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.
2026 January Cup Preview
Scheduled to take place in January of each year at the Happy Valley racecourse in Hong Kong is the January Cup.
This Group 3 is the highlight of the flat season at Happy Valley, the race is run on the turf over a distance of 1,800m (1m1f) with the race being open to runners aged three or older and rated 90 or higher.
January Cup Information:
If you are interested in other predictions at Happy Valley then head over to the Happy Valley 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.
Best Horse Racing Betting Sites 2025
How competitive is the January Cup market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 10 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2021 when the race had an over-round of 122%. The race in 2017 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 125%, whilst on average over the last 10 renewals of the January Cup, the over-round has been 123%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £123 which is bet.
Below you will find the 2026 January Cup Trends, see which patterns have occurred over the recent renewals that you may be able to use for the next renewal, we also have a section that looks at the January Cup Trend Analysis.
These are the top three quickest-run January Cup over the last 10 renewals:
- Money Catcher (1:47.94) in 2023
- Doctor Geoff (1:48.10) in 2020
- Zebrowski (1:48.25) in 2022
Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 10 if you had followed the winner of the January Cup next time out then you would have backed a total of 1 winner. Backing all 9 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -4.65. Ahead of the 2026 January Cup why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?
Over the last 10 renewals, it was Money Catcher, trained by F C Lor and ridden by Silvestre De Sousa who set the fastest winning time in the January Cup, the runner won the race in a time of 1:47.94 when winning the race in 2023. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer John Moore and jockey Zac Purton with Eagle Way who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 1:50.14 in the 2018 renewal.
January Cup Past Winners
Here are the January 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 January Cup are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 1:49.19 | Helene Feeling (IRE) 5yo 8-5 (9 of 12) 39/10 | Harry Bentley C S Shum (HK) |
| 2024 1:48.29 | Happy Together (IRE) 5yo 8-3 (3 of 12) 63/20 | Alexis Badel F C Lor (HK) |
| 2023 1:47.94 | Money Catcher (NZ) 5yo 9-1 (1 of 11) 31/20F | Silvestre De Sousa F C Lor (HK) |
| 2022 1:48.25 | Zebrowski (NZ) 5yo 8-3 (3 of 9) 13/20F | Joao Moreira C Fownes (HK) |
| 2021 1:48.68 | Savvy Nine (FR) 5yo 8-8 (2 of 10) 59/20 | Christophe Soumillon Douglas Whyte (HK) |
| 2020 1:48.10 | Doctor Geoff (IRE) 6yo 8-3 (3 of 9) 33/10 | C Y Ho K W Lui (HK) |
| 2019 1:48.83 | Simply Brilliant (GB) 5yo 8-2 (8 of 10) 42/10 | Alexis Badel F C Lor (HK) |
| 2018 1:50.14 | Eagle Way (AUS) 5yo 9-7 (9 of 11) 41/5 | Zac Purton John Moore (HK) |
| 2017 1:49.83 | Harbour Master (USA) 7yo 8-11 (11 of 11) 105/10 | Zac Purton John Moore (HK) |
| 2016 1:48.52 | Flame Hero (NZ) 6yo 8-5 (2 of 12) 185/10 | K C Leung L Ho (HK) |
Where have the winning runners come from?
Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the January Cup have been based:
- HK: 10 winners with an additional 19 placings from 105 runners
- MAC: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 1 runner
- AUS: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
January Cup Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the January Cup over the last 10 renewals is F C Lor who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Simply Brilliant (2019), Money Catcher (2023) and Happy Together (2024). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the January Cup is John Moore (2 wins). There is one trainer who has not had the best of times in the January Cup, A S Cruz has sent a total of 19 runners to the race without recording any wins.
Here are some of the top January Cup trainer statistics over the last 10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| F C Lor | 14-3-4 | -2.10 | -4.20 |
| John Moore | 8-2-3 | +12.70 | +7.22 |
| C S Shum | 9-1-5 | -4.10 | -1.36 |
| C Fownes | 9-1-1 | -7.35 | -7.61 |
| K W Lui | 5-1-3 | -0.70 | +0.48 |
| L Ho | 3-1-2 | +16.50 | +11.56 |
| Douglas Whyte | 2-1-2 | +1.95 | +2.17 |
| A S Cruz | 19-0-4 | -19.00 | -12.10 |
| P F Yiu | 5-0-2 | -5.00 | +1.13 |
| J Size | 5-0-2 | -5.00 | -2.66 |
January Cup Jockey Statistics
There are two leading jockeys in the January Cup over the last 10 renewals with both Alexis Badel and Zac Purton who have both won the race two times. Alexis Badel's winners have been with Simply Brilliant (2019) and Happy Together (2024). Zac Purton winners have been with Harbour Master (2017) and Eagle Way (2018).
Here are some of the top January Cup jockey statistics over the last 10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexis Badel | 9-2-7 | +0.35 | +4.51 |
| Zac Purton | 6-2-3 | +14.70 | +7.92 |
| K C Leung | 7-1-1 | +12.50 | +5.56 |
| C Y Ho | 7-1-2 | -2.70 | -3.35 |
| Joao Moreira | 6-1-3 | -4.35 | -2.72 |
| Silvestre De Sousa | 4-1-1 | -1.45 | -2.07 |
| Harry Bentley | 3-1-1 | +1.90 | +0.44 |
| Christophe Soumillon | 1-1-1 | +2.95 | +1.77 |
| Matthew Chadwick | 8-0-2 | -8.00 | -3.84 |
| Karis Teetan | 7-0-1 | -7.00 | -5.37 |
2026 January Cup Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 10, (3, 4, 9), 4, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 3, 5
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. The trend information is based on the available information on the racing post in terms of previous runs etc.
- 10 / 10 (63%) - Ran in 7 - 26 races (Career)
- 10 / 10 (66%) - Ran in 5 - 20 races (Hcps)
- 10 / 10 (66%) - No bigger than 62/5 (Career Win)
- 10 / 10 (67%) - No bigger than 37/2
- 10 / 10 (72%) - No bigger than 11/1 (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (77%) - Within the first 8 of the market
- 10 / 10 (79%) - No bigger than 17/1 (Debut)
- 10 / 10 (79%) - Off a break of 18 - 59 days
- 10 / 10 (80%) - Had 2 - 12 placings (Hcps)
- 10 / 10 (80%) - Had 1 - 6 wins (Career)
- 10 / 10 (81%) - Achieved an RPR of 97+ (Last 3)
- 10 / 10 (84%) - Had 2 - 14 placings (Career)
- 10 / 10 (84%) - Not in a G1-2/LST/Cl3/Cl5 (Last Win)
- 10 / 10 (85%) - Not BB/CG/GR in colour
- 10 / 10 (86%) - Fewer than 6 wins (Hcps)
Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Happy Valley racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the January Cup. If you are a newcomer to horse racing betting, then the number of types of bets can be scary! Don't let that put you off though, head over to this Types Of Horse Racing Bet article and have a read, you will then have a better knowledge of betting on racing in the future and there are plenty of other articles in the OLBG Betting School too.
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 January Cup by adding a tip on the race here.
January Cup Trend Analysis
✅ The trend factor that produced 5+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +14.95 is when runners had 1 career win on the going.
❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners ran over 1m on debut, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-29.
Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2025: Winner in 9 (10,11) [12 Runners]
- 2024: Winner in 3 (1,9) [12 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 1 (7,6) [11 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 3 (5,9) [9 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 2 (10,3) [10 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the January Cup is Sha Tin, there has been a total number of 7 winners of this race who ran at Sha Tin last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Happy Valley, there has been a total number of 3 winners of this race who ran at Happy Valley last time out.
Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the January Cup, that stallion Savabeel has produced 2 winners (2022,2016).
Looking at the winning odds over the last 10 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Flame Hero in 2016, winning for L Ho at odds of 185/10 under the guidance of K C Leung. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 10 renewals there have been 2 winning favourites in the race. Before placing your bet on the 2026 January Cup head over to see which other runners today are being backed by the best racing tipsters today. All figures and trends above, such as the horse's previous runs are based on the information that is available on the racing post.
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this January Cup Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren. 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 International racing.
Darren Brett
Tipster Competition Manager
Andy Powell
Content Editor
