George To Defend Gold Cup Crown

The crown jewels of English flat racing — Royal Ascot is upon us. The five action packed days featuring a total of 30 races and of course a massive amount of prize money is up for grabs (£6.58 million to be precise).

One of the most anticipated races is pencilled in for Thursday the 22nd June when bookmakers favourite Order of St George will need to see off a competitive field if he is to retain his coveted crown in the Ascot Gold Cup.

The Ascot Gold Cup boasts a purse of £400,000 with the lion's share going to the winner. Ascot’s Gold Cup has a rich history of repeat winners with the legendary Sagaro winning three straight editions and in more recent times Yeats going one better with four and Royal Rebel completing the prestigious double at the turn of the century.

Order of St George is the bookmakers favourite at best odds 4/5 with William Hill and with plenty of the best horse racing tipsters picking him to land the spoils.

The prices on Big Orange (7/1) and Sweet Selection (12/1) are beginning to shorten as the big race draws nearer, this may be due to some large early wagers or it could be that they have been put up as free horse racing tips on numerous sports advisory websites.

The Gold Cup is contested at a distance of two miles and four furlongs which has arguably added to the price of Big Orange (7/1). Big Orange is more than comfortable over two miles and races with plenty of enthusiasm but has yet to be tested over further and it is questionable as to whether or not he will see out the distance.

Big Orange has gained valuable experience racing in Melbourne and Dubai’s edition of the Gold Cup. He gave a thoroughly good account in both races and despite the price looks set to be one of Order of St George’s biggest challengers.

Order of St George was an easy winner of this contest 12 months ago and looked to be coming back to something like his best when scoring recently at the Curragh. Despite four of his last five outings ending in defeat retention of the Gold Cup is the main aim for this horse. The price of 4/5 can be adjudged a fair one given his overall profile but recent form doesn’t make it possible to back him at such short odds with complete confidence

Simple Verse (8/1) is another challenger in the eyes of the bookmakers but whilst we have plenty of reasons to feel optimistic about Big Orange seeing out the trip, Simple Verse appears to have plenty on his plate over this extreme distance.

The trend for four year olds in the race is very strong with each of the last five winners coming from that age bracket but we also know how big an influence the trainer stats can be for specialist races like the Ascot Gold Cup. Aidan O’Brien has won seven of the last eleven renewals and will be hard to stop making that eight from twelve when he saddles Order Of St George later this week.