Ascot Gold Cup: Most successful horses

Many horses have taken part in the Ascot Gold Cup over the years, and some have been particularly successful in this race.

Royal Ascot is an iconic and historic annual horse racing extravaganza that takes place at the picturesque Ascot Racecourse. There are set to be a total of no less than 35 races (7 per day) that are set to take place over five thrilling days from Tuesday 17th June to Saturday 21st June 2025.

It is well known amongst racegoers that the prestigious Ascot Gold Cup is the most famous race of the lot, and it is most certainly a race that stands out on the schedule each and every year, and the excitement and anticipation ahead of this year’s renewal is only going to increase over the coming weeks.

Throughout the Gold Cup’s history many jockeys, horses, and trainers have experienced success, and some have written their names in history with their record looking set to stand the test of time. For example, Lester Piggott’s 11 wins in this race makes him the most successful jockey in the history of the Ascot Gold Cup.

Meanwhile, Aidan O’Brien has the most wins of any trainer with 8 so far in what has been an illustrious and trophy laden career to date. One of the horses O’Brien trained was Yeats, but more on this horse later. As for owners, Sue Magnier has the most wins with 9 as of the time of writing, most recently in 2024 with Kyprios.

Here, we are going to take a look at the horses with the most wins to date in the highly prestigious and historic Ascot Gold Cup.

3 – Anticipation, Bizarre, Touchstone, The Emperor, The Hero, Fisherman, Isonomy, The White Knight, Prince Palatine, Invershin, Trimdon, Fighting Charlie, Le Moss, Ardross, Gildoran, Sadeem, Drum Taps, Kayf Tara & Royal Rebel (2 Wins)

There are a number of horses that have won the Ascot Gold Cup on two occasions, and there are some whose success came in the 19th century, and they are Anticipation (1816, 1819), Bizarre (1824, 1825), Touchstone (1836, 1837), The Emperor (1844, 1845), The Hero (1847, 1848), Fisherman (1858, 1859) and Isonomy (1879, 1880).

Fast forward to more modern times, and there have been a number of horses who have won this race on two occasions since the latter stages of the 20th century. Le Moss (1979, 1980), Ardross (1981, 1982), Gildoran (1984, 1985), Sadeem (1988, 1989), Drum Taps (1992, 1993), and Kayf Tara (1998, 2000) all won theirs in the late 20th Century, whilst Kayf Tara’s second win came right at the start of the 21st.

Royal Rebel is the only horse to have won the Ascot Gold Cup on exactly two occasions since the year 2000, doing so in 2001 and in 2002.

2 – Sagaro & Stradivarius (3 Wins)

Just two horses in the entire history of the famous and illustrious Ascot Gold Cup have ever won it exactly three times – and they are Sagaro and Stradivarius. Sagaro of course did it first, sealing an inaugural victory in 1975 and then in 1976, before sealing a third and final career victory in this race just a year later in 1977.

As for Stradivarius, the most recent horse to complete this feat, the first win came back in 2018, before a further two wins followed in 2019 and in 2020. There is, at this present time, just one horse that has won the highly coveted Ascot Gold Cup on more than three occasions, and they are up next on this list.

1 – Yeats (4 Wins)

So, as of the time of writing, it is Yeats who has the most wins of any other horse in the Ascot Gold Cup’s entire history with 4, and what makes this feat even more extraordinary is the fact that these wins were achieved consecutively.

Trained by the aforementioned Aidan O’Brien, Yeats’ first win came in 2006 before this triumph was followed up in 2007, 2008, and 2009 and it was in 2010 that Yeats’ four year domination of the Ascot Gold Cup came to an end when Right Of Passage secured victory.

With the 2025 renewal of the iconic and illustrious Royal Ascot underway in a matter of weeks at Ascot Racecourse, excitement, and anticipation are certainly on the rise amongst horse racing fans.

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