There is no more prestigious race for stayers than the Gold Cup (G1) at Royal Ascot! The two-and-a-half-mile race is the highlight of the card on Thursday, June 16. The race offers a lucrative £500,000 purse and drew a field of ten excellent stayers to battle for a piece of horse racing history.
The great Stradivarius, now eight years old, will try to become the second four-time winner after Yeats. He was defeated last year in his first attempt to tie the record but remains in beautiful form coming into this year’s edition. However, he faces a tough group of foes including in-form Kyprios and local prep winner Princess Zoe.
Keep reading to find out more about the contenders, and find out where to get the real Vegas odds on horse racing online!
Best Royal Ascot Gold Cup Online Betting
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Royal Ascot Gold Cup Post Positions
This is the official field for the 2022 Gold Cup including betting numbers, post positions, trainers, and jockeys:
Alignak (Jamie Osborne/Saffie Osborne) – Post 1
Earlofthecotswolds (Nigel Twiston-Davies/Liam Keniry) – Post 10
Stradivarius (John & Thady Gosden/Frankie Dettori) – Post 2
Trueshan (Alan King/Hollie Doyle) – Post 9
Kyprios (Aidan O’Brien/Ryan Moore) – Post 5
Mojo Star (Richard Hannon/Rossa Ryan) – Post 7
Tashkhan (Brian Ellison/Ben Robinson) – Post 6
Bubble Smart (Mikel Delzangles/Gerald Mosse) – Post 3
Burning Victory (Willie Mullins/William Buick) – Post 8
Princess Zoe (Anthony Mulins/Joey Sheridan) – Post 4
Keep in mind that at Royal Ascot, as with many European racecourses, the betting numbers and post positions are not necessarily the same.
Though European tracks do not publish morning-line odds, online sportsbooks set markets on the race as it draws closer. They also allow you to make fixed-odds wagers, meaning you can lock in the best Vegas odds the moment you bet. Track the odds at your sportsbook of choice, and be ready to place your bet when you notice an overlay on your preferred horse!
Now that you have your online betting account set up it is time to dive in: let’s get to know the best horses in the 2022 Royal Ascot Gold Cup.
Royal Ascot Gold Cup Favorites
Rising star Kyprios is coming into the Gold Cup in the right form. Though he cedes experience to his foes, his two starts this year show that he is a new and improved horse compared to last year. He likes good ground, and he is finding his best as the distances get longer. He is trained by Gold Cup-leading trainer Aidan O’Brien, already a seven-time winner, and he is a full brother to a G3 winner at two miles.
Kyprios’s leading opponent is Stradivarius, already a three-time winner of this race. He is eight years old and may not be quite as sharp as he once was. But, he comes into the race off a good win in his final prep. He is also well proven both over this extended distance and over the better ground, something that may challenge some of his soft turf-loving opponents.
Note that Trueshan is unlikely to run if the ground stays good-to-firm, as it is expected to be. Trueshan has the stamina and the class to be a real Gold Cup horse, though he’s better form comes on rain-affected going. The ground will not suit him at Royal Ascot this year, so he will probably look for a better spot.
Royal Ascot Gold Cup Value Horses
Princess Zoe has proven her ability at Ascot. She won the Sagaro (G3), the local prep, and also finished second in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot last year. That last out win came over the good-to-firm ground, meaning the footing on Gold Cup day should play to her strengths. She also has a right to move forward second off of a two-month break.
Princess ZoeEach-Way in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot
Though Tashkhan has yet to win against horses of this quality, he is a frequent place-getter underneath the same horses he faces at Royal Ascot. Though he would need a significant move forward to be a win candidate, a placing is possible again, especially since even though he prefers ground with a little more cut in it, he has had some competitive efforts over good courses.
2022 Royal Ascot Gold Cup Expert Picks
These are the best bets for the 2022 Royal Ascot Gold Cup:
$20 Win – #5 Kyprios
$10 Each Way – #10 Princess Zoe
$1 Exacta Key – #5 Kyprios with #3 Stradivarius and #10 Princess Zoe
$1 Trifecta Key – #5 Kyprios with #3 Stradivarius, #7 Tashkhan, and #10 Princess Zoe
For 10 years, Rowan Ward has been handicapping and betting horses in Chicago. For almost as long, they has also been writing about horse racing. They are aware that the best handicapping approaches for a given race rely on a variety of variables, but they frequently discover that the proverb "the pace makes the race" can yield profitable betting opportunities. Local Chicago races, national stakes races, and two-year-old maiden races with intriguing pedigrees are some of their favorite events to handicap.