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The Group 1 Sydney Cup is held on the final race day of the esteemed ‘The Championships’ during the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival. Day 2 of ‘The Championships’ – also known as Queen Elizabeth Stakes Day – is one of the most exciting and valuable race days on the Australian racing calendar.

Held on the second Saturday of April the meeting is headined by four Group 1 races including the richest race on the card – the Group 1 $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m). The other elite level features along with it and the Sydney Cup are the Group 1 ATC Oaks (2400m) for the three-year-old fillies and the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) for fillies and mares.

The Sydney Cup is one of only a few Australian races run over the traditional cup distance of 3200m, the same as Australia’s most illustrious race the Melbourne Cup. This open handicap event is worth a very lucrative $2,000,000 and generally features some of the leading stayers in Australia.

As the premier staying event during the Sydney Autumn Carnival, the Sydney Cup field attracts a high quality field of gallopers each year and notable winners include the three time Melbourne Cup winning mare Makybe Diva (2004), Tie The Knot (1998 & 1999) and Count Chivas (1996).

The best guide to the Sydney Cup in recent years has been the Group 2 Chairmans Handicap (2600m) held the Saturday before on Doncaster Mile Day. The Chairmans Handicap / Sydney Cup is a very popular betting double. Horses to claim victory in both races include The Offer (2014), Jessicabeel (2010), No Wine No Song (2008), Henderson Bay (2002), Linesman (1997) and King Aussie (1990).

The 2018 Sydney Cup ran on Saturday April 14, 2018 and saw veteran nine-year-old Who Shot Thebarman win at his fifth attempt.

Sydney Cup 2018
Date:	Saturday April 14, 2018
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	3200m
Conditions:	Open Handicap
Status:	Group 1
Prize Money:	$2 million
Inaugurated:	1862

2018 Sydney Cup Results

• 1st: #2 Who Shot Thebarman
• 2nd: #12 Zacada
• 3rd: #13 Sir Charles Road

See below for the full Sydney Cup 2018 Results & Finishing Order, following the link to read more on the gallant photo-finish win by Chris Waller’s rising 10-year-old Who Shot Thebarman contesting the race for the fifth time and finally saluting after two previous seconds. He beat home the New Zealand-trained raiders Zacada and Sir Charles Road.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Br.	Weight	SP
1	2	WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (NZ)	Chris Waller	Blake Shinn	–	10	55kg	$18
2	12	ZACADA (NZ)	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Dean Holland	0.1L	11	50.5kg	$91
3	13	SIR CHARLES ROAD	Lance O’Sullivan & Andrew Scott	Andrew Adkins	1.1L	4	50kg	$7
4	8	AUVRAY (FR)	Richard Freedman	Glyn Schofield	1.2L	1	52kg (cd 53kg)	$13
5	15	LASQUETI SPIRIT	Lee Curtis	Jay Ford	2.4L	16	50kg (cd 51kg)	$151
6	17	PATRICK ERIN (NZ)	Chris Waller	Craig Newitt	3L	15	50kg (cd 51kg)	$41
7	21e	DOUKHAN (IRE)	Kris Lees	Yusuke Ichikawa	4.4L	13	50kg	$101
8	1	ALMANDIN (GER)	Liam Howley	Damien Oliver	5.4L	5	57kg	$3.70F
9	4	VENTURA STORM (IRE)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Glen Boss	8L	8	53.5kg	$9.50
10	7	FIVE TO MIDNIGHT (NZ)	Lisa Latta	Michael Dee	8.8L	9	52.5kg	$41
11	19	ADMIRAL JELLO	Kris Lees	Grant Buckley	10.9L	14	50kg	$151
12	3	LIBRAN (IRE)	Chris Waller	Brenton Avdulla	11.1L	17	54kg	$61
13	9	LORD FANDANGO (GER)	Archie Alexander	Craig Williams	16.7L	2	51.5kg	$10
14	18	PERIBSEN (IRE)	John O’Shea	Corey Brown	23.5L	6	50kg	$31
15	16	CISMONTANE (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	James Innes Jnr (a)	27.4L	3	50kg	$51
16	20	ORMITO (GER)	Darren Weir	Dean Yendall	28.3L	7	50kg	$21
FF	10	ALOFT (IRE)	Liam Howley	Kerrin McEvoy	–	12	51kg (incl. 1.0kg penalty)	$6
SB	6	PRE STWICK (JPN)	Yoshinori Muto	Joao Moreira	–	0	53kg	$11
–	11	FANATIC (NZ)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Jye McNeil	–	0	–	–
–	5	SINGLE GAZE	Nick Olive	Ms Kathy O’Hara	–	0	–	–
–	14	GALLIC CHIEFTAIN (FR)	Darren Weir	Blake Spriggs	–	0	–	–

