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 Victoria Cup Preview
The Victoria Cup is a flat handicap that is scheduled to take place in May of each year at the Ascot racecourse, the race is run over a straight seven furlongs and is open to runners aged four or older.
Victoria Cup Information:
If you are interested in other predictions at Ascot then head over to the Ascot 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 at Ascot Racecourse section for links to these.
How competitive is the Victoria Cup market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2004 when the race had an over-round of 126%. The race in 2014 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 142%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Victoria Cup, the over-round has been 137%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £137 which is bet.
Victoria 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 Victoria Cup next time out then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 18 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of +8.58. Before placing your bet on the 2025 Victoria Cup see which other runners today are being backed 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 2021 renewal when River Nymph from Clive Cox under the guidance of Adam Kirby, won in a time of 1:30.95, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Iffraaj, trained by Michael Jarvis and ridden by Philip Robinson set the quickest time of 1:22.97 in the 2005 renewal.
These are the top three quickest-run Victoria Cup over the last 20 renewals:
- Iffraaj (1:22.97) in 2005
- Flash Fire (1:25.35) in 2016
- Ripp Orf (1:25.40) in 2018
Victoria Cup Past Winners
Here are the Victoria 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 trainer of the horse at the time of winning the Victoria Cup as well as the jockey is also displayed along with the starting price the horse was sent off.
Race Notes: There was no renewal in 2020 and the 2005 renewal was held at Lingfield.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 1:26.58 | The Wizard Of Eye (IRE) 5yo 9-2 (12 of 21) 7/1 | Tom Marquand Charlie Fellowes (GB) |
| 2023 1:30.53 | Rebel Territory (GB) 5yo 9-1 (2 of 22) 11/1 | Jim Crowley Amanda Perrett (GB) |
| 2022 1:27.18 | Vafortino (IRE) 4yo 8-7 (27 of 27) 16/1 | Benoit De La Sayette (7lbs) Kevin Philippart De Foy (GB) |
| 2021 1:30.95 | River Nymph (GB) 4yo 9-0 (24 of 27) 11/1 | Adam Kirby Clive Cox (GB) |
| 2019 1:27.35 | Cape Byron (GB) 5yo 9-3 (10 of 26) 8/1 | Andrea Atzeni Roger Varian (GB) |
| 2018 1:25.40 | Ripp Orf (IRE) 4yo 8-1 (13 of 27) 20/1 | Hayley Turner David Elsworth (GB) |
| 2017 1:27.14 | Fastnet Tempest (IRE) 4yo 8-5 (18 of 24) 5/1F | Josephine Gordon William Haggas (GB) |
| 2016 1:25.35 | Flash Fire (IRE) 4yo 9-6 (29 of 26) 20/1 | Adam Kirby Charlie Appleby (GB) |
| 2015 1:26.46 | Speculative Bid (IRE) 4yo 8-9 (23 of 26) 10/1 | Jamie Spencer David Elsworth (GB) |
| 2014 1:29.78 | Gabriels Lad (IRE) 5yo 9-8 (25 of 25) 12/1 | George Baker Denis Coakley (GB) |
Where have the winning runners come from?
Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Victoria Cup have been based:
- GB: 19 winners with an additional 60 placings from 483 runners
- IRE: 1 winner with an additional 0 placings from 4 runners
- AUS: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 3 runners
- FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 2 runners
- USA: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
Victoria Cup Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the Victoria Cup over the last 20 renewals is David Elsworth who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Speculative Bid (2015) and Ripp Orf (2018). Multiple trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Victoria Cup, Richard Fahey (0-23), David O'Meara (0-20), Kevin Ryan (0-15), Andrew Balding (0-11) and Richard Hannon (0-10) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.
Here are some of the top Victoria 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Elsworth | 5-2-3 | +27.00 | +17.63 |
| David Barron | 13-1-5 | -4.00 | +1.13 |
| Jim Goldie | 13-1-3 | -4.50 | +0.95 |
| George Margarson | 12-1-1 | +14.00 | +4.63 |
| William Haggas | 12-1-3 | -6.00 | -0.74 |
| Clive Cox | 9-1-2 | +3.00 | +2.51 |
| Amanda Perrett | 6-1-3 | +6.00 | +9.51 |
| Roger Varian | 5-1-1 | +4.00 | +1.00 |
| Charlie Fellowes | 5-1-1 | +3.00 | +0.38 |
| Brian Meehan | 4-1-2 | +22.00 | +16.26 |
Victoria Cup Jockey Statistics
The leading jockey in the Victoria Cup over the last 20 renewals is Adam Kirby who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Flash Fire (2016) and River Nymph (2021).
