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 John Smiths Cup Preview
Previously known as the Magnet Cup, the John Smiths Cup was established in 1960, the Class 2 handicap is run at York in July of each year. The race is open to runners who are aged three years old or older and is run over one mile and two furlongs, the race holds the record for longest-running commercial sponsorship in British racing having been sponsored by John Smiths Brewery since the race was first created in 1960.
John Smiths Cup Information:
Our dedicated York tips page will not only bring you predictions from the OLBG racing tipsters for the upcoming card that includes the John Smiths Cup but will also have predictions for each meeting at York throughout the season so be sure to head over there. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Other Principal Races at York Racecourse section for links to these.
How competitive is the John Smiths Cup market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2012 when the race had an over-round of 119%. The race in 2019 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 139%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the John Smiths Cup, the over-round has been 130%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £130 which is bet.
John Smiths 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 John Smiths Cup next time out then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -5.50. Ahead of the 2025 John Smiths Cup why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?
When looking over the past 20 renewals, a time of 1:56.61 was set by Charlie Tokyo in 2007, which is the quickest time over that period, the runner was trained by Richard Fahey and ridden by Jamie Moriarty. The slowest winning time was set in 2008 when Flying Clarets won in a time of 2:17.61, booked to ride was Frederik Tylicki by the trainer Richard Fahey.
These are the top three quickest-run John Smiths Cup over the last 20 renewals:
- Charlie Tokyo (1:56.61) in 2007
- Sirvino (2:07.18) in 2009
- Educate (2:07.34) in 2016
John Smiths Cup Past Winners
Here are the John Smiths 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 John Smiths Cup and the jockey are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 2:09.66 | Enfjaar (IRE) 4yo 9-1 (1 of 20) 15/2 | Jack Mitchell Roger Varian (GB) |
| 2023 2:09.18 | Pride Of America (FR) 6yo 9-5 (2 of 18) 18/1 | Frederick Larson (3lbs) Amy Murphy (GB) |
| 2022 2:08.37 | Anmaat (IRE) 4yo 9-8 (10 of 22) 5/1F | Kevin Stott Owen Burrows (GB) |
| 2021 2:11.82 | Johnny Drama (IRE) 6yo 8-13 (1 of 20) 22/1 | Joshua Bryan Andrew Balding (GB) |
| 2020 2:09.48 | Sinjaari (IRE) 4yo 8-11 (7 of 22) 11/1 | Stevie Donohoe William Haggas (GB) |
| 2019 2:10.38 | Pivoine (IRE) 5yo 9-8 (6 of 21) 14/1 | Rob Hornby Andrew Balding (GB) |
| 2018 2:09.50 | Euchen Glen (GB) 5yo 9-3 (3 of 19) 20/1 | Alistair Rawlinson Jim Goldie (GB) |
| 2017 2:10.16 | Ballet Concerto (GB) 4yo 9-3 (11 of 20) 8/1 | James Doyle Sir Michael Stoute (GB) |
| 2016 2:07.34 | Educate (GB) 7yo 9-8 (14 of 19) 18/1 | Thomas Brown Ismail Mohammed (GB) |
| 2015 2:08.28 | Master Carpenter (IRE) 4yo 9-4 (1 of 17) 14/1 | Phillip Makin Rod Millman (GB) |
Where have the winning runners come from?
Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the John Smiths Cup have been based:
- GB: 19 winners with an additional 60 placings from 376 runners
- IRE: 1 winner with an additional 0 placings from 4 runners
John Smiths Cup Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the John Smiths Cup over the last 20 renewals is William Haggas who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Green Destiny (2011), Danchai (2013) and Sinjaari (2020). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the John Smiths Cup are Richard Fahey (2 wins), Andrew Balding (2 wins) and Roger Varian (2 wins). Multiple trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the John Smiths Cup, Saeed bin Suroor (0-19), David O'Meara (0-17) and Brian Ellison (0-13) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.
Here are some of the top John Smiths 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):
| Trainer | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Haggas | 20-3-5 | +10.00 | +3.13 |
| Richard Fahey | 36-2-8 | -11.00 | -2.05 |
| Andrew Balding | 13-2-5 | +25.00 | +18.25 |
| Roger Varian | 12-2-5 | +3.50 | +2.06 |
| Jim Goldie | 13-1-2 | +8.00 | +7.25 |
| Sir Michael Stoute | 11-1-5 | -2.00 | -0.37 |
| David Barron | 6-1-3 | +11.00 | +10.75 |
| Ismail Mohammed | 4-1-2 | +15.00 | +11.25 |
| Peter Chapple-Hyam | 3-1-1 | +31.00 | +18.63 |
| Rod Millman | 3-1-1 | +12.00 | +6.75 |
John Smiths Cup Jockey Statistics
The leading jockey in the John Smiths Cup over the last 20 renewals is Andrea Atzeni who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Danchai (2013) and Farraaj (2014). Multiple jockeys have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the John Smiths Cup, Paul Mulrennan (0-11), Tony Hamilton (0-11) and Daniel Tudhope (0-10) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple rides to the race.