2018 Sydney Cup Tips

• 1st: #4 Ventura Storm
• 2nd: #2 Who Shot Thebarman
• 3rd: #1 Almandin

Read our insider Sydney Cup 2018 Betting Tips now.

2018 Sydney Cup Betting

Sydney Cup betting is notoriously difficult and, just like the Melbourne Cup, is always a very open race. In recent years favorites have a strong record in the Sydney Cup and the likes of Mahtoum (2005), No Wine No Song (2008), Ista Kareem (2009), Jessicabeel (2010), Niwot (2011) and The Offer (2014) have all given punters a positive result in the race. However, there has also been plenty of upsets in the history of the Sydney Cup including by the likes of Just A Dancer ($41 in 1991) and Grand Marshal ($41 in 2015).

Good Sydney Cup betting tips include looking for horses that ran top four in their lead-up runs and graduates out of the previous weekend’s Chairman’s Handicap at the Randwick track.

The 2018 Sydney Cup odds will be listed below as released by Ladbrokes.com.au in the lead-up to the two mile classic.

2018 Sydney Cup Form Guide

The Sydney Cup form is often very easy to follow as most horses contest either the Group 2 Chairman’s Handicap (2600m) or Group 1 The BMW (2400m) in the lead-up to the race. The Chairman’s Handicap remains the key Sydney Cup form race.

Stay tuned for our insider Sydney Cup 2018 Form Guide & Betting Preview for all the race facts and stats to guide your selections on the two mile classic.

2018 Sydney Cup Field

Each year the Sydney Cup field attracts the autumn’s top-class stayers many of which have had previous experience over the two miles either via an earlier year’s Sydney Cup or even the iconic Melbourne Cup run at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November.

The Sydney Cup 2018 field will be released Tuesday before the race and published in full below.

The official 2018 Sydney Cup Final Field is now out featuring a capacity line-up of stayers including the race’s sole emergency Doukhan who comes in for early scratching Fanatic (16), the Adelaide Cup winning mare out for the rest of the autumn due to a leg injury.

Read more on the Sydney Cup 2018 Field now.

