Run over six furlongs and open to horses aged three years and upwards, the Stewards’ Cup is the betting highlight of the fifth and final day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, a.k.a. ‘Glorious Goodwood’, staged annually in late July or early August. With a maximum field of 28, the Stewards’ Cup is invariably a well-contested betting heat, as was the intention of Lord George Bentick – an influential figure who was, among other things, an inveterate gambler – when he conceived the race, in its current guise, in 1839. Indeed, the popularity of the Stewards’ Cup is such that, nowadays, a consolation race, the Stewards’ Sprint Handicap, is staged earlier on the card for horses balloted out of the main event.
Since the turn of the millenium, three three-year-olds have won the Stewards’ Cup and, interestingly, all three started favourite. Magical Memory, trained by Charles Hills and ridden by Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori, in 2015, was the first of his age group to win the ultra-competitive sprint handicap since Danetime, who also started favourite, in 1997. The son of Zebedee, from the family of Invincible Spirit, won by three-quarters of a length, eased down, at Goodwood and continued his improvement when a close third, beaten a short-head and three-quarters of a length, in the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock on his final start of the season.
In 2016, another improving three-year-old, the filly Dancing Star, trained by Andrew Balding and ridden by David Probert, followed suit, at least at Goodwood, where she ran on well to win by 1¼ lengths, although she was subsequently well beaten at Haydock. Finally, in 2019, Khaadem, also trained by Charles Hills, but ridden by Jim Crowley, quickened clear for an easy, 2¾-length win in the Stewards’ Cup, but finished last in the Sprint Cup, when co-favourite, and down the field in the British Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot.