Stradivarius short price to win Gold Cup for third straight year

Two years in a row, Stradivarius has made his season’s debut in the Yorkshire Cup in May and gone on a month or so later to win the Group 1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. This year, because of the COVID-19 outbreak, there was no racing during May in England, and so when Stradivarius attempts to win his third straight Gold Cup on Thursday, it will be on a much different schedule.

Stradivarius enters the 2 1/2-mile Gold Cup on his first two-race losing streak since October 2017. The best staying horse in Europe over the last three seasons, Stradivarius has been a prolific winner, with 14 victories from his 21 starts. In October, he was beaten a nose over testing ground at Ascot in the British Champions Long Distance Cup, and less than two weeks ago, Stradivarius finished third, beaten five lengths by Ghaiyyath, in the 1 1/2-mile Coronation Cup at Newmarket.

Obviously, trainer John Gosden had the Gold Cup in mind for Stradivarius when he ran him in the Coronation Cup, but Stradivarius made a strong run at Ghaiyyath during the closing stages. How he’ll respond to a return on short rest seems like an open question, although bettors in the early market seem unconcerned, with Stradivarius a general 1-2 shot with British bookmakers as of Monday.

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Regular rider Frankie Dettori will ride Stradivarius, who at Royal Ascot in 2017 captured the Queen’s Vase over 1 3/4 miles, but seems really to thrive at this demanding 2 1/2-mile distance.

Cross Counter’s most recent win came in 2019 Dubai Gold Cup, and he was fourth in this race a year ago. Cross Counter was one of only three horses priced at single-digit odds for the Gold Cup as of Monday. The other is Technician, a 4-year-old who has yet to even attempt a two-mile race. Technician did win the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak, his most recent start, to cap a progressive 2019 campaign. He would appreciate any rain that falls early this week west of London.

◗ The supporting feature Thursday is the Group 3 Jersey Stakes for 3-year-olds over seven furlongs, a race that features a huge, competitive field – something that can be said about several Thursday races. A total of 113 horses are entered on the seven-race program, which starts at 8:15 a.m. Eastern, with the Gold Cup set for 10:35. Daily Racing Form is offering American-style past performances for the entire card, has a dedicated Royal Ascot page (www.drf.com/royal-ascot), and hosts live-streaming and wagering at DRFBets.com.