2023 Doncaster Cup Stakes Tips

Coltrane has been impressive this season to the extent where the horse is trading at a shade of odds-against. The six-year-old was able to triumph at York Racecourse last time out, with the 11/4 shot winning the Lonsdale Cup Stakes over two miles, half a furlong. Fending off Courage Mon Ami by one and a half lengths was no mean feat.

This came after a third-placed finish in the Goodwood Cup Stakes, with the horse having been sent off as the 11/4 favourite in the Ascot Gold Cup at the Royal meeting. On that occasion, the charge was beaten by Courage Mon Ami although this is still strong form. Sweet William could be the one to beat the favourite based on recent evidence.

The four-year-old is carrying less weight than the favourite, with the horse running in the Ebor Handicap at the Knavesmire, with this coming over one mile and six furlongs. The John & Thady Gosden-trained runner was able to win the Coral Summer Handicap at Goodwood on 5 August, with a win previously coming at Newbury Racecourse.

Trueshan has previously excelled in Group One encounters and can’t be discounted from the reckoning here, with the horse having had win surgery since finishing fourth in the Sagaro Stakes at Ascot. That came over two miles where Coltrane was able to oblige and the experienced campaigner was the 11/8 winner of the Long Distance Cup last autumn.

Racing fans have run out of superlatives to describe Stradivarius, with the horse having become the leading stayer in UK Flat horse racing. The five-year-old has recorded four successive victories this season and looks set to make it five on the bounce in the Doncaster Cup.

Stradivarius’ stamina is there to be marvelled at, with Frankie Dettori looking to record yet another win on board a horse that has already bagged some notable wins this year, with the horse claiming two wins at York which have sandwiched triumphs at Ascot and Goodwood.

The famous 2019 season began with a victory in the Yorkshire Cup Stakes when obliging at odds of 4/5, while there was then a brilliant triumph in the Royal Ascot Gold Cup when the five-year-old managed to see off the main threat of Dee Ex Bee to claim a win over two miles and four furlongs.

It’s the same horse that Stradivarius has beaten on two further occasions, with the Qatar Goodwood Cup Stakes claimed when winning by the slender distance of a neck before the pair locked horns in the Lonsdale Cup Stakes at York.

On the basis of how little there has been between the pair in several outings this season, some horse racing fans might consider that Dee Ex Bee is finally due to get the better of his chief adversary, with the charge having done little wrong over five outings this term.

Back in May, the Mark Johnston-trained horse obliged as the 11/8 favourite in a Gold Cup trial, while that was followed by a facile win in the Group 3 Henry II Stakes at Sandown before three near-misses against Stradivarius to date.

Stradivarius’ win in the Lonsdale Cup means the horse scooped another £1 million bonus for connections, with owner Bjorn Nielsen admitting that this is a one in a million horse that could continue to make headlines in the racing world.

Meanwhile, trainer John Gosden believes that the horse shares similar personality traits to jockey Frankie Dettori and that the horse’s continued wellbeing has allowed him to perform so well.

"He's a bit like his jockey," Gosden said. "He's quite full of himself. His favourite party trick is to rear up and play and he has a sense of humour. But at the same time he's a professional – he follows the pace and he breathes and travels well.

"You've got to make him happy and then he'll perform for you."

Many racing fans will regard the Doncaster Cup as a two-horse race and there could certainly be some merit in backing the front two as a straight forecast or reverse forecast considering how consistently they have raced over the past few seasons.

However, there are currently five other horses entered and that includes Sneaky Getaway who is trading as short as 14/1 and the Emmet Mullins-trained horse has had a solid season even if he’s not been keeping the same esteemed company as the front two in the betting.

There’s an element of the unknown regarding the six year old’s form considering this is the first time we will have seen Sneaky Getaway at a racetrack outside of Ireland where he’s been impressing with various runs.

The horse was running as a National Hunt Flat horse for his first five outings of the campaign before being reclassified as a Flat runner and there have been victories at Leopardstown and Tramore which have earned him the chance to run in the Doncaster Cup.

The latest victory was over two miles and stamina could be an issue, while Max Dynamite is a Willie Mullins-trained horse which ran well in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting.

In the recent Sky Bet Ebor Handicap, the 33/1 shot finished well down the pecking order, although a smaller field and a longer distance could suit a runner who is trained by a master when it comes to National Hunt racing.