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

Updated: 2033 Horse Racing

Contested over a distance of 6f is the July 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 July Cup.

July 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 July Cup Preview

Established in 1876, the July Cup is a Group 1 flat race run at the Newmarket July course during the July Festival. The race is open to runners aged three years old or older and is run over a straight six furlongs. Three-year-old runners have to carry 9-0 whilst the older runners carry 9-6 with any fillies and mares getting a 3lb allowance.

The race, currently known as the Darley July Cup is considered by many as the best sprint race in Britain with the winner known as the champion sprinter of Europe.

July Cup Information:

If you are interested in other predictions at Newmarket then head over to the Newmarket 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 Newmarket July Festival section for links to these.

How competitive is the July Cup market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2023 when the race had an over-round of 111%. The race in 2016 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 128%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the July Cup, the over-round has been 121%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £121 which is bet.

July 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 July Cup next time out then you would have backed a total of 3 winners. Backing all 18 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -10.60. Remember to bookmark the racing tips page to easily access the OLBG racing picks daily.

The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2012 renewal when Mayson from Richard Fahey under the guidance of Paul Hanagan, won in a time of 1:15.90, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Lethal Force, trained by Clive Cox and ridden by Adam Kirby set the quickest time of 1:09.11 in the 2013 renewal.

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

  1. Lethal Force (1:09.11) in 2013
  2. Ten Sovereigns (1:09.31) in 2019
  3. Muhaarar (1:09.34) in 2015
What the expert says...
The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes has supplied seven winners of this race including last year's winner Mill Stream who finished 3rd in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes before winning this whilst the Commonwealth Cup has supplied four winners.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

July Cup Past Winners

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

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2024
1:10.90
Mill Stream (IRE)
4yo 9-8 (11 of 11) 11/1
William Buick
Jane Chapple-Hyam (GB)
2023
1:11.68
Shaquille (GB)
3yo 9-2 (9 of 8) 5/2F
Rossa Ryan
Julie Camacho (GB)
2022
1:09.47
Alcohol Free (IRE)
4yo 9-5 (14 of 13) 14/1
Rob Hornby
Andrew Balding (GB)
2021
1:10.11
Starman (GB)
4yo 9-6 (4 of 19) 9/2
Tom Marquand
Ed Walker (GB)
2020
1:09.59
Oxted (GB)
4yo 9-6 (9 of 12) 12/1
Cieren Fallon
Roger Teal (GB)
2019
1:09.31
Ten Sovereigns (IRE)
3yo 9-0 (12 of 12) 9/2
Ryan Moore
A P O'Brien (IRE)
2018
1:11.32
U S Navy Flag (USA)
3yo 9-0 (12 of 13) 8/1
Ryan Moore
A P O'Brien (IRE)
2017
1:11.25
Harry Angel (IRE)
3yo 9-0 (6 of 10) 9/2
Adam Kirby
Clive Cox (GB)
2016
1:09.97
Limato (IRE)
4yo 9-6 (16 of 18) 9/2F
Harry Bentley
Henry Candy (GB)
2015
1:09.34
Muhaarar (GB)
3yo 9-0 (7 of 14) 2/1F
Paul Hanagan
Charles Hills (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

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

  • GB: 15 winners with an additional 32 placings from 201 runners
  • IRE: 4 winners with an additional 5 placings from 38 runners
  • FR: 1 winner with an additional 0 placings from 6 runners
  • AUS: 0 winners with an additional 2 placings from 12 runners
  • USA: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 5 runners
  • SAF: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 3 runners
  • GER: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 3 runners
  • JPN: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 2 runners
  • SIN: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 2 runners
  • SPA: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
  • HK: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

July Cup Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the July Cup over the last 20 renewals is A P O'Brien who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Starspangledbanner (2010), U S Navy Flag (2018) and Ten Sovereigns (2019). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the July Cup are Clive Cox (2 wins) and Hughie Morrison (2 wins). There is one trainer who has not had the best of times in the July Cup, Kevin Ryan has sent a total of 17 runners to the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top July 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
A P O'Brien25-3-6-7.50-5.35
Clive Cox8-2-3+3.00+0.10
Hughie Morrison3-2-2+25.50+12.25
Charles Hills9-1-1-6.00-6.80
Richard Fahey8-1-2+13.00+10.50
Edward Lynam7-1-2-4.25-2.85
Henry Candy6-1-3-0.50+1.45
Andrew Balding4-1-1+11.00+5.40
Roger Teal2-1-2+11.00+6.70
Jane Chapple-Hyam1-1-1+11.00+6.60

July Cup Jockey Statistics

There are multiple leading jockeys in the July Cup over the last 20 renewals with Ryan Moore, Adam Kirby and J F Egan having all won the race two times. Ryan Moore winners have been with U S Navy Flag (2018) and Ten Sovereigns (2019). Adam Kirby's winners have been with Lethal Force (2013) and Harry Angel (2017). J F Egan winners have been with Pastoral Pursuits (2005) and Les Arcs (2006). There is one jockey who has not had the best of times in the July Cup, Frankie Dettori has ridden 13 runners to the race without recording any wins.

Here are some of the top July 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
Ryan Moore15-2-4-0.50-2.75
Adam Kirby5-2-3+6.00+3.10
J F Egan3-2-2+31.00+16.00
William Buick10-1-3+2.00+0.20
Wayne Lordan6-1-3-3.25+3.65
Tom Queally4-1-1+9.00+4.20
Harry Bentley4-1-2+1.50+0.15
Rob Hornby3-1-1+12.00+6.40
Rossa Ryan3-1-1+0.50-0.50
Cieren Fallon2-1-2+11.00+6.70

July Cup Trend Analysis

The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 1 career win at the track, 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 11 (7,5) [11 Runners]
  • 2023: Winner in 9 (3,7) [8 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 14 (13,12) [13 Runners]
  • 2021: Winner in 4 (6,16) [19 Runners]
  • 2020: Winner in 9 (11,6) [12 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the July Cup is Ascot, there has been a total number of 14 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 18 winners from a total of 250 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 2 winners from a total of 24 runners.

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

  • Dark Angel (2 Wins)
  • Dutch Art (2 Wins)
  • Invincible Spirit (2 Wins)
  • No Nay Never (2 Wins)

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

  • Pivotal (0 Wins from 10 runners)
  • Shamardal (0 Wins from 7 runners)
  • Dubawi (0 Wins from 6 runners)
  • Acclamation (0 Wins from 5 runners)
  • Shinko Forest (0 Wins from 5 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Pastoral Pursuits in 2005, winning for Hughie Morrison at odds of 22/1 under the guidance of J F Egan. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 6 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.

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 July 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 July 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

Darren Brett

Tipster competition manager

Darren has worked in the horse racing industry for decades bringing to OLBG for the last 20 years a wealth of knowledge, creating much of our content on these sports. Darren also manages our Grand National Guide and is the go-to font of knowledge for the world's greatest steeplechase.
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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