Doncaster Cup Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (St Leger Festival)

2024 Doncaster Cup Preview

Established in 1766, the Doncaster Cup which was originally called the 'Doncaster Gold Cup' is a Group 2 race that is open to runners aged three or older.

The race is run at the St Leger Festival at Doncaster racecourse in September and is a real stamina tester being run over just shy of two miles and two furlongs (197y).

Doncaster Cup Information:

• Doncaster Cup Past Winners
• Doncaster Cup Trainer Statistics
• Doncaster Cup Jockey Statistics

If you are interested in other predictions at Doncaster then head over to the Doncaster 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 Other Principal races during the Doncaster St Leger Festival section for links to these.

How competitive is the Doncaster Cup market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2009 when the race had an over-round of 108%. The race in 2019 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 120%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Doncaster Cup, the over-round has been 113%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £113 which is bet.

Doncaster Cup Trends:

• 2024 Doncaster Cup Trends
• Doncaster Cup Trend Analysis
• Doncaster Cup Trend Shortlist

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 Doncaster Cup next time out then you would have backed a total of 5 winners. Backing all 20 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of +2.90. Ahead of the 2024 Doncaster Cup why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?

Over the last 20 renewals, it was Septimus, trained by A P O'Brien and ridden by Johnny Murtagh who set the fastest winning time in the Doncaster Cup, the runner won the race in a time of 3:48.41 when winning the race in 2007. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer Alan King and jockey Hollie Doyle with Trueshan who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 4:05.61 in the 2023 renewal.

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

1. Septimus (3:48.41) in 2007
2. Pallasator (3:49.60) in 2015
3. Saddlers Rock (3:49.83) in 2011

Doncaster Cup Past Winners

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

Where have the winning runners come from?

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

• GB: 17 winners with an additional 26 placings from 133 runners
• IRE: 4 winners with an additional 4 placings from 22 runners
• USA: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

Doncaster Cup Trainer Statistics

There are two leading trainers in the Doncaster Cup over the last 20 renewals with both Andrew Balding and A P O'Brien who have both won the race two times. Andrew Balding winners have been with Spanish Mission (2020) and Coltrane (2022). A P O'Brien winners have been with Septimus (2007) and Honolulu (2008).

Here are the Doncaster Cup trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals for trainers who have entries in the 2024 renewal, those not listed have not had a runner. (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):

Doncaster Cup Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Doncaster Cup over the last 20 renewals is Ryan Moore who has won the race four times with those four winners coming from Askar Tau (2009), Times Up (2013), Estimate (2014) and Thomas Hobson (2018).

Here are the Doncaster Cup jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals for jockeys who have entries in the 2024 renewal, those not listed have not had a runner. (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):

Doncaster Cup Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +9.05 is when runners had 3 starts in the past 180 days. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners ran in a Class 2 last time out, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-39.

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

• 2023: Winner in 3 (2) [5 Runners]
• 2022: Winner in 6 (5) [6 Runners]
• 2021: Winner in 5 (3) [6 Runners]
• 2020: Winner in 2 (3) [7 Runners]
• 2019: Winner in 4 (2) [5 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the Doncaster Cup is York, there has been a total number of 12 winners of this race who ran at York last time out.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 141 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 1 winner from a total of 15 runners.

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

• Montjeu (2 Wins)
• Olden Times (2 Wins)
• Rainbow Quest (2 Wins)
• Sadlers Wells (2 Wins)
• Sea The Stars (2 Wins)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Kasthari in 2004, winning for Howard Johnson at odds of 14/1 under the guidance of Johnny Murtagh. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 10 winning favourites in the race. Remember to bookmark the best racing tipsters page so you can get easy access to the best OLBG racing tipsters.

Doncaster Cup Trend Shortlist

Doncaster will host the 2024 renewal of the Doncaster Cup which will be run at 3:35 pm on Friday 13th September 2024 and these are the runners who perform best based on the trends along with the trainer and jockey and their record in the race (Runs-Wins-Places Win LSP / EW LSP):

• 15/15 Gregory (9/4)
  • John & Thady Gosden (2-1-2 -0.64 / +0.10)
  • James Doyle (5-0-1 -5.00 / -4.25)
• 14/15 Point Lonsdale (5/1)
  • A P O'Brien (3-2-2 +1.98 / +0.79)
  • Ryan Moore (11-4-5 +1.88 / -0.63)
• 14/15 Sweet William (7/4)
  • John & Thady Gosden (2-1-2 -0.64 / +0.10)
  • Robert Havlin (2-0-1 -2.00 / -1.13)
• 14/15 Trueshan (9/2)
  • Alan King (2-1-2 +2.33 / +1.61)
  • Hollie Doyle (2-1-2 +2.33 / +1.61)
• 12/15 Coltrane (10/1)
  • Andrew Balding (8-2-4 +4.50 / +4.22)
  • Oisin Murphy (4-0-1 -4.00 / -1.50)
• 8/15 Wise Eagle (50/1)
  • Adam Nicol (0-0-0 0.00 / 0.00)
  • Daniel Tudhope (7-0-0 -7.00 / -7.00)

*Trainer & Jockey numbers are Runs-Wins-Places Win LSP / EW LSP, Runners, Odds and Trends Passed/Failed correct at the time of posting (1:57 pm Wednesday 11th September 2024), if no odds were available at the time of posting then forecasted odds are used.

Other Principal races during the Doncaster St Leger Festival

Here is the schedule for the four-day St Leger Festival for races which we cover with blogs, each race will be linked to the race blog and detail last year's winner in the table below.

Thursday at St Leger Festival

There are a couple of Group 2's which take centre-stage on the opening day of the St Leger Festival, the £120k May Hill Stakes where the two-year-olds feature and then the £150k Park Hill Fillies Stakes where the older fillies compete.

Friday at St Leger Festival

On Friday, the feature race of the day is the Group 2 Doncaster Cup which is part of the British Champion Series and carries a £140k purse. The Flying Childers Stakes is another race on Friday which carries a decent purse, £130k on offer for the two-year-olds.

Saturday at St Leger Festival

The feature race of the festival, the St Leger takes place on Saturday, another race which is part of the British Champion Series, this Group 1 carries a purse of £700k. The three races before the St Leger all carry decent purses too, the Champagne Stakes (£150k), the Portland (£100k) and the Park Stakes (£140k).

Sunday at St Leger Festival

Sunday is a bit more low-key, only one class one race which is the £85k Sceptre Stakes for the fillies over 7f and there are also a couple of decent handicaps carrying good purses of £70k and £65k.

Other Principal Races at Doncaster Racecourse

Here are some other notable races at the Doncaster racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in.

Races in January

• Great Yorkshire Chase

Races in March

• Grimthorpe Handicap Chase
• Lincoln Handicap
• Spring Mile

Races in October

• Doncaster Stakes
• Futurity Trophy
• Futurity Trophy Weekend 5f Handicap
• Futurity Trophy Weekend 6f Handicap