Here are some of the top John Smiths 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):
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrea Atzeni | 8-2-3 | +10.00 | +5.31 |
| Stevie Donohoe | 4-1-2 | +8.00 | +6.88 |
| Kevin Stott | 4-1-2 | +2.00 | +1.51 |
| Robert Havlin | 3-1-1 | +31.00 | +18.63 |
| Alistair Rawlinson | 3-1-1 | +18.00 | +10.50 |
| James Doyle | 3-1-2 | +6.00 | +5.00 |
| Jack Mitchell | 3-1-2 | +5.50 | +3.94 |
| Adam Kirby | 3-1-2 | +4.00 | +3.13 |
| Rob Hornby | 2-1-1 | +13.00 | +7.75 |
| Joshua Bryan | 1-1-1 | +22.00 | +13.75 |
2025 John Smiths Cup Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 1, (1, 7), (4, 14), 11, (2, 16), 6, 15, 15, (14, 2), 3, 5, (9, 16), 7, 14, 2, (9, 11), (12, PU), (1, 22), 17, 2
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.
- 20 / 20 (77%) - Within the first 14 of the market
- 20 / 20 (82%) - Carried 121 - 135lbs (LTO)
- 20 / 20 (82%) - Ran in 1 - 23 races (Hcps)
- 20 / 20 (83%) - Achieved a TS of 79+ (Last 5)
- 20 / 20 (84%) - No bigger than 33/1
- 20 / 20 (86%) - Achieved an RPR of 96+ (Last 3)
- 20 / 20 (86%) - Fewer than 6 races (Season)
- 20 / 20 (86%) - Ran in 3 - 12 races (1 Year)
- 20 / 20 (86%) - Not on HY/SFT/FM/FS (LTO)
- 20 / 20 (86%) - Fewer than 6 races (180 Days)
- 20 / 20 (87%) - Ran in 5 - 37 races (Career)
- 19 / 20 (83%) - No more than +2yrs (Vs Min Age)
- 19 / 20 (88%) - No older than a 6yo
- 18 / 20 (69%) - Achieved a TS of 80+ (Last 3)
- 18 / 20 (74%) - Won within last 6 starts
Remember to use the trends listed above along with the York racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the John Smiths Cup. 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 John Smiths Cup by adding a tip on the race here.
John Smiths Cup Trend Analysis
The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +68.50 is when runners had 1 career place on the going. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners ran on Soft ground last time out, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-43.
Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2024: Winner in 1 (6,10,8) [20 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 2 (11,6,3) [18 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 10 (3,8,2) [22 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 1 (3,10,19) [20 Runners]
- 2020: Winner in 7 (18,17,2) [22 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the John Smiths Cup is Ascot, there has been a total number of 5 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 367 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 1 winner from a total of 13 runners.
Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the John Smiths Cup, that stallion Authorized has produced 2 winners (2018,2013).
These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the John Smiths Cup despite multiple attempts:
- Cape Cross (0 Wins from 14 runners)
- Danehill Dancer (0 Wins from 8 runners)
- Arcano (0 Wins from 6 runners)
- Dark Angel (0 Wins from 6 runners)
- Galileo (0 Wins from 6 runners)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Kings Warrior in 2012, winning for Peter Chapple-Hyam at odds of 33/1 under the guidance of Robert Havlin. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 3 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2025 John Smiths Cup remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page.
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this John Smiths 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 Flat Racing.
Darren Brett
Tipster Competition Manager
Andy Powell
Content Editor
Other Principal races at York racecourse
Here are some other notable races at the York racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in.
Races in May (Dante Festival)
- Churchill Tyres Handicap
- Duke of York Stakes
- Jorvik Stakes
- Musidora Stakes
- Dante Stakes
- Hambleton Stakes
- Lindum York Handicap
- Middleton Stakes
- Knights Solicitors Handicap
- Yorkshire Cup
Races in July
Races in August (Ebor Festival)
- Acomb Stakes
- Great Voltigeur Stakes
- Juddmonte International Stakes
- Symphony Group Handicap
- York Ebor Festival Stayers Handicap
- Clipper Logistics Heritage Handicap
- Galtres Stakes
- Lowther Stakes
- Premier Yearling Stakes
- Yorkshire Oaks
- Gimcrack Stakes
- Lonsdale Cup
- Nunthorpe Stakes
- York Ebor Festival Sky Bet Handicap
- City of York Stakes
- Ebor Handicap
- Melrose Heritage Handicap
- Roses Stakes
- Strensall Stakes
