Gold Cup: Ascot, No. 58 in the IFHA Top 100, prize fund, results and next running

About the race

The Gold Cup is run over two miles and four furlongs (4,000 metres) on turf on the Thursday of Royal Ascot, and is open to four-year-olds and upwards. Ascot says it was founded in 1807, is the oldest race at the meeting and is not officially called the Ascot Gold Cup. Yeats won it four times in a row, the last in 2009, and in 2013 Estimate became the first horse to win it for a reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The next running is on Thursday 17 June 2027.

On 19 June 2025 Trawlerman won for Godolphin, trainers John and Thady Gosden and jockey William Buick, a year after finishing second in the race. Ascot reports that the IFHA named it the world’s best extended-distance race of 2025. In 2026 Scandinavia beat Trawlerman, giving trainer Aidan O’Brien his 100th Royal Ascot winner, according to Ascot.

The 2025 running

Date	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner
19 June 2025	Trawlerman	William Buick	John & Thady Gosden	Godolphin

From the official result.

The 2026 running

Date	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner
18 June 2026	Scandinavia	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	Mr M Tabor, D Smith & Mrs John Magnier

From the official result.

Recognition and facts

Race day: Royal Ascot Thursday; next on 17 June 2027
IFHA ranking for 2025: Best extended-distance race in the world; 58th overall, race rating 117.50
Most wins: Yeats, four consecutive wins, the last in 2009 (Ascot)
Prize money (2026): At least £700,000: Ascot set that minimum for all eight Royal Ascot Group 1 races in 2026

Questions readers ask

When is the Gold Cup run?

On the Thursday of Royal Ascot in June. Ascot lists the 2027 running for Thursday 17 June 2027.

Which horse has won the Gold Cup most often?

Yeats, with four consecutive wins, the last of them in 2009, according to Ascot.

Who won the Gold Cup in 2025?

Trawlerman, ridden by William Buick and trained by John and Thady Gosden for Godolphin, won on 19 June 2025.

Sources

The rank and rating are from the IFHA's LONGINES World's Top 100 Group/Grade 1 Races 2025, published 21 January 2026, which ranks races by the ratings of their first four finishers. Other facts are from the pages listed below.

The Top 100 Group 1 races

The list and its order are the IFHA’s. Equanine adds no quality judgement of its own. Each profile is compiled by the desk from the organiser’s pages and the official results. A listing does not buy coverage. Send an update or correction.

See all 100 races