QEII Cup Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends

The QEII Cup, held annually at Sha Tin over a distance of 1m2f, is a race rich with history. In this preview, we uncover winning formulas by highlighting notable records and the key trends formed across past renewals.
QEII Cup Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Expert Guide

You know how punters get lost in too much data or bet blindly? I break down the stats and trends so you can feel confident you’re betting with more than just gut instinct.

2027 QEII Cup Preview

The QEII Cup (Queen Elizabeth II Cup) was created in 1975 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who visited Hong Kong and was initially held at the Happy Valley Racecourse.

This Group 1 is now held at the Sha Tin Racecourse in either late April or early May and is contested over 2,000m (1m2f) by runners aged three or older.

QEII Cup Information:

To see which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are tipping throughout the card that includes this race, head over to the Sha Tin tips on the day of the race. Do they agree with the runners on the trend shortlist, or are they predicting other runners? You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information. Head down to the Other Principal Races in Hong Kong section for links to these.

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How competitive is the QEII Cup market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 17 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2023, when the race had an over-round of 121%. The race in 2021 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 124%, whilst on average over the last 17 renewals of the QEII Cup, the over-round has been 123%, which means the bookie expects to pay out ÂŁ100 for every ÂŁ123 which is bet.

Below you will find the 2027 QEII 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 QEII Cup Trend Analysis.

These are the top three quickest-run QEII Cup races over the last 17 renewals:

  1. Win Bright (1:58.81) in 2019
  2. Exultant (2:00.00) in 2020
  3. Romantic Warrior (2:00.13) in 2022

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? Over the past 17 renewals, if you had followed the winner of the QEII Cup next time out, then you would have backed a total of 6 winners. Backing all 16 runners who have been out since their win at SP next time out would have returned an LSP of +0.60. Remember to use the racing predictions along with the information on this page to find a bet on the 2027 QEII Cup.

The runner that holds the record over the past 17 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2010 renewal when Viva Pataca from John Moore under the guidance of W C Marwing, won in a time of 2:04.97, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Win Bright, trained by Yoshihiro Hatakeyama and ridden by Masami Matsuoka set the quickest time of 1:58.81 in the 2019 renewal.

What the expert says...
Romantic Warrior ran in the Hong Kong Gold Cup in 2023, 2024 & 2026 before winning this race, a route also taken by Exultant (2020).

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

QEII Cup Past Winners

Here are the QEII Cup past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the race year, the winning horse, and the horse's age & weight. Also detailed is the stall from which the horse came and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the QEII Cup are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2026
2:00.64
Romantic Warrior (IRE)
8yo 9-0 (5 of 8) 30/100F
James McDonald
C S Shum (HK)
2025
2:00.51
Tastiera (JPN)
5yo 9-0 (10 of 11) 11/4
Damian Lane
Noriyuki Hori (JPN)
2024
2:01.02
Romantic Warrior (IRE)
6yo 9-0 (10 of 11) 9/10F
James McDonald
C S Shum (HK)
2023
2:01.92
Romantic Warrior (IRE)
5yo 9-0 (4 of 7) 13/20F
James McDonald
C S Shum (HK)
2022
2:00.13
Romantic Warrior (IRE)
4yo 9-0 (4 of 10) 4/5F
Karis Teetan
C S Shum (HK)
2021
2:01.22
Loves Only You (JPN)
5yo 8-10 (5 of 7) 48/10
C Y Ho
Yoshito Yahagi (JPN)
2020
2:00.00
Exultant (IRE)
6yo 9-0 (5 of 7) 11/20F
Zac Purton
A S Cruz (HK)
2019
1:58.81
Win Bright (JPN)
5yo 9-0 (1 of 13) 47/1
Masami Matsuoka
Yoshihiro Hatakeyama (JPN)
2018
2:00.21
Pakistan Star (GER)
5yo 9-0 (1 of 8) 77/20
William Buick
A S Cruz (HK)
2017
2:04.59
Neorealism (JPN)
6yo 9-0 (6 of 8) 7/2
Joao Moreira
Noriyuki Hori (JPN)

Where have the winning runners come from?

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

  • HK: 12 winners with an additional 17 placings from 114 runners
  • JPN: 5 winners with an additional 9 placings from 31 runners
  • SAF: 0 winners with an additional 2 placings from 9 runners
  • GB: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 8 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 6 runners
  • AUS: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 3 runners
  • IRE: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 2 runners
  • BHR: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 1 runner
  • NZ: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

2026 QEII Cup Replay


QEII Cup Trainer Statistics

There are two leading trainers in the QEII Cup over the last 17 renewals, with both John Moore and C S Shum, who have both won the race four times. John Moore winners have been with Viva Pataca (2010), Military Attack (2013), Designs On Rome (2014) and Werther (2016). C S Shum winners have been with Romantic Warrior (2022, 2023, 2024 & 2026). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the QEII Cup are A S Cruz (3 wins) and Noriyuki Hori (2 wins).