Here are some of the top Victoria 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Kirby | 8-2-2 | +25.00 | +13.38 |
| Andrea Atzeni | 9-1-2 | +0.00 | +3.75 |
| Hayley Turner | 8-1-2 | +13.00 | +7.75 |
| Jamie Spencer | 8-1-2 | +3.00 | +1.00 |
| Tom Queally | 7-1-1 | +19.00 | +9.63 |
| Jim Crowley | 7-1-1 | +5.00 | +0.88 |
| Ryan Moore | 6-1-3 | +3.00 | +3.01 |
| Tadhg O'Shea | 4-1-1 | +6.00 | +2.63 |
| Tom Marquand | 4-1-2 | +4.00 | +3.88 |
| Benoit De La Sayette | 2-1-2 | +15.00 | +10.88 |
2025 Victoria Cup Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 1, 1, 6, 21, (1, 2), 16, 2, 5, 9, 20, (4, 13), 7, 12, 1, 10, 2, 9, 6, 8, 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 (64%) - No bigger than 25/1
- 20 / 20 (65%) - Within the first 15 of the market
- 20 / 20 (71%) - Ran in 4 - 28 races (Career)
- 20 / 20 (75%) - Ran in 2 - 24 races (Hcps)
- 20 / 20 (79%) - Achieved a TS of 79+ (Last 5)
- 20 / 20 (81%) - Fewer than 16 races (Class)
- 20 / 20 (83%) - Ran over 6f - 1m (Debut)
- 20 / 20 (87%) - Had 3 - 15 placings (Career)
- 20 / 20 (88%) - No more than +20lbs (Vs Min Weight)
- 20 / 20 (88%) - No bigger than 20/1 (Career Win)
- 20 / 20 (89%) - Carried 116 - 134lbs (Last Win)
- 19 / 20 (84%) - No older than a 6yo
- 18 / 20 (63%) - Achieved a TS of 79+ (Last 3)
- 18 / 20 (81%) - Won within last 9 starts
- 18 / 20 (87%) - Placed within last 5 starts
Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Ascot racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the Victoria Cup. You may want to do your research into the race, there are times when there are several runners who pass the trends so you need to do your research to find a bet, we have a Horse Racing Form Reading Made Easy & What to Look For article to help you do just this in the OLBG Betting School section.
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 Victoria Cup by adding a tip on the race here.
Victoria Cup Trend Analysis
The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners finished in 1st on debut, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-84.
Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2024: Winner in 12 (18,13,6) [21 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 2 (23,14,6) [22 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 27 (26,28,13) [27 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 24 (17,25,14) [27 Runners]
- 2019: Winner in 10 (22,4,26) [26 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the Victoria Cup is Newmarket (Rowley), there has been a total number of 5 winners of this race who ran at Newmarket (Rowley) last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Newbury, there has been a total number of 4 winners of this race who ran at Newbury 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 486 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 7 runners.
Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Victoria Cup, that stallion Shamardal has produced 2 winners (2019,2016).
These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Victoria Cup despite multiple attempts:
- Oasis Dream (0 Wins from 14 runners)
- Cape Cross (0 Wins from 10 runners)
- Kyllachy (0 Wins from 10 runners)
- Invincible Spirit (0 Wins from 9 runners)
- Acclamation (0 Wins from 8 runners)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Excellent Guest in 2013, winning for George Margarson at odds of 25/1 under the guidance of Tom Queally. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 4 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2025 Victoria Cup remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page.
Other Principal races at Ascot racecourse
Here are some other notable races at the Ascot racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in.
Races in January
Races in February
Races in June (Royal Ascot)
- Ascot Stakes
- Copper Horse Stakes
- Coventry Stakes
- Kings Stand Stakes
- Queen Anne Stakes
- St James's Palace Stakes
- Wolferton Stakes
- Duke of Cambridge Stakes
- Kensington Palace Stakes
- Prince of Wales's Stakes
- Queen Mary Stakes
- Queen's Vase
- Royal Hunt Cup
- Windsor Castle Stakes
- Ascot Gold Cup
- Britannia Stakes
- Buckingham Palace Stakes
- Hampton Court Stakes
- King George V Stakes
- Norfolk Stakes
- Ribblesdale Stakes
- Albany Stakes
- Commonwealth Cup
- Coronation Stakes
- Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
- King Edward VII Stakes
- Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes
- Sandringham Stakes
- Chesham Stakes
- Golden Gates Stakes
- Hardwicke Stakes
- Jersey Stakes
- Queen Alexandra Stakes
- Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes
- Wokingham Stakes
Races in July
Races in August (Shergar Cup)
- Shergar Cup Challenge
- Shergar Cup Classic
- Shergar Cup Dash
- Shergar Cup Mile
- Shergar Cup Sprint
- Shergar Cup Stayers
Races in October (Champions Day)
- Balmoral Handicap
- British Champion Stakes
- British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes
- British Champions Long Distance Cup
- British Champions Sprint Stakes
- Queen Elizabeth II Stakes
Races in November
Races in December
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Victoria 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
