2023 Long Distance Cup Tips

It’s clear that Kyprios and Trueshan are the two most likely winners when the Long Distance Cup takes place at Ascot Racecourse. The former has previously achieved a number of notable victories and this includes six successive wins which culminated in an astonishing twenty-length win in the Qatar Prix du Cadran.

On very soft ground, the horse was in his element and there had previously been an Irish St Leger win at the Curragh in 2022. However, there’s now a nagging feeling about the favourite considering that the horse was beaten as the 4/6 favourite in the latest Irish St Leger race and perhaps Trueshan can repeat a former victory in this race.

Since having wind surgery, it has been back to back wins for a horse that won the Doncaster Cup Stakes during the St Leger meeting when scoring over two miles and two furlongs on soft ground. Then came a win in the Qatar Prix du Cadran over the same distance and it’s hard to underestimate his chances considering he’s the reigning champion.

Courage Mon Ami was successful at Goodwood and Ascot this season, with the latter victory coming in the Gold Cup over two miles and four furlongs. There’s every chance that the John & Thady Gosden-trained runner can return to the same course and score, although Coltrane was second in the same race and less than a length separated the two runners.

2022 Long Distance Cup Tips

Kyprios has been shortening in the horse racing betting odds to win the British Champions Long Distance Cup as we get closer to the race taking place on Saturday 15 October. Aidan O’Brien is no stranger to success in this encounter and he’s got a potential superstar who has landed six straight wins already this season.

Over two miles and four furlongs on soft ground, the horse was able to land a victory in the Qatar Prix du Cadran and there was everything to like about that twenty-length win which came after a success in the Irish St Leger. That particular victory saw Kyprios narrowly get the better of Hamish over one mile and six furlongs.

We’re also talking about a horse that has already performed well at Ascot Racecourse and he’s a Gold Cup winner, although this will be the second time that the runner clashes with Trueshan who has won the 2020 and 2021 renewals of this race and Alan King will have high hopes that his horse can run a big race.

When the horses first met, there wasn’t much between the front three which also included Stradivarius, with Kyprios coming away with a win as the 6/4 favourite, with less than two lengths to find for the double winner of the Long Distance Cup who was surprisingly beaten in the Doncaster Cup Stakes as the short-priced favourite.

Trueshan Heads Betting Market for Long Distance Cup

Despite only winning one of his three horses races this season, Trueshan is highly rated by the bookies on the basis that he’s the market leader with the racing betting sites. The five-year-old won this race at odds of 11/1 last season and then finished third in the Ormonde Stakes behind Japan at Chester back in May.

It was an underwhelming performance when being sent off as favourite in the Northumberland Plate although the victory in the Goodwood Cup Stakes marks the horse out for potential greatness and the money has been coming for the Alan King-trained charge who could be ready to progress and dominate.

Can Stradivarius Claim Another Famous Flat Racing Victory?

Stradivarius doesn’t owe his backers anything considering the spate of successes that have been enjoyed although the horse showed his fallibility when losing in the Long Distance Cup two years ago having previously been unbeaten. While the 2020 season was solid enough, the John Gosden-trained charge fell well short when losing in the same race at Ascot.

This time around, there was a victory in the Sagaro Stakes at Ascot, with the horse then running below par in the Ascot Gold Cup when finishing fourth and there are a growing number of chinks in the armoury although there will be plenty of sentimental cash coming for Stradivarius.

While Frankie Dettori rode the horse to a victory in the recent Lonsdale Cup, there wasn’t much between the runner and Spanish Mission, with the bookies now happy to take on a horse in a way that wasn’t the case a couple of years ago.

Which Other Horses Can Win 2021 Long Distance Cup?

Princess Zoe might not have a competitive win this season although there was plenty to like about her runner-up spot in the Irish St Leger Trial Stakes, with Twilight Payment stretching clear over one mile and six furlongs on yielding ground. Anthony Mullins will be expecting a solid performance from a runner who ran a blinder in the Ascot Gold Cup when finishing second at 28/1.

