We rounded off Chester’s May Festival last Friday with the stayers grabbing the spotlight in the Chester Cup. Again, this Friday, it’s the gritty, stamina-loving types who are the centre of attention as York’s three-day Dante Festival comes to a dramatic climax with the Yorkshire Cup.
The prestigious British Champions Series contest is raced over a similar distance to the St Leger at Doncaster, but only open to horses aged 4 or older. Marco Botti’s Giavellotto returns to the Knavesmire hoping to follow in the legendary hoofsteps of Stradivarius and defend his Yorkshire Cup crown.
History Of The Yorkshire Cup
The Yorkshire Cup has evolved over the years since it’s inception in the 1920s. When it was first held in 1927 (won by Templestowe), it was a two-mile handicap event and remained as such until the Second World War. The contest wasn’t held during the war (1940-44) and when it did return it was no longer a handicap but was staged as a conditions race (with the weights carried by the runners governed by the conditions attached to the race).
1966 may have been a momentous year for English football, but it was a headline year for the Yorkshire Cup too. That year would see the race distance reduced from 2 miles to it’s current trip of approximately 1 mile 6 furlongs for the first time.
Lester Piggott – Saddle King In The North
The 1966 edition of the Yorkshire Cup was won by Aunt Edith, which was Lester Piggott’s second winning ride in the race. The saddle supremo won his first Yorkshire Cup five years earlier aboard Pandofell (1961). The 11-time British champion jockey would go on to win the race a record-breaking eight times. Frankie Dettori came within a whisker of the Piggott total when claiming a 7th success in the race in 2022. Lester Piggott is the only jockey to win three Yorkshire Cups in a row too. He won on Noble Saint in 1980 and then had back-to-back victories aboard Henry Cecil’s Ardross in 1981 & 1982. Ardross would remain the only horse to win multiple & consecutive Yorkshire Cups until the Gosden’s Stradivarius (or ‘Strad’ to his numerous punting pals) arrived on the scene in the late 2010s.
The British Champions Series Launches
The Yorkshire Cup’s profile would rise significantly when the QIPCO British Champions Series was introduced in 2011. It’s now the first race of the ‘Long Distance’ division each year. The other races in the category are as follows: Ascot Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup, Lonsdale Cup (York), Doncaster Cup, St Leger (Doncaster) & the British Champions Long Distance Cup (Ascot).
While there have been numerous Yorkshire Cup winners at the minimum age of 4 over the years, there wasn’t a victorious horse older than 6 until this millennium. John Dunlop’s 2000 St Leger winner Millenary became the king of the Knavesmire in 2004 when winning the Cup by 3 lengths at the age of 7. Sergeant Cecil (2007), Clever Cookie (2016) and Stradivarius (2022) have all won the race as 8-year-olds since then.
Stradivarius Hits All The Right Notes
Stradivarius, in those famous racing silks of Bjorn Nielsen, became the greatest-ever Yorkshire Cup horse in history following his three successes in the Group 2 event. If it hadn’t been for Covid and the subsequent postponed 2020 race, the Gosden-trained son of Sea The Stars might have tasted further glory in the prestigious race. Despite that disappointment, it was a huge achievement for ‘Strad’ (and Frankie Dettori) to claim a third Yorkshire Cup victory at the age of 8 (2022), three years after his back-to-back successes in 2018 & 2019.
Despite an inauspicious start to his young racing career, Stradivarius would begin to bloom and blossom during his 3-year-old campaign. His first win of note coming in the Queen Vase (over 1 mile 6 furlongs) during Royal Ascot 2017. He would follow up and step up in distance when grabbing glory in the Goodwood Cup (over 2 miles) at the ‘Glorious’ meeting in August of that year. Andrea Atzeni guided him to victory in both of those races.
Despite spirited performances towards the end of the 2017 flat season, Stradivarius would finish 3rd in both the St Leger at Doncaster and the British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot.
Stradivarius Catches The Winning Bug
Following that 3rd place finish in the 2017 Long Distance Cup at Ascot, Stradivarius went on a 10-race winning run. Frankie Dettori was in the saddle for all bar one of those successes. That stunning streak began with a cosy 3-length success in the 2018 Yorkshire Cup where he went off the 4/6 favourite. He claimed all five ‘Long Distance’ category British Champions Series contests that he entered in 2018, but none of his performances that year were emphatic as his Yorkshire Cup one.
Stradivarius picked up where he left off as a 5-year-old in 2019. Despite a tough final furlong scrap with Aidan O’Brien’s Southern France, he dug deep to defend his Yorkshire Cup crown by 3/4s of a length. He would become only the second horse in history and the first in almost 40 years to win multiple Yorkshire Cups. The Gosden wonder horse then repeated his triumphs of the previous year, winning at Ascot, Goodwood, York (again). He also added the Doncaster Cup to his list of honours in September of that year. Strad’s dream run finally came to an end though at Ascot in October in the Long-Distance Cup. In a thrilling finish, Aidan O’Brien avenged his Yorkshire Cup loss, with Kew Gardens getting up in the hands of Donnacha O’Brien to seal victory by a nose.
