Racing Post Trophy

Group 1 race
Racing Post Trophy

Location	Doncaster Racecourse Doncaster, England
Inaugurated	1961
Race type	Flat / Thoroughbred
Sponsor	Racing Post
Website	Doncaster
Race information
Distance	1 mile (1,609 metres)
Track	Turf, straight
Qualification	Two-year-olds excluding geldings
Weight	9 st 0 lb Allowances 3 lb for fillies
Purse	£200,000 (2009) 1st: £113,540

The Racing Post Trophy is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to two-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in late October.

The event was established in 1961, and it was originally called the Timeform Gold Cup. It was founded by Phil Bull, the creator of Timeform, and it was backed by this organisation until 1964. The race's next sponsor was The Observer, which began supporting the event in 1965. When the present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, the Observer Gold Cup was classed at the highest level, Group 1.

The bookmaker William Hill took over the sponsorship in 1976, and the title of the event was changed to the Futurity Stakes. It was given its current name when the Racing Post became the sponsor in 1989.

The Racing Post Trophy is the last Group 1 event of the British flat racing season. Four winners — Reference Point, High Chaparral, Motivator and Authorized — have subsequently achieved victory in the following year's Derby.

Records

Leading jockey (5 wins):

• Lester Piggott – Ribocco (1966), Noble Decree (1972), Apalachee (1973), Dunbeath (1982), Lanfranco (1984)
• Pat Eddery – Sporting Yankee (1976), Dactylographer (1977), Beldale Flutter (1980), Reference Point (1986), Armiger (1992)

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Leading trainer (10 wins):

• Henry Cecil – Approval (1969), Take Your Place (1975), Hello Gorgeous (1979), Dunbeath (1982), Lanfranco (1984), Reference Point (1986), Be My Chief (1989), Peter Davies (1990), Armiger (1992), King's Theatre (1993)

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Leading owner (4 wins): (includes part ownership)

• Khalid Abdullah – Alphabatim (1983), Bakharoff (1985), Armiger (1992), American Post (2003)
• Sue Magnier – Aristotle (1999), High Chaparral (2001), Brian Boru (2002), St Nicholas Abbey (2009)

