Following the Group class highlights of the opening four days, the feature event on Day 5 at the Qatar Goodwood Festival provides something completely different. By turns heartbreaking, shocking, and impressive, the Goodwood Cup, the Sussex Stakes, and the Nassau Stakes will live long in the memory. However, for handicap fans, the Saturday feature of the Stewards’ Cup presents one of the most thrilling spectacles of the flat campaign.
Twenty-eight runners spread across the width of the Sussex turf create a compelling puzzle to solve as the leading sprint handicappers do battle for £250,000 in prize money. Sometimes the punters get it right – Magical Memory, Dancing Star, and Khaadem have all rewarded favourite backers in the past ten years. And sometimes they don’t, as advertised by Lancelot Du Lac, Commanche Falls, and Get It, who defied odds of 25/1, 25/1, and 40/1, respectively.
With the days ticking down towards the 2025 edition, and a maximum field of 28 runners confirmed, the latest edition of this cavalry charge looks as competitive as ever.
A Third Success for Haggas?
Predicting which runner will start favourite on the day isn’t straightforward. However, at the 48-hour stage, the market has settled on the four-year-old Blue Point gelding, Elmonjed. Hailing from the yard of William Haggas – who struck with 40/1 chance Conquest in 2008 and 12/1 shot Rex Imperator – this Shadwell runner brings an appealing profile to the table.
Finishing in the first three in eight of eleven career outings, he is one of the more lightly raced runners in the field. Last time out in the Sky Bet Dash, he posted a career-best effort to burst through the pack and score by a neck. He’s up five pounds for that, but there may be more to come.
Hammer to Hit the Target for Ryan?
Another runner who falls firmly into the “open to improvement” category is the Kevin Ryan-trained three-year-old Hammer The Hammer. Only three youngsters have landed the prize since the turn of the century, and Ryan has never claimed top spot, but he may have his best chance yet with this son of Coulsty.
Having broken his duck at the fourth time of asking at Southwell in March, he immediately proved much better than a mark of 82, winning by six lengths back at Southwell and four-and-a-quarter at Chester. That run came to an end in the five-furlong Palace Of Holyroodhouse Stakes at Ascot, but he still ran a cracker to finish second to the talented Adrestia. Already up to a rating of 104, he may not have finished improving yet.
Former Winners Back for More
Punters who like to support runners with course and distance form will be drawn to the claims of Commanche Falls and Get It. Now eight years old, Commanche Falls is set to make his third appearance in the race, and his first since 2022. It’s fair to say those previous outings went well. Having won off a mark of 101 in 2021, he successfully defended his title off 103 in 2022 – becoming the first dual winner of the race since Sky Diver in 1968. No horse has won the Stewards Cup on three occasions, and general odds of 50/1 suggest Commanche Falls won’t be the first. However, he’s now three pounds lower than for that 2022 victory and could go well for Connor Beasley.
Of the previous winners in the field, Get It boasts the more obvious claims. One of the fastest starters in training, he made all the running to score in the 2024 edition and has repeated those tactics at Ascot in his two most recent outings. A career-high mark of 104 won’t make things easy, but he could be tough to reel in at this speed-favouring track.
Solid Claims for Buick and Moore
With neither Charlie Appleby nor Aidan O’Brien having a runner in the race, William Buick and Ryan Moore are free to seek rides from other yards. Neither rider has won this race, but given their talent, their mounts are sure to catch the eye.
Buick takes the ride aboard the Andrew Balding-trained Purosangue, who was deemed worth a shot at the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes in 2024. That proved a step too far, but his efforts in Group company saw him start as the 9/2 favourite for this race twelve months ago. Having lost all chance when blowing the start that day, he returns for a second crack at the prize.
Moore gets the leg up on the in-form Circe from the yard of Richard Hannon. Initially targeted at the division covering seven furlongs to a mile, this filly won two of nine outings. Since dropping to spring trips in May 2025, she has won three of four starts, with the only defeat being an unlucky in-running fifth at Epsom. With the best in the business in the saddle, she seems likely to be popular on the day.
2023 and 2024 runner-up Apollo One, the improving Completely Random, and International Handicap winner Two Tribes, are others to note in a cracking renewal of this historic event.