2018 Sydney Cup Field Update: Three scratchings have come out of the field with Nick Olive’s gun mare Single Gaze, Adelaide Cup winner Fanatic and the Darren Weir-trained Gallic Chieftain.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	x21402x241	ALMANDIN (GER)	Liam Howley	Damien Oliver	5	57kg	115
2	x94491x673	WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (NZ)	Chris Waller	Blake Shinn	10	55kg	110
3	x616528x42	LIBRAN (IRE)	Chris Waller	Brenton Avdulla	20	54kg	107
4	6200×43782	VENTURA STORM (IRE)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Glen Boss	8	53.5kg	106
5	4420×22525	SINGLE GAZE	Nick Olive	Ms Kathy O’Hara	21	53kg	108
6	x3x61x93x5	PRE STWICK (JPN)	Yoshinori Muto	Joao Moreira	11	53kg	105
7	8042132822	FIVE TO MIDNIGHT (NZ)	Lisa Latta	Michael Dee	9	52.5kg	104
8	12127×5616	AUVRAY (FR)	Richard Freedman	Glyn Schofield	1	52kg	107
9	x2114x3977	LORD FANDANGO (GER)	Archie Alexander	Craig Williams	2	51.5kg	101
10	x12x1397x1	ALOFT (IRE)	Liam Howley	Kerrin McEvoy	13	51kg (includes 1.0kg penalty)	101
11	46811×7521	FANATIC (NZ)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Jye McNeil	16	50.5kg (includes 0.5kg penalty)	103
12	8232515850	ZACADA (NZ)	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Dean Holland	12	50.5kg	99
13	5801331461	SIR CHARLES ROAD	Lance O’Sullivan & Andrew Scott	Andrew Adkins	4	50kg	105
14	3253×36143	GALLIC CHIEFTAIN (FR)	Darren Weir	Blake Spriggs	19	50kg	98
15	530x00x789	LASQUETI SPIRIT	Lee Curtis	Jay Ford	18	50kg	98
16	103310×558	CISMONTANE (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	James Innes Jnr (a)	3	50kg	97
17	1×31311465	PATRICK ERIN (NZ)	Chris Waller	Craig Newitt	17	50kg	97
18	746×015133	PERIBSEN (IRE)	John O’Shea	Corey Brown	6	50kg	92
19	3323×67297	ADMIRAL JELLO	Kris Lees	Grant Buckley	15	50kg	91
20	5457233324	ORMITO (GER)	Darren Weir	Dean Yendall	7	50kg	88
21e	4658115×55	DOUKHAN (IRE)	Kris Lees	Yusuke Ichikawa	14	50kg	84

2018 Sydney Cup First Acceptances

After nominations close in February the Sydney Cup first acceptances are taken four weeks out from the race on a Tuesday in early March, narrowing down the list of horses heading towards the $2 million classic.

The 2018 Sydney Cup first acceptances are set for release on Tuesday March 18, 2018 and will be listed below once announced.

The official Sydney Cup 2018 First Acceptances are now out with 56 autumn stayers still in the mix for the two mile classic including Roy Higgins Quality winner Aloft, the fellow Lloyd Williams-raced 2016 Melbourne Cup champion Almandin and the Lindsay Park-trained mare Frantic who won the Adelaide Cup over the 3200m last time out. The 2017 Melbourne Cup winner Rekindling and runner-up Johannas Vermeer are the notable omissions from the Sydney Cup First Declarations.

View the 2018 Sydney Cup First Acceptances Featuring Almandin by following the link.

2018 Sydney Cup Nominations

The Sydney Cup nominations are first taken by Racing NSW on a Monday in early-mid February about two months out from the race and can attract up to 100 stayers.

The official 2018 Sydney Cup nominations are set to close on Monday February 12, 2018 and will be published in full below.

The Sydney Cup 2018 Nominations drew 114 stayers led by the reigning Melbourne Cup winning Irish galloper Rekindling. Almandin is another former Melbourne Cup champion in the mix, while Humidor leads the Darren Weir-trained contingent. Trainer Chris Waller chases a third Sydney Cup win with a host of stayers including veteran nine-year-old Who Shot Thebarman who lines-up for his fifth Sydney Cup.

View the full 2018 Sydney Cup Nominations that featured the past two Melbourne Cup winners by following the link.

Sydney Cup History

The Sydney Cup was first run in 1862 as a Principal race over 16 furlongs, and Talleyrand won the inaugural race. The distance and conditions of the Sydney Cup remained the same for over a century until Australia’s adoption of the metric system caused the length to be converted to 3200m in 1973. In 1980 the Sydney Cup was elevated to Group 1 status.

The event has gone by a number of different names over the years including the Randwick Grand Handicap, Randwick Grand Handicap Sweepstakes and the Sydney Gold Cup.

In 2017 the Sydney Cup was run on April 8, but declared a No Race after the fall of Almoonqith. It ran for a second time a fortnight later with the same horse, UK raider Polarisation, first past the post again.

In 2018 Who Shot Thebarman made history winning the Sydney Cup as a nine-year-old at his fifth attempt in the two mile classic.

Sydney Cup Records
Time Record:	3:19.0 set by Apollo Eleven in 1973 and equalled by Just A Dancer