Winners

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1961	Miralgo	Bill Williamson	Harry Wragg	Gerry Oldham	1:44.40
1962	Noblesse	Garnet Bougoure	Paddy Prendergast	Evelyn Olin	1:39.00
1963	Pushful	Harry Carr	S. Meaney	Major Lionel Holliday	1:39.00
1964	Hardicanute	Bill Williamson	Paddy Prendergast	Jim Mullion	1:40.40
1965	Pretendre	Ron Hutchinson	Jack Jarvis	Claude Lilley	1:42.60
1966	Ribocco	Lester Piggott	F. Johnson Houghton	Charles W. Engelhard	1:44.60
1967	Vaguely Noble	Bill Williamson	Walter Wharton	Brook Holliday	1:44.80
1968	The Elk	Bill Pyers	Jeremy Tree	Monica Sheriffe	1:44.60
1969	Approval	Duncan Keith	Henry Cecil	Sir Humphrey de Trafford	1:45.80
1970	Linden Tree	Duncan Keith	Peter Walwyn	Mrs D. McCalmont	1:46.00
1971	High Top	Willie Carson	Bernard van Cutsem	Sir Jules Thorn	1:40.80
1972	Noble Decree	Lester Piggott	Bernard van Cutsem	Nelson Bunker Hunt	1:42.79
1973	Apalachee	Lester Piggott	Vincent O'Brien	John Mulcahy	1:43.51
1974	Green Dancer	Freddy Head	Alec Head	Jacques Wertheimer	1:45.01
1975	Take Your Place	Gianfranco Dettori	Henry Cecil	Carlo d'Alessio	1:40.50
1976	Sporting Yankee	Pat Eddery	Peter Walwyn	William Hill Racing	1:48.56
1977	Dactylographer	Pat Eddery	Peter Walwyn	Philip Niarchos	1:43.70
1978	Sandy Creek	Christy Roche	Con Collins	Alfie McLean	1:38.32
1979	Hello Gorgeous	Joe Mercer	Henry Cecil	Daniel Wildenstein	1:42.30
1980	Beldale Flutter	Pat Eddery	Michael Jarvis	A. J. Kelly	1:43.53
1981	Count Pahlen	Geoff Baxter	Bruce Hobbs	Mrs A. Villar	1:42.40
1982	Dunbeath	Lester Piggott	Henry Cecil	Michael Riordan
1983	Alphabatim	Greville Starkey	Guy Harwood	Khalid Abdullah	1:41.30
1984	Lanfranco	Lester Piggott	Henry Cecil	Charles St. George	1:43.90
1985	Bakharoff	Greville Starkey	Guy Harwood	Khalid Abdullah	1:41.20
1986	Reference Point	Pat Eddery	Henry Cecil	Louis Freedman	1:45.03
1987	Emmson	Willie Carson	Dick Hern	Sir Michael Sobell	1:42.66
1988	Al Hareb	Willie Carson	Neil Graham	Hamdan Al Maktoum	1:40.73
1989	Be My Chief	Steve Cauthen	Henry Cecil	Peter Burrell	1:42.99
1990	Peter Davies	Steve Cauthen	Henry Cecil	Charles St. George	1:46.00
1991	Seattle Rhyme	Cash Asmussen	David Elsworth	H. J. Senn	1:39.58
1992	Armiger	Pat Eddery	Henry Cecil	Khalid Abdullah	1:39.70
1993	King's Theatre	Willie Ryan	Henry Cecil	Michael Poland	1:41.04
1994	Celtic Swing	Kevin Darley	Lady Herries	Peter Savill	1:40.04
1995	Beauchamp King	John Reid	John Dunlop	Erik Penser	1:38.89
1996	Medaaly	Gary Hind	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:41.12
1997	Saratoga Springs	Michael Kinane	Aidan O'Brien	Michael Tabor	1:40.36
1998	Commander Collins	Jimmy Fortune	Peter Chapple-Hyam	Robert Sangster	1:47.80
1999	Aristotle	George Duffield	Aidan O'Brien	Sue Magnier	1:45.00
2000	Dilshaan	Johnny Murtagh	Sir Michael Stoute	Saeed Suhail	1:45.87
2001	High Chaparral	Kevin Darley	Aidan O'Brien	Tabor / Magnier	1:45.39
2002	Brian Boru	Kevin Darley	Aidan O'Brien	Sue Magnier	1:46.01
2003	American Post	Christophe Soumillon	Criquette Head-Maarek	Khalid Abdullah	1:39.57
2004	Motivator	Kieren Fallon	Michael Bell	Royal Ascot Racing Club	1:41.62
2005	Palace Episode	Neil Callan	Kevin Ryan	Mrs T. Marnane	1:45.10
2006	Authorized	Frankie Dettori	Peter Chapple-Hyam	Al Homaizi / Al Sagar	1:43.74
2007	Ibn Khaldun	Kerrin McEvoy	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:37.62
2008	Crowded House	Jamie Spencer	Brian Meehan	Reddam / Burrell / Harvey	1:39.17
2009	St Nicholas Abbey	Johnny Murtagh	Aidan O'Brien	Smith / Magnier / Tabor	1:39.62
2010	Casamento	Frankie Dettori	Michael Halford	Sheikh Mohammed	1:37.03
2011	Camelot	Joseph P. O'Brien	Aidan O'Brien	Smith / Magnier / Tabor	1:38.58

¹ The 1989 running took place at Newcastle.
² The 2006 edition was held at Newbury.

References

• Racing Post:
  • 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
  • 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
  • 2008, 2009

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• galopp-sieger.de – Racing Post Trophy.
• horseracingintfed.com – International Federation of Horseracing Authorities – Racing Post Trophy (2009).
• pedigreequery.com – Futurity Stakes – Doncaster.
• pedigreequery.com – Racing Post Trophy – Doncaster.
• The Breedon Book of Horse Racing Records. Breedon Books. 1993. p. 221. ISBN 1-873626-15-0. 

See also

• Horseracing in Great Britain
• List of British flat horse races
• Recurring events established in 1961 – the Racing Post Trophy is included under its original title, Timeform Gold Cup.