Stewards Cup Trends & Antepost Tips For Glorious Goodwood 2026

The Stewards’ Cup had its inaugural running in 1840 over a sprint distance of six furlongs. The contest has now become the feature race on the concluding Saturday of the Glorious Goodwood Festival and always attracts a large and competitive field. 

Let’s take a look at all the important betting trends and statistics for the Stewards’ Cup:

Age

• 8 of the last 12 winners were aged between 3 and 5.
• 21 of the last 22 winners were aged 6 or younger. Horses aged 4 or 5 make up the bulk of the winners (13 of the last 22).
• Runners aged 7 or older have a very poor record. Since the early 2000’s, only a small handful of winners have been older than six.

Weights

• 6 of the last 7 winners carried 9st 1lb or more.
• 11 of the last 12 winners carried 9st 6lbs or less.
• The vast majority of winners in the last decade have successfully shouldered between 9st and 9st 7lbs on the day of the handicap.
• Carrying massive weights to victory is rare. Only elite sprinters like Summerghand (9st 10lbs in 2020) have defied this barrier in recent times.

Ratings

• 9 of the last 12 winners had a rating of between 95 and 104.
• Between 2000 and 2010, only 2 winners were rated 100 or higher.
• The 10-year rolling average rating for a Stewards’ Cup winner sits at 103.
• Horses rated 105 or higher are almost always anchored by their weight.
• 85% of all winners over the last 20 renewals held an official rating of 88 or higher at the time of their previous win.

Key Trial Races

• The primary trial for the Stewards’ Cup is the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot.
• The International Stakes (Ascot), Bunbury Cup (Newmarket) and The Dash (York) are also key races coming into this Goodwood feature.
• 6/12 winners won on their last run before the Stewards’ Cup, 11/12 winners had their last run within the last 46 days.

Draw

• Getting drawn in the exact middle (stalls 9 to 16) is historically NOT the place to be.
• The draw bias in the Stewards’ Cup favours a high draw on fast ground but changes drastically to a low draw on soft ground.
• Stalls 25-28 have done really well when the going is good to firm.

Starting Price

• 13 of the last 20 winners were sent off at double-digit odds, between the 10/1 to 25/1 bracket.
• Favourites have a terrible record in this handicap, with only 2 winning in the last 20 years.

Stewards Cup Antepost 2026:

• Browse the latest horse racing odds ahead of this year’s meeting

FAR ABOVE DREAM (8/1 FAV): Won three consecutive races before putting in an excellent performance at Royal Ascot where he finished 4th out of 27 runners in the Wokingham Stakes.

BINHAREER (10/1): The grey finished a respectable 4th of 7 runners in the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury and drops back into handicap company where he will find life much easier.

DUBAI BLING (12/1): The Hugo Palmer-trained four-year-old gelding comes into the race as one of the most in-form sprinters in the field.

Selection: Dubai Bling @ 12/1 E/W

*Odds subject to change – prices accurate at the time of writing*