Royal Hunt Cup Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Royal Ascot)

2024 Royal Hunt Cup Preview

The Royal Hunt Cup carries class 2 status and is scheduled to be run on Wednesday, the second day of the Royal Meeting. The handicap race is run over a straight one mile and is open to runners who are ahead three years old or older.

One of the most competitive handicap races of the season with 20+ runners spread across the track over Ascot's straight mile, it's no surprise the draw can be a key factor.

Where the likely pacesetters are drawn is equally important in deciphering where the race is likely to unfold and we will take a look at the pace angle in greater detail when we have the final declarations and confirmed draw on Monday of Royal Ascot week.

There is quite often a notable gamble on a runner which takes place on race day in the Royal Hunt Cup so keeping an eye on the betting market moves in the build-up may pinpoint this before gathering pace, they don't always win though!

Royal Hunt Cup Information:

• Royal Hunt Cup Past Winners
• Royal Hunt Cup Trainer Statistics
• Royal Hunt Cup Jockey Statistics

Why not use the trends shortlist below to help you narrow down the field and then head over to the dedicated Royal Ascot tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG expert racing tipsters to find yourself a bet? You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Schedule at Royal Ascot section for links to these.

How competitive is the Royal Hunt 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 109%. The race in 2018 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 146%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Royal Hunt Cup, the over-round has been 137%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £137 which is bet.

Royal Hunt Cup Trends:

• 2024 Royal Hunt Cup Trends
• Royal Hunt Cup Trend Analysis

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 Royal Hunt Cup next time out then you would have backed a total of 2 winners. Backing all 19 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -3.12. Whilst we wait for the 2024 Royal Hunt Cup remember you can get daily racing predictions from the expert tipsters on the racing predictions page.

The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2016 renewal when Portage from M Halford under the guidance of James Doyle, won in a time of 1:43.01, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Invisible Man, trained by Saeed bin Suroor and ridden by Frankie Dettori set the quickest time of 1:37.16 in the 2010 renewal.

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

• 2010 - Invisible Man (1:37.16)
• 2005 - New Seeker (1:37.54)
• 2017 - Zhui Feng (1:37.82)

Royal Hunt Cup Past Winners

Here are the Royal Hunt 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 also the total number of runners in the race. The trainer of the horse at the time of winning the Royal Hunt Cup as well as the jockey is also displayed along with the starting price the horse was sent off.

Where have the winning runners come from?

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

• GB: 18 winners with an additional 59 placings from 528 runners
• IRE: 2 winners with an additional 0 placings from 29 runners
• FR: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 3 runners
• NOR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
• USA: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
• SAF: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner

Royal Hunt Cup Trainer Statistics

There are multiple leading trainers in the Royal Hunt Cup over the last 20 renewals with all of John Gosden, Saeed bin Suroor and Charles Hills having all won the race two times. John Gosden winners have been with Royal Oath (2007) and Gm Hopkins (2015). Saeed bin Suroor winners have been Invisible Man (2010) and Real World (2021). Charles Hills winners have been with Afaak (2019) and Dark Shift (2022). There are multiple trainers who have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Royal Hunt Cup, Andrew Balding (0-21), David O'Meara (0-16), Richard Hannon (0-16), Richard Fahey (0-16), William Haggas (0-11) and Roger Varian (0-10) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.

Here are some of the top Royal Hunt 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):

Royal Hunt Cup Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Royal Hunt Cup over the last 20 renewals is James Doyle who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Belgian Bill (2013) and Portage (2016). There are multiple jockeys who have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Royal Hunt Cup, Silvestre De Sousa (0-12), Pat Dobbs (0-11), Paul Hanagan (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 Royal Hunt 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):

2024 Royal Hunt Cup Trends

Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 28, (2, 12), 13, 13, 5, 1, 21, 2, 8, (12, 18, 22), 8, 9, 22, 15, 8, (5, 19), 11, 2, 20, 10

