Today’s Feature

The Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup

The Group 1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup is open to three-year-olds and upwards, and is regarded as a severe test of stamina and continues to showcase the finest stayers in training.

Previous winners are some of the sport’s most celebrated stayers, among them Stradivarius, who made the race his own with an astonishing four back-to-back victories, beginning in 2017 and eclipsing Double Trigger’s previously best record of three wins gained in 1995, 1997 and 1998.

The race has been successfully targeted by any number of overseas trained horses, the most celebrated of which was the Hungarian-bred mare Kincsem, who was unbeaten in 54 races and won the Goodwood Cup in 1878, making her the most successful thoroughbred ever

There have been many memorable dual winners of the race in recent times, including Le Moss (1979/80), Further Flight (1991/92), the stout-hearted Persian Punch whose ashes were scattered at Goodwood (2001 & 2003), Yeats (2006 & 2008) and Big Orange (2013 & 2016).

Hollie Doyle grabbed the headlines when she became the first female rider to win the race after powering home the 6/5 favourite Trueshan, who provided a breakthrough Group 1 success for trainer Alan King, two years ago.

A late absentee from that contest Stradivarius, returned last year but was touched off by the Aidan O’Brien-trained Kyprios, who came to Goodwood off the back of a famous win in the Ascot Gold Cup, and gave jockey Ryan Moore a second win in the race.

The second leg of the Stayers’ Triple Crown and the third stage of the QIPCO British Champions Series in the long-distance category the Goodwood Cup often acts as a platform for emerging talent to compete against established stayers.

But it’s not just about stamina, the winner of today’s renewal will have to have the courage and ability to master the undulations of the unique Goodwood layout that make this the supreme test of the staying thoroughbred.

For tickets or hospitality call 01243 755055 or visit goodwood.com

There’s nothing else quite like it