Sydney Cup News

Sydney Cup 2024 Winner Circle Of Fire Salutes for Punters

• Sydney Cup 2024 Field & Odds: Punters Go for Circle Of Fire
• Sydney Cup 2023 Field & Odds Update: Irish Raiders Set To Dominate
• Sydney Cup 2023 Odds Firm on Chairman’s Winner Surefire
• 2022 Sydney Cup Results: Knights Order Leads All-The-Way For Waterhouse & Bott
• 2022 The Championships Day 2: Randwick Scratchings & Track Report

The Group 1 Sydney Cup is held on the final race day of the esteemed ‘The Championships’ during the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival. Day 2 of ‘The Championships’ – also known as Queen Elizabeth Stakes Day – is one of the most exciting and valuable race days on the Australian racing calendar.

Held on the second Saturday of April the meeting is headlined by four Group 1 races including the richest race on the card – the Group 1 $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m). The other elite level features along with it and the Sydney Cup are the Group 1 ATC Oaks (2400m) for the three-year-old fillies and the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) for fillies and mares.

The Sydney Cup is one of only a few Australian races run over the traditional cup distance of 3200m, the same as Australia’s most illustrious race the Melbourne Cup. This open handicap event is worth a very lucrative $2,000,000 and generally features some of the leading stayers in Australia.

All of The Championships’ races for 2020 had reduced prizemoney due to the COVID-19 pandemic including the Sydney Cup offering $1 million before being boosted back up to $2 million in 2021.

As the premier staying event during the Sydney Autumn Carnival, the Sydney Cup field attracts a high quality field of gallopers each year and notable winners include the three time Melbourne Cup winning mare Makybe Diva (2004), Tie The Knot (1998 & 1999) and Count Chivas (1996).

The best guide to the Sydney Cup in recent years has been the Group 2 Chairman’s Handicap (2600m) held the Saturday before on Doncaster Mile Day. The Chairman’s Handicap / Sydney Cup is a very popular betting double.

Horses to claim victory in both races include: Circle Of Fire (2024), The Offer (2014), Jessicabeel (2010), No Wine No Song (2008), Henderson Bay (2002), Linesman (1997), and King Aussie (1990).

The 2022 Sydney Cup form was franked with the winner Knights Order returning in the spring to run third in that year’s Caulfield Cup results in Melbourne.

Knights Order returned in 2023 to run a credible third in the Sydney Cup results behind upset winner Explosive Jack.

The 2024 Sydney Cup ran on Saturday April 13, 2024 on Day 2 of Sydney’s ‘The Championships’ in April and was won in style by the favourite Circle Of Fire ($5.50) on the quick back-up off a Chairman’s Quality win for trainer Ciaron Maher. 

2024 Sydney Cup Results

• 1st: #12 Circle Of Fire ($5.50F)
• 2nd: #10 Athabascan
• 3rd: #7 Kalapour

Trainer Ciaron Maher continued his dominant record in the Australian staying features with race favourite, Circle Of Fire ($5.50F), outstanding backing-up from a Chairman’s Quality win the Saturday prior to overcome a wide run and win the 2024 Sydney Cup results with a two length victory thanks to jockey Andrea Atzeni.

Click here to read more on the emotional win by Circle Of Fire in the Sydney Cup 2024.

2024 Sydney Cup Results & Finishing Order

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2024 Sydney Cup Betting

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2024 SYDNEY CUP ODDS (Final Field)

Sydney Cup betting is notoriously difficult and, just like the Melbourne Cup, is always a very open race.

In recent years favourites have a strong record in the Sydney Cup and the likes of Mahtoum (2005), No Wine No Song (2008), Ista Kareem (2009), Jessicabeel (2010), Niwot (2011), and The Offer (2014) have all given punters a positive result in the race.

Circle Of Fire ($5.50 in 2024) is the last Sydney Cup favourite to win. 

However there has also been plenty of upsets in the history of the Sydney Cup including by the likes of Just A Dancer ($41 in 1991), Grand Marshal ($41 in 2015), Selino ($26 in 2021), and Explosive Jack ($26 in 2023) who defeated 150/1 outsider True Marvel in that year’s quinella.

Good Sydney Cup betting tips include looking for horses that ran top four in their lead-up runs and graduates out of the previous weekend’s Chairman’s Handicap at the Randwick track.

The 2024 Sydney Cup odds will be listed below as released by Ladbrokes.com.au in the lead-up to the two mile classic.

2024 Sydney Cup Form Guide

The Sydney Cup form is often very easy to follow as most horses contest either the Group 2 Chairman’s Handicap (2600m) or Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) in the lead-up to the race. The Chairman’s Handicap remains the key Sydney Cup form race.

Stay tuned for our insider Sydney Cup 2024 Form Guide & Betting Preview for all the race facts and stats to guide your selections on the two mile classic.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2024 SYDNEY CUP FORM GUIDE

2024 Sydney Cup Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Sydney Cup 2024 Tips on the two-mile staying showdown of the autumn!

• To Win: #9 Amade ($13 at time of publish) – BET NOW

At a tempting odds, Phillip Stokes’ ten-year-old veteran Amade offers intriguing value in this field. This often-overlooked stayer boasts a phenomenal record over two miles (3200m) with three wins from seven attempts. Despite no victories since the Geelong Cup last October, he’s consistently competitive in easier company and now earns a shot at Group 1 glory. Amade’s last start, a close fourth in the Group 2 Adelaide Cup (carrying a hefty 58kg from a wide draw), showcased his enduring talent. With a favourable barrier five and a weight reduction to 53kg, jockey Michael Dee has the tools to spring a surprise.

2024 Sydney Cup Field

Each year the Sydney Cup field attracts the autumn’s top-class stayers many of which have had previous experience over the two miles either via an earlier year’s Sydney Cup or even the iconic Melbourne Cup run at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November.

The Sydney Cup 2024 field will be released Tuesday before the race and published in full below.

The 2024 Sydney Cup final field features a just under capacity line-up of autumn stayers led in betting by Ciaron Maher’s Chairman’s Quality winner Circle Of Fire on the quick back-up.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2024 Sydney Cup First Acceptances

After nominations close in February the Sydney Cup first acceptances are taken four weeks out from the race on a Tuesday in early March, narrowing down the list of horses heading towards the $2 million classic.

The Sydney Cup 2024 first acceptances close on Tuesday the 12th of March, 2024. 

The 2024 Sydney Cup first acceptances drew 49 autumn stayers with the latest all-in markets led by the William Haggas-trained UK raider Post Impressionist and Chris Waller’s first-up Parramatta Cup winning import More Felons.

2024 Sydney Cup Nominations

The Sydney Cup nominations are first taken by Racing NSW on a Tuesday in early-mid February about two months out from the race and can attract up to 100 stayers.

The 2024 Sydney Cup nominations will close on Tuesday the 13th of February, 2024. 

The countdown to the Sydney Cup 2024 has begun with 97 stayers throwing their hats in the ring at nomination stage, including some familiar faces from the prestigious Melbourne Cup. Leading the charge are Chris Waller’s stablemates Soulcombe, last year’s Melbourne Cup runner-up, and Sheraz, who finished third in the iconic race. Both horses will be aiming to go one better on Sydney soil. Adding further intrigue is the defending champion, Ciaron Maher’s Explosive Jack, who hasn’t raced since his Sydney Cup victory last year. His return to the track will be highly anticipated by racing fans eager to see if he can repeat his dominant performance.

Sydney Cup History

The Sydney Cup was first run in 1862 as a Principal race over 16 furlongs, and Talleyrand won the inaugural race. The distance and conditions of the Sydney Cup remained the same for over a century until Australia’s adoption of the metric system caused the length to be converted to 3200m in 1973. In 1980 the Sydney Cup was elevated to Group 1 status.

The event has gone by a number of different names over the years including the Randwick Grand Handicap, Randwick Grand Handicap Sweepstakes and the Sydney Gold Cup.

In 2017 the Sydney Cup was run on April 8, but declared a No Race after the fall of Almoonqith. It ran for a second time a fortnight later with the same horse, UK raider Polarisation, first past the post again.

In 2018 Who Shot Thebarman made history winning the Sydney Cup as a nine-year-old at his fifth attempt in the two mile classic.

In 2021 trainer Chris Waller celebrated his fifth Sydney Cup success with Selino.

Recent Sydney Cup Winners

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