Here are some of the top QEII Cup trainer statistics over the last 17 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
John Moore26-4-8+9.65+4.77
C S Shum8-4-5-1.35+0.11
A S Cruz25-3-10-3.40+1.18
Noriyuki Hori4-2-2+4.25+1.75
A T Millard6-1-2-3.70+3.58
Yoshito Yahagi3-1-2+2.80+1.85
Katsuhiko Sumii2-1-1+3.55+1.73
Yoshihiro Hatakeyama1-1-1+47.00+28.20
C Fownes9-0-3-9.00+1.15
M F De Kock8-0-2-8.00-5.04

QEII Cup Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the QEII Cup over the last 17 renewals is James McDonald, who has won the race three times, with those three winners coming from Romantic Warrior (2023, 2024 & 2026). The only other jockey to have recorded multiple wins in the QEII Cup is Tommy Berry (2 wins).

Here are some of the top QEII Cup jockey statistics over the last 17 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
James McDonald5-3-4-0.15-0.12
Tommy Berry6-2-2+7.70+3.02
Zac Purton14-1-3-12.45-10.67
Joao Moreira11-1-2-6.50-6.92
Karis Teetan8-1-3-6.20-4.41
Hugh Bowman7-1-2-1.45-2.67
Douglas Whyte6-1-2-3.70-2.52
Neil Callan5-1-2+10.20+7.42
C Y Ho5-1-1+0.80-1.00
W C Marwing4-1-3+12.40+10.55

QEII Cup Trend Analysis

✅ The trend factor, which has produced 9+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +41.05, is when runners finished in 1st last time out.

❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners finished in 2nd on debut, when backing these, the trend shows a record of 0-30.

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

  • 2026: Winner in 5 (6,2) [8 Runners]
  • 2025: Winner in 10 (6,2) [11 Runners]
  • 2024: Winner in 10 (5,3) [11 Runners]
  • 2023: Winner in 4 (3) [7 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 4 (2,7) [10 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the QEII Cup is Sha Tin; there have been a total of 13 winners of this race who ran at Sha Tin last time out. The next best course, which has produced the second most winners, is Nakayama; there have been a total of 3 winners of this race who ran at Nakayama last time out.

The race is open to both sexes, with male runners having produced a total of 16 winners from a total of 164 runners, while female runners have produced 1 winner from a total of 11 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the QEII Cup; that stallion, Acclamation, has produced 4 winners (2026,2024,2023,2022).

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

  • Galileo (0 Wins from 6 runners)
  • Archipenko (0 Wins from 5 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 17 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Win Bright in 2019, winning for Yoshihiro Hatakeyama at odds of 47/1 under the guidance of Masami Matsuoka. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 17 renewals, there have been 7 winning favourites in the race. Ahead of the 2027 QEII Cup, why not head over to the best racing tipster page to see what the tipsters are backing 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.

Route to the QEII Cup

Many trainers target races as preparation for the QEII Cup. These are the races which the recent winners ran in before coming here:

InfoLast Race
2026 - Romantic Warrior
Sha Tin - 1st of 6 (1/20)
Hong Kong Gold Cup
2025 - Tastiera
Sha Tin - 3rd of 11 (13/1)
Hong Kong Cup
2024 - Romantic Warrior
Sha Tin - 1st of 11 (33/20)
Hong Kong Gold Cup
2023 - Romantic Warrior
Sha Tin - 2nd of 7 (1/2)
Hong Kong Gold Cup
2022 - Romantic Warrior
Sha Tin - 1st of 14 (11/4)
BMW Hong Kong Derby 2022
2021 - Loves Only You
Meydan - 3rd of 9 (20/1)
Dubai Sheema Classic
2020 - Exultant
Sha Tin - 2nd of 11 (1/5)
Hong Kong Gold Cup
2019 - Win Bright
Nakayama - 1st of 11 (6/1)
Nakayama Kinen
2018 - Pakistan Star
Sha Tin - 4th of 10 (23/5)
The Chairmans Trophy
2017 - Neorealism
Nakayama - 1st of 11 (71/10)
Nakayama Kinen

Article Contributor Information

We are fortunate to have an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to the creation and maintenance of this QEII Cup Preview are Andy and James. They both work on the Horse Racing Tips team, overseeing the tipsters and managing the tip settlement, while also creating and managing all the horse racing event previews for International racing.

James Banting

James Banting

Expert Guide

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 Association provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Expert Guide

Andy, a seasoned horse racing analyst with over 15 years of experience, delves into the intricacies of international horse racing, meticulously analyzing complex statistical data to uncover hidden trends. He spearheads the creation and management of OLBG's international horse racing trend blogs, providing valuable insights for bettors worldwide.

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