The Royal Hunt Cup is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in June.
History The event was established in 1843, and it was originally contested on a right-handed course over 7 furlongs and 166 yards. The inaugural running was won by Knight of the Whistle, with a triple dead-heat for second between Bourra Tomacha, Epaulette, and Garry Owen.
The race's distance was shortened to 7 furlongs and 155 yards in 1930, and it was extended to its present length in 1956. It is now run on a straight course, and it usually features a large field.
The Royal Hunt Cup is currently held on the second day of the five-day Royal Ascot meeting. It is one of three perpetual trophies at the meeting, along with the Gold Cup and the Queen's Vase, which can be kept permanently by the winning owners.
Records Most successful horse (2 wins): Master Vote – 1947, 1948
Leading jockey (4 wins): Charles Wood – Thuringian Prince (1875), The Mandarin (1879), Elzevir (1883), Gay Hermit (1887) Lester Piggott – Spaniard's Close (1963), Casabianca (1965), Kamundu (1969), Jumping Hill (1976)
Leading trainer (5 wins): James Jewitt – Sweetbread (1882), Elzevir (1883), Shillelagh (1888), Suspender (1892), Knight of the Thistle (1897)
Winners since 1900 Weights given in stones and pounds. Year Winner Age Weight Jockey Trainer SP Time 1900 Royal Flush 7 7-00 Johnny Reiff Enoch Wishard 1901 Stealaway 4 6-07 Joe Childs George Chaloner F 1902 Solicitor 4 7-04 Sam Loates Philip Greusil 1:44.20 1903 Kunstler 5 7-05 John Watts Jr. Alfred Hayhoe 1904 Csardas 5 7-05 George McCall Joe Cannon 1:43.60 1905 Andover 4 8-00 Barry Lynham Sandy Braime 1:41.40 1906 Dinneford 4 7-08 Otto Madden Alec Taylor Jr. JF 1:40.40 1907 Lally 4 8-00 Leslie Hewitt Lewis 1:42.40 1908 Billy The Verger 4 6-13 Richard Crisp Lawrence Rooney 1:39.60 1909 Dark Ronald 4 7-02 William H Williams James Clement F 1:39.20 1910 Bachelor's Double 4 8-04 Charlie Trigg Atty Persse F 1:40.00 1911 Moscato 5 7-02 Fred Sharpe Alec Taylor Jr. 1:37.80 1912 Eton Boy 4 7-10 Charlie Trigg Carter JF 1:41.60 1913 Long Set 6 9-01 Billy Higgs James Batho 1:38.60 1914 Lie-A-Bed 3 6-00 Kenneth Robertson J East 1:39.20 1915-18 No Race 1919 Irish Elegance 4 9-11 Fred Templeman Harry Cottrill JF 1:37.60 1920 Square Measure 5 8-00 Steve Donoghue John Rogers 1:38.20 1921 Illuminator 4 7-06 Reginald Stokes Charles Nugent 1:36.40 1922 Varzy 4 7-00 Robert Lynch Ralph Moreton 1:36.80 1923 Weathervane 4 6-12 Staff Ingham Richard Marsh 1:39.00 1924 Dinkie 4 6-10 William Alford Walter Earl 1:41.60 1925 Cockpit 4 7-06 Albert Orme Samuel Pickering 1:38.00 1926 Cross Bow 4 9-00 Bobby Jones Alec Taylor Jr. 1:44.80 1927 Asterus 4 8-13 Charlie Elliott Sam Darling 1:38.00 1928 Priory Park 6 8-12 Bernard Carslake Charles Peck 1:40.60 1929 Songe 5 8-11 Harry Wragg Ossie Bell 1:38.40 1930 The MacNab 4 7-08 Freddie Fox Fred Darling 1931 Grand Salute 4 7-05 Gordon Richards Tommy Hogg F 1:40.00 1932 Totaig 3 7-03 Ben Rosen George Duller 1:37.80 1933 Colorado Kid 4 8-05 Cyril Buckham Victor Gilpin 1:37.60 1934 Caymanas 4 8-04 Cecil Ray C Easterbee 1:40.00 1935 Priok 4 7-06 Stanley Middleton Percy Whitaker 1:41.60 1936 Guinea Gap 5 8-05 Bobby