FR)
4yo 8-12 (10 of 20) 15/2
Rossa Ryan
Ian Williams (GB)
2023
1:25.70
Biggles (GB)
6yo 9-3 (18 of 15) 5/1
Ryan Moore
Ralph Beckett (GB)
2022
1:22.84
Bless Him (IRE)
8yo 9-3 (3 of 18) 25/1
Jamie Spencer
David Simcock (GB)
2021
1:24.03
Motakhayyel (GB)
5yo 9-10 (3 of 18) 11/2
Frankie Dettori
Richard Hannon (GB)
2020
1:23.12
Motakhayyel (GB)
4yo 9-7 (14 of 17) 5/1
Jim Crowley
Richard Hannon (GB)
2019
1:22.69
Vale Of Kent (IRE)
4yo 9-4 (14 of 17) 13/2
Frankie Dettori
Mark Johnston (GB)
2018
1:24.36
Burnt Sugar (IRE)
6yo 9-1 (16 of 18) 7/1
Paul Hanagan
Roger Fell (GB)
2017
1:23.78
Above The Rest (IRE)
6yo 8-10 (19 of 18) 12/1
Clifford Lee (5lbs)
David Barron (GB)
2016
1:23.99
Golden Steps (FR)
5yo 9-0 (14 of 16) 7/1F
Frankie Dettori
Marco Botti (GB)
2015
1:22.61
Rene Mathis (GER)
5yo 9-1 (10 of 17) 16/1
Paul Hanagan
Richard Fahey (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Bunbury Cup have been based:

  • GB: 20 winners with an additional 58 placings from 347 runners
  • IRE: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 3 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 2 runners

Bunbury Cup Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Bunbury Cup over the last 20 renewals is Richard Fahey who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Brae Hill (2011), Heavens Guest (2014) and Rene Mathis (2015). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Bunbury Cup is Richard Hannon (2 wins). There is one trainer who has not had the best of times in the Bunbury Cup, David O'Meara has sent a total of 11 runners to the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top Bunbury Cup trainer statistics over the last 20 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):

TrainerR-W-PWinEW
Richard Fahey20-3-6+22.00+12.39
Richard Hannon9-2-3+3.50+4.20
David Simcock10-1-3+16.00+11.63
Jamie Osborne6-1-2+9.00+8.38
David Barron5-1-2+8.00+5.38
Roger Fell5-1-2+3.00+2.38
David Elsworth5-1-2+2.50+2.56
Ralph Beckett4-1-1+2.00+0.13
Ian Williams3-1-2+5.50+6.32
Marco Botti3-1-1+5.00+2.38

Bunbury Cup Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Bunbury Cup over the last 20 renewals is Frankie Dettori who has won the race four times with those four winners coming from St Moritz (2010), Golden Steps (2016), Vale Of Kent (2019) and Motakhayyel (2021). The only other jockey to have recorded multiple wins in the Bunbury Cup is Ryan Moore (3 wins).

Here are some of the top Bunbury Cup jockey statistics over the last 20 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):

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Frankie Dettori12-4-5+15.00+7.76
Ryan Moore13-3-7+13.50+11.76
Jamie Spencer9-1-3+17.00+11.01
Adam Kirby5-1-1+10.00+4.75
Jim Crowley5-1-1+1.00-0.87
Tony Hamilton4-1-2+9.00+6.00
Clifford Lee2-1-2+11.00+9.25
Rossa Ryan2-1-1+6.50+3.69
Barry McHugh1-1-1+11.00+6.88
William Buick9-0-1-9.00-7.87

Bunbury Cup Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +14.00 is when runners had 3 starts in the past 90 days. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners last win was 2 starts ago, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-47.

Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:

  • 2024: Winner in 10 (5,8,6) [20 Runners]
  • 2023: Winner in 18 (3,16) [15 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 3 (17,5,6) [18 Runners]
  • 2021: Winner in 3 (14,10,6) [18 Runners]
  • 2020: Winner in 14 (4,5,13) [17 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the Bunbury Cup is Ascot, there has been a total number of 10 winners of this race who ran at Ascot last time out.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 19 winners from a total of 342 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 1 winner from a total of 10 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Bunbury Cup:

  • Heeraat (2 Wins)
  • Primo Dominie (2 Wins)

These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Bunbury Cup despite multiple attempts:

  • Exceed And Excel (0 Wins from 16 runners)
  • Acclamation (0 Wins from 10 runners)
  • Invincible Spirit (0 Wins from 8 runners)
  • Indian Ridge (0 Wins from 7 runners)
  • Pivotal (0 Wins from 6 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Bless Him in 2022, winning for David Simcock at odds of 25/1 under the guidance of Jamie Spencer. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 2 winning favourites in the race. Before placing your bet on the 2025 Bunbury Cup head over to see which other runners today are being backed by the best racing tipsters today.

Other Principal races during the Newmarket July Festival

Remember to head to the Newmarket predictions page to see which runner the racing tipsters support in the Bunbury Cup. Below are the other principal races that we cover during the July Festival with links to each race blog as well as information for last year's winners.

Friday at the July Festival

The highlight on the Friday, known as Ladies Day is the Princess of Wales's Stakes, a group 2 contested over one mile and four furlongs.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
13:50 Newmarket
Bahrain Trophy Stakes
Ancient Wisdom (FR)
3yo - 6/4
Charlie Appleby
William Buick
14:25 Newmarket
July Stakes
Whistlejacket (IRE)
2yo - 11/10
A P O'Brien
Ryan Moore
15:00 Newmarket
bet365 Sprint Handicap
Sergeant Wilko (IRE)
3yo - 6/1
Kevin Ryan
Oisin Murphy
15:35 Newmarket
Princess of Wales's Stakes
Giavellotto (IRE)
5yo - 100/30
Marco Botti
Oisin Murphy

Saturday at the July Festival

Festival Friday as it is known features the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes which is part of the British Champion Series and is run over a mile.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
13:50 Newmarket
bet365 Handicap
Involvement (GB)
3yo - 100/30
Simon & Ed Crisford
Oisin Murphy
14:25 Newmarket
Duchess of Cambridge Stakes
Arabian Dusk (GB)
2yo - 12/1
Simon & Ed Crisford
Harry Davies
15:35 Newmarket
Falmouth Stakes
Porta Fortuna (IRE)
3yo - 10/11
Donnacha Aidan O'Brien
Ryan Moore

Sunday at the July Festival

As the name would indicate, 'July Cup Day', the main race on the final day of the July Festival is the July Cup, another race which is part of the British Champion Series, this race is contested over six furlongs.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
14:50 Newmarket
bet365 Mile Handicap
First Conquest (GB)
3yo - 12/1
Charlie Appleby
William Buick
15:25 Newmarket
Superlative Stakes
Ancient Truth (IRE)
2yo - 4/6
Charlie Appleby
William Buick
16:00 Newmarket
Bunbury Cup
Aalto (FR)
4yo - 15/2
Ian Williams
Rossa Ryan
16:35 Newmarket
July Cup
Mill Stream (IRE)
4yo - 11/1
Jane Chapple-Hyam
William Buick

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Bunbury Cup 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

James Banting

Tipster competition assistant

James Banting, a passionate horse racing enthusiast and aficionado, brings a wealth of experience to OLBG, having attended numerous race meetings over the years. His background working with the Jockey Club provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Content editor

Andy, a seasoned horse racing expert with over 15 years of experience, possesses a comprehensive understanding of the sport, from delving into complex statistical data for flat racing in the UK and Ireland to crafting insightful flat racing blogs for OLBG.

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