Stradivarius Waits For A Third Shot At Yorkshire Cup Glory
With Covid causing havoc to the early part of the 2020 flat season, Stradivarius wasn’t able to go to York in search of a hat-trick of consecutive Yorkshire Cup successes. Strad fans weren’t heartbroken for too long, with the now 6-year-old sizzling again at Ascot and Goodwood, claiming a third straight win in the Ascot Gold Cup and an amazing fourth successive victory in the Goodwood Cup. However, they would be his only two wins of 2020 and worryingly for some, he would finish 12th of 13 in Ascot’s season-ending Long Distance Cup.
While 2021 wouldn’t be as successful as other seasons, Stradivarius proved some doubters wrong winning three times as a 7-year-old in the Sagaro Stakes, Lonsdale Cup & Doncaster Cup. However, he failed in his attempt to land a fourth Ascot Gold Cup finishing 4th after being hampered on the home bend when looking to make a challenge.
Stradivarius’ Last Hurrah
Some commentators thought Stradivarius was going to go to stud at the end of 2021, but thankfully for horse racing fans, connections decided to keep him training for another season. He headed to the Knavesmire for a third crack at the Yorkshire Cup on May 13th 2022, three years after his last victory in the race. His fans weren’t fretting for too long. The now 8-year-old was always prominent and just required some gentle persuasion from Frankie Dettori in the home straight to claim a convincing one-length triumph. The only horse ever to record three Yorkshire Cup victories. Stradivarius had to play second fiddle to Kyprios for the remainder of his final season, finishing behind the Aidan O’Brien 4-year-old in both the Ascot Gold Cup and the Goodwood Cup. Stradivarius, what a horse, what memories.
Yorkshire Cup 2024 – Can Giavellotto Defend His Crown?
Giavellotto is one of six horses lining up for the 2024 renewal of the Yorkshire Cup this Friday. Marco Botti’s 5-year-old pulled off a shock win in last year’s renewal. He’s aiming to become only the third horse ever to win the Group 2 contest more than once. However, the stats do not make pretty reading for Giavellotto. Aside from Stradivarius, six previous Yorkshire Cup winners since 2000 have run in the race the following year. None of those six managed to even place.
The son of Mastercraftsman also seems to be the worst drawn in the No.1 box. Only 14% of runners drawn 1 in the Yorkshire Cup since 2000 have been placed in the race. That’s roughly 40% lower than the two stalls with the best Yorkshire Cup performance stats. 54% of runners drawn in stall 2 and 52% drawn in stall 7 have been placed since 2000. Oisin Murphy, who’s placed once (2nd in 2017) in three previous rides in the race, is on Giavellotto. He’s ridden him once previously, when 3rd in the Group 3 Red Sea Turf Handicap in Riyadh in February.
No other horse in the line-up has raced in the Yorkshire Cup previously, but one has won at the track before, Al Qareem. He’s returning to York for the first time since winning a 12-furlong contest back in May 2022. Karl Burke’s 5-year-old has never won over the 14-furlong distance. Although he did win over 15 furlongs at Longchamp in 2022, where the going was very sticky.
Can Aidan O’Brien break his Yorkshire Cup Duck?
Amazingly, the Yorkshire Cup is one prize that has so far eluded legendary Irish trainer, Aidan O’Brien. His four runners in the event since 2000 have finished 2nd (twice), 3rd and 4th. Two of those started the race at the top of the bookies’ boards. His runner this year, Tower Of London, is also the current favourite to claim the Group 2 event. He comes into the race following two impressive wins in the Middle East (Meydan and Riyadh).
He has the most experienced jockey in the race holding his reins, Ryan Moore. The 3-time champion jockey is saddling up for the 13th time in the Yorkshire Cup. He’s won it four times in the past, all of them coming aboard Sir Michael Stoute runners. Tower Of London has a similar pedigree to the 2019 Yorkshire Cup runner-up, Southern France. He finished a very close second to Stradivarius. Both horses have Galileo as their sire and Anabaa as their dam’s sire.
The other Irish runner in the field is Vauban. We last saw Willie Mullins’ 6-year-old in action at the Melbourne Cup. He was a disappointing 14th of 23 when the 9/2 favourite. If the former jumps star, who won the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2022, can return to the form that saw him storm to a 7 ½ length victory at Royal Ascot in the 14-furlong Copper Horse Handicap last year, he could be in with a shot though. William Buick takes the ride, his 9th in the Yorkshire Cup. He’s won the race twice with Duncan in 2011 & Spanish Mission in 2021.
The Gosdens Looking To Continue Their Yorkshire Cup Love Affair
The Gosdens, who have won the Yorkshire Cup on four occasions, send out Gregory. The 4-year-old’s 2023 campaign petered out towards the end of last year. It had started emphatically, including winning the Queen Vase at Royal Ascot. We’ve not seen him in action since finishing 5th in the St Leger in September.
Last, but not least, Naqeeb, is the current outsider in the field. Willie Haggas’ runner made his seasonal reappearance at the Guineas Festival at Newmarket. He finished 3rd in the Group 2 William Hill Jockey Club Stakes. Naqeeb did win over 14 furlongs at Haydock last September, but he’s had a tendency to drift about recently. Jim Crowley may have his work cut out on top this Friday afternoon.
The Yorkshire Cup is due off at 15:45 this Friday. It’s one of five live races being screened on ITV from 14:15. All York day 3 races are being shown live on Racing TV.
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Image Credit: Deposit Photos