Jones Humphrey Cottrill 1:38.40 1937 Fairplay 4 8-03 Peter Maher Percy Allden 1:39.20 1938 Couvert 5 7-12 Cliff Richards Herbert Blagrave 1:38.00 1939 Caerloptic 4 8-12 Michael Beary Humphrey Cottrill 1:38.80 1940 No Race 1941 Time Step 5 8-09 Fred Herbert Jack Anthony 1:25.20 1942–44 No Race 1945 Battle Hymn 3 7-11 Peter Maher Cecil Boyd-Rochfort 1:38.60 1946 Friar's Fancy 5 7-12 Eph Smith Ted Leader 1:41.40 1947 Master Vote 4 7-06 Tommy Sidebotham Herbert Blagrave 1:39.20 1948 Master Vote 5 8-10 Rae Johnstone Herbert Blagrave 1:40.80 1949 Sterope 4 8-12 Joseph Caldwell Rufus Beasley 1:38.40 1950 Hyperbole 5 8-08 Scobie Breasley Noel Cannon 1:41.20 1951 Val D'Assa 4 8-08 Neville Sellwood Atty Persse 1:39.20 1952 Queen Of Sheba 4 8-04 Frank Barlow Atty Persse 1:41.20 1953 Choir Boy 4 7-08 Doug Smith Cecil Boyd-Rochfort 1:43.40 1954 Chivalry 5 8-03 Dominic Forte Tom Rimell 1:42.00 1955 Nicholas Nickleby 4 7-09 Willie Snaith Sam Armstrong 1:42.97 1956 Alexander 4 8-11 Harry Carr Cecil Boyd-Rochfort F 1:44.68 1957 Retrial 5 8-02 Peter Robinson Cecil Boyd-Rochfort 1:40.98 1958 Amos 4 7-01 Peter Boothman Syd Mercer 1:41.94 1959 Faultless Speech 4 8-01 Geoff Lewis Harold Wallington 1:42.30 1960 Small Slam 5 8-02 Bobby Elliott Geoffrey Barling 1:45.55 1961 King's Troop 4 8-04 Geoff Lewis Peter Hastings-Bass 1:43.88 1962 Smartie 4 7-09 Joe Sime R Mason 1:45.21 1963 Spaniards Close 6 8-06 Lester Piggott Fred Winter Snr. 1:49.00 1964 Zaleucus 4 8-02 Doug Smith Geoffrey Brooke 1:43.15 1965 Casabianca 4 8-07 Lester Piggott Noel Murless 1:43.28 1966 Continuation 4 7-09 Johnny Roe Seamus McGrath 1:42.14 1967 Regal Light 4 7-06 Graham Sexton Sam Hall 1:42.09 1968 Golden Mean 5 8-04 Frankie Durr Doug Smith 1:41.00 1969 Kamundu 7 8-06 Lester Piggott Frank Carr 1:43.63 1970 Calpurnius 4 7-13 George Duffield Bill Watts 1:40.75 1971 Picture Boy 6 7-13 Jock Wilson George Todd 1:50.96 1972 Tempest Boy 4 8-01 Ron Hutchinson John Sutcliffe 1:44.05 1973 Camouflage 5 7-09 Des Cullen John Dunlop 1:49.79 1974 Old Lucky 4 8-08 Willie Carson Bernard van Cutsem 1:42.97 1975 Ardoon 5 8-03 David Maitland Gavin Pritchard-Gordon 1:42.49 1976 Jumping Hill 4 9-07 Lester Piggott Noel Murless F 1:41.73 1977 My Hussar 5 8-10 Willie Carson John Sutcliffe 1:47.62 1978 Fear Naught 4 8-00 Michael Wigham Jimmy Etherington 1:40.42 1979 Pipedreamer 4 8-05 Philip Waldron Henry Candy 1:41.33 1980 Tender Heart 4 9-00 Joe Mercer John Sutcliffe, Jr. 1:44.11 1981 Teamwork 4 8-06 Greville Starkey Guy Harwood 1:41.64 1982 Buzzards Bay 4 8-12 Joe Mercer Hugh Collingridge 1:42.22 1983 Mighty Fly 4 9-03 Steve Cauthen David Elsworth 1:41.33 1984 Hawkley 4 8-06 Tyrone Williams Patrick Haslam 1:40.38 1985 Come On The Blues 6 8-02 Chris Rutter Clive Brittain 1:41.76 1986 4 7-12 Richard Quinn John Dunlop 1:39.55 1987 Vague Shot 4 9-05 Steve Cauthen Richard F. Casey 1:46.53 1988 Governorship 4 9-06 John Reid Charlie Nelson 1:40.96 1989 True Panache 4 9-04 Pat Eddery Jeremy Tree F 1:40.92 1990 Pontenuovo 5 7-07 Gary Bardwell David Elsworth 1:40.18 1991 Eurolink the Lad 4 8-09 John Reid John Dunlop 1:42.75 1992 Colour Sergeant 4 7-08 David Harrison Lord Huntingdon 1:38.07 1993 Imperial Ballet 