The Ascot Silver Cup, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Howden Silver Cup, is a Premier Handicap National Hunt race in Great Britain. It is a handicap steeplechase. It is run at Ascot Racecourse, over a distance of about 3 miles (2 miles 7 furlongs and 180 yards, or 4,791 metres) and during its running there 20 fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place in December.
The race was first run in 1965 and was sponsored by Scaffolding Great Britain and known as the SGB Chase until 1992. It was then known as the Betterware Cup between 1993 and 1998 inclusive.
The race has been known as the Silver Cup Handicap Chase with various sponsors since 1999, but now lacks the prestige of its earlier days. It was re-classified as a Premier Handicap in 2022 when Listed status was removed from handicap races.
Records Most successful horse (2 wins): Door Latch – 1985, 1986 Regal Encore – 2016, 2019 Victtorino - 2023, 2024
Leading jockey (3 wins): Tony McCoy - Go Ballistic (1996), Tresor De Mai (1999), Shooting Light (2001)
Leading trainer (4 wins): Josh Gifford – Henry Bishop (1980), Door Latch (1985, 1986), Ballyhane (1988) Nicky Henderson - Raffi Nelson (1979), Raymylette (1994), Gold Present (2017), Valtor (2018)
Winners Year Winner Age Weight Jockey Trainer1965 Vultrix 7 12-01 Stan Mellor Frank Cundell1966 Arkle 9 12-07 Pat Taaffe Tom Dreaper1967 Abandoned because of foot and mouth epidemic 1968 Abandoned because of waterlogged state of course 1969 Straight Fort 6 12-00 Pat Taaffe Tom Dreaper 1970 Glencaraig Lady 6 11–13 Bobby Coonan Francis Flood1971 Spanish Steps 8 12-01 Bill Smith Edward Courage1972 Soloning 7 10–12 Richard Pitman Fred Winter1973 Mocharabuice 10 10-06 Graham Thorner Tim Forster1974 Rough House 8 10-07 John Burke Fred Rimell1975 What A Buck 8 10-04 Jeff King David Nicholson1976 Abandoned because of frost 1977 Midnight Court 6 12-00 John Francome Fred Winter1978 Grand Canyon 8 11-01 Ron Barry Derek Kent1979 Raffi Nelson 6 10-01 Steve Smith Eccles Nicky Henderson1980 Henry Bishop 7 11-00 Bob Champion Josh Gifford1981 Abandoned because of snow 1982 Captain John 8 11–13 Robert Earnshaw Michael Dickinson1983 The Mighty Mac 8 11-10 Dermot Browne Michael Dickinson1984 Canny Danny 8 11-08 Mark Dwyer Jimmy FitzGerald1985 Door Latch 7 10-02 Richard Rowe Josh Gifford1986 Door Latch 8 11-01 Richard Rowe Josh Gifford 1987 Cavvies Clown 7 10–11 Ross Arnott David Elsworth 1988 Ballyhane 7 10-04 Peter Hobbs Josh Gifford 1989 Solidasarock 7 10-00 Luke Harvey Reg Akehurst 1990 Man O'Magic 9 11-10 Mark Perrett Kim Bailey 1991 no race 1991 1992 Captain Dibble 7 10-01 Carl Llewellyn Nigel Twiston-Davies 1993 Young Hustler 6 11-10 Carl Llewellyn Nigel Twiston-Davies 1994 Raymylette 7 09-13 Mick Fitzgerald Nicky Henderson 1995 Unguided Missile 7 10-08 Richard Dunwoody Gordon W. Richards 1996 Go Ballistic 7 10-00 Tony McCoy John O'Shea 1997 Cool Dawn 9 10-05 Andrew Thornton Robert Alner 1998 Torduff Express 7 10-00 Norman Williamson Paul Nicholls 1999 Tresor De Mai 5 11-01 Tony McCoy Martin Pipe 2000 Legal Right 7 12-00 Norman Williamson Jonjo O'Neill 2001 Shooting Light 8 11-06 Tony McCoy Martin Pipe 2002 Behrajan 7 11–12 Richard Johnson Henry Daly 2003 Horus 8 10-04 Jamie Moore Martin Pipe 2004 Spring Grove 9 10–11 Andrew Thornton Robert Alner 2005 no race 2005 2006 Billyvoddan 7 10–12 Leighton Aspell Henry Daly 2007 Vodka Bleu 8 10-03 Timmy Murphy David Pipe 2008 Niche Market 7 10-00 Harry Skelton Bob Buckler 2009 no race 2009 2010 no race 2010 2011 The Minack 7 11-01 Ruby Walsh Paul Nicholls 2012 Wyck Hill 8 10-00 Tom Scudamore David Bridgwater 2013 Houblon Des Obeaux 6 11-06 Aidan Coleman Venetia Williams 2014 The Young Master 5 10-09 Barry Geraghty Neil Mulholland 2015 Wakanda 6 11-05 Danny Cook Sue Smith 2016 Regal Encore 8 11-11 Barry Geraghty Anthony Honeyball 2017 Gold Present 7 11-03 Nico de Boinville Nicky Henderson 2018 Valtor 9 11-03 James Bowen Nicky Henderson 2019 Regal Encore 11 10-07 Richie McLernon Anthony Honeyball 2020 Mister Malarky 7 11-05 Harry Cobden Colin Tizzard 2021 Annsam 6 10-10 Adam Wedge Evan Williams 2022 no race 2022 2023 Victtorino 5 12-00 Charlie Deutsch Venetia Williams 2024 Victtorino 6 11-02 Charlie Deutsch Venetia Williams 2025 Deep Cave 7 10-13 Jack Tudor Christian Williams
See also Horse racing in Great Britain List of British National Hunt races
References
Racing Post: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
External links Race Recordings (1985-2008) youtube.com