Twilight Payment was ninth in the Gold Cup although a victory at The Curragh should mean he’s in contention come the latter stages of the race, while Berkshire Rocco and Search For A Song are the other horses that make the shortlist.

2020 Long Distance Cup Race Card

It’s been an unbelievable career for Stradivarius who was beaten by a nose in this race last year when Kew Gardens pulled a rabbit out of the hat to win the race, with Frankie Dettori’s ride was beaten by half a length.

Stradivarius returned to the track in 2020 when lining up in the Coronation Cup Stakes a third-placed finish wasn’t too shabby when you consider that the race was over a distance of one mile and four furlongs, with Ghaiyyath and Anthony Van Dyck the only horses that finished ahead of him.

Since then, there have been victories in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and then came the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup Stakes victory at odds-on, with the horse close to achieving legendary status over long distances and there will be plenty of backers.

At the time of writing, John Gosden has the front three in the Long Distance Cup racecard betting odds and Enbihaar is a talented five-year-old who won the Lillie Langtry Stakes at Glorious Goodwood in what was a small field.

However, the horse obliged as favourite when claiming victory in the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup Stakes and Gosden looks to have his heart set on running the horse in this heat and it’s quite clear that the horse will get the trip.

Logician is one of the more interesting runners and the four-year-old hasn’t turned out at a race track this year, with the horse unbeaten as a three-year-old and it was five consecutive victories that was scored by the runner.

The History of the Long Distance Cup

This race used to be called the Jockey Club Cup and then became the Long Distance Cup and it is now part of the British Champions Series which is always going to see star names appear at this Ascot showdown.

The race was inaugurated in 1873 and any horse aged three or older can line up, with a purse of more than £500,000 available in this race and it been held at Ascot since 2011. Further Flight is the most successful horse to run in this race and scored five consecutive wins between 1991-1995.

Twelve months ago, Stradivarius won the 2018 Long Distance Cup on British Champions Day, with the John Gosden-trained charge obliging at even money under Frankie Dettori and the five-year-old will return to Ascot Racecourse in a bid to extend his amazing unbeaten record.

Stradivarius won the Long Distance Cup by a length and a half a year ago, fending off the challenge of Thomas Hobson and Sir Erec, while the horse has continued to go from strength to strength.

It has been a string of five successive victories during the 2019 Flat horse racing season, with Frankie Dettori steering the horse to a win in the Yorkshire Cup Stakes before further triumphs in the Royal Ascot Gold Cup, the Goodwood Cup Stakes and the Lonsdale Cup Stakes.

Most recently, the five-year-old obliged at a prohibitive 1/9 in the Doncaster Cup Stakes against just four other opponents although this looks to be a stiffer test of the favourite’s credentials and odds of 4/7 are available.

It has been intimated that the horse’s appearance at Ascot largely depends on the ground, with connections not wanting soft ground and those sort of conditions could see Stradivarius go straight to Longchamp.

Gosden said: "I would think that Champions Day is quite likely.

"If we got a lot of rain and it did go heavy, that would be the one thing that would probably stop us running.

"He has got a great action and he is probably happiest on top of the ground. He handled the good to soft and softish ground, but I would be worried about heavy ground.

"He is in tremendous form since the race. He is bucking and playing away and having a shout which he likes to do.

"He always lets you know when he is around. For a little guy he makes a lot of noise."

Kew Gardens and Dee Ex Bee are next in the betting and both horses have enough quality to be a threat, with the latter having finished a gallant second to Stradivarius on a number of occasions this season.

Indeed, Dee Ex Bee hasn’t been outside the top two places in any of his five races this season and was only beaten by a neck at Goodwood, with trainer Mark Johnston finally hoping that his horse gets the better of his adversaries over a distance of two miles.

Meanwhile, Kew Gardens is one of the Aidan O’Brien hopefuls in the race and the four-year-old has finished second on three consecutive occasions this year, with this being the furthest that the horse has travelled this year.

Last time out, the horse finished a runner-up to Search For A Song at The Curragh and the four-year-old is sure to get a decent spin at Ascot from leading jockey Ryan Moore although the big question is whether he’ll get the trip.