4 8-12 Pat Eddery Henry Cecil 1:47.40 1994 Face North 6 8-03 Alan Munro Reg Akehurst 1:41.46 1995 Realities 5 9-00 Michael Kinane Guy Harwood 1:40.08 1996 Yeast 4 8-06 Kieren Fallon William Haggas F 1:39.39 1997 Red Robbo 4 8-06 Olivier Peslier Reg Akehurst 1:40.30 1998 Refuse to Lose 4 7-11 Jason Tate James Eustace 1:43.21 1999 Showboat 5 8-06 Neil Pollard Barry Hills 1:38.59 2000 Caribbean Monarch 5 8-10 Kieren Fallon Sir Michael Stoute 1:41.91 2001 Surprise Encounter 5 8-09 Frankie Dettori Ed Dunlop 1:40.27 2002 Norton 5 8-09 Jimmy Fortune Terry Mills 1:40.31 2003 Macadamia 4 8-13 Dane O'Neill James Fanshawe 1:39.87 2004 Mine 6 9-05 Richard Quinn James Bethell 1:40.85 2005 New Seeker 5 9-00 Philip Robinson Clive Cox 1:37.54 2006 Cesare 5 8-08 Jamie Spencer James Fanshawe 1:40.62 2007 Royal Oath 4 9-00 Jimmy Fortune John Gosden 1:39.78 2008 Mr Aviator 4 9-05 Richard Hughes Richard Hannon Sr. 1:39.63 2009 Forgotten Voice 4 9-01 Johnny Murtagh Jeremy Noseda F 1:40.41 2010 Invisible Man 4 8-09 Frankie Dettori Saeed bin Suroor 1:37.16 2011 Julienas 4 8-08 Eddie Ahern Walter Swinburn 1:38.53 2012 Prince of Johanne 6 9-03 John Fahy Tom Tate 1:38.24 2013 Belgian Bill 5 8-11 James Doyle George Baker 1:38.68 2014 Field Of Dream 7 9-01 Adam Kirby Jamie Osborne 1:37.88 2015 GM Hopkins 4 9-03 Ryan Moore John Gosden 1:40.30 2016 Portage 4 9-05 James Doyle Michael Halford 1:43.01 2017 Zhui Feng 4 9-00 Martin Dwyer Amanda Perrett 1:37.82 2018 Settle For Bay 4 9-01 Billy Lee David Marnane 1:39.42 2019 Afaak 5 9-03 Jim Crowley Charles Hills 1:42.36 2020 Dark Vision 4 9-01 William Buick Mark Johnston 1:38.32 2021 Real World 4 8-06 Marco Ghiani Saeed bin Suroor 1:38.04 2022 Dark Shift 4 9-01 James McDonald Charles Hills 1:39.132023Jimi Hendrix49-05 Rossa Ryan Ralph Beckett 1:39.48 2024 Wild Tiger 5 9-00 Oisin Murphy Saeed bin Suroor JF 1:38.20 2025 My Cloud 4 9-01 Silvestre de Sousa Roger Varian F 1:38.10 2026 Rogue Diplomat 4 9-00 Harry Davies James Owen 1:39.24
Earlier winners
1843: Knight of the Whistle 1844: The Bishop of Romford's Cob 1845: Evenus 1846: Leaconfield 1847: Tragical 1848: Conyngham 1849: Collingwood 1850: Hagley 1851: Sir Charles 1852: Ephesus 1853: The Friar 1854: Brocket 1855: Chalice 1856: Forbidden Fruit 1857: Rosa Bonheur 1858: Hesperithusa 1859: King at Arms 1860: Crater 1861: Buccaneer 1862: Canary 1863: Victor 1864: Gem of the Sea 1865: Gratitude 1866: Attache 1867: Jasper 1868: Satyr 1869: See Saw 1870: Judge 1871: Valuer 1872: Ripponden 1873: Winslow 1874: Lowlander 1875: Thuringian Prince 1876: Hopbloom 1877: Cradle 1878: Julius Caesar 1879: The Mandarin 1880: Strathern 1881: Peter 1882: Sweetbread 1883: Elzevir 1884: Acrostic 1885: Eastern Emperor 1886: Despair 1887: Gay Hermit 1888: Shillelagh 1889: Whitelegs 1890: Morion 1891: Laureate 1892: Suspender 1893: Amandier 1894: Victor Wild 1895: Clorane 1896: Quarrel 1897: Knight of the Thistle 1898: Jaquemart 1899: Refractor
See also Horse racing in Great Britain List of British flat horse races
References Paris-Turf: , , , Racing Post: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , galopp-sieger.de – Royal Hunt Cup. pedigreequery.com – Royal Hunt Cup – Ascot.