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 (69%) - No bigger than 33/1
• 20 / 20 (76%) - Made 2 - 22 starts (Hcps)
• 20 / 20 (79%) - Fewer than 13 starts (Trip)
• 20 / 20 (79%) - No bigger than 20/1 (Debut)
• 20 / 20 (83%) - Had 1 - 12 placings (Hcps)
• 20 / 20 (83%) - Carried no more than 131lbs
• 20 / 20 (85%) - Had 1 - 6 placings (1 Year)
• 20 / 20 (86%) - Fewer than 6 placings (Class)
• 20 / 20 (88%) - Placed within last 5 starts
• 20 / 20 (88%) - Held an OR of 93+
• 20 / 20 (89%) - Achieved a TS of 49+ (Last Win)
• 19 / 20 (75%) - Achieved an RPR of 99+ (Last Win)
• 19 / 20 (84%) - No older than a 6yo
• 19 / 20 (85%) - Achieved a TS of 71+ (Class)
• 19 / 20 (87%) - Achieved a TS of 71+ (Last 3)

Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Royal Ascot racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the Royal Hunt Cup. How well do you know your horse racing? Are there certain types of races that you are unsure of? Why not take a look at this Types Of Horse Race article to familiarise yourself with the different types of racing, that is just one of many helpful horse racing 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 Royal Hunt Cup by adding a tip on the race here.

Royal Hunt Cup Trend Analysis

The worst performing factor which has failed to produce a single winner is when runners ran on Good To Soft ground on debut, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-64.

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

• 2023: Winner in 7 (22,29,21) [30 Runners]
• 2022: Winner in 15 (4,16,9) [29 Runners]
• 2021: Winner in 4 (27,30,33) [30 Runners]
• 2020: Winner in 11 (5,23,12) [23 Runners]
• 2019: Winner in 21 (18,32,25) [28 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the Royal Hunt Cup is Newmarket (Rowley), there has been a total number of 4 winners of this race who ran at Newmarket (Rowley) 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 549 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 14 runners.

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

• Dark Angel (2 Wins)
• Oasis Dream (2 Wins)

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

• Pivotal (0 Wins from 17 runners)
• Medicean (0 Wins from 9 runners)
• Danehill (0 Wins from 8 runners)
• Kingman (0 Wins from 8 runners)
• Dansili (0 Wins from 7 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Belgian Bill in 2013, winning for George Baker at odds of 33/1 under the guidance of James Doyle. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there has been a total of 1 winning favourite in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2024 Royal Hunt Cup remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page.

Schedule at Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot races for Tuesday 18th June 2024

• 14:30: Queen Anne Stakes
• 15:05: Coventry Stakes
• 15:40: Kings Stand Stakes
• 16:20: St James's Palace Stakes
• 17:00: Ascot Stakes
• 17:35: Wolferton Stakes
• 18:10: Copper Horse Stakes

Royal Ascot races for Wednesday 19th June 2024

• 14:30: Queen Mary Stakes
• 15:05: Kensington Palace Stakes
• 15:40: Duke of Cambridge Stakes
• 16:20: Prince of Wales's Stakes
• 17:00: Royal Hunt Cup
• 17:35: Queens Vase
• 18:10: Windsor Castle Stakes

Royal Ascot races for Thursday 20th June 2024

• 14:30: Norfolk Stakes
• 15:05: King George V Stakes
• 15:40: Ribblesdale Stakes
• 16:20: Ascot Gold Cup
• 17:00: Britannia Stakes
• 17:35: Hampton Court Stakes
• 18:10: Buckingham Palace Stakes

Royal Ascot races for Friday 21st June 2024

• 14:30: Albany Stakes
• 15:05: Commonwealth Cup
• 15:40: Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
• 16:20: Coronation Stakes
• 17:00: Sandringham Stakes
• 17:35: King Edward VII Stakes
• 18:10: Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes

Royal Ascot races for Saturday 22nd June 2024

• 14:30: Chesham Stakes
• 15:05: Jersey Stakes
• 15:40: Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes
• 16:20: Hardwicke Stakes
• 17:00: Wokingham Stakes
• 17:35: Golden Gates Stakes
• 18:10: Queen Alexandra Stakes