Racing Post Trophy

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)

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)

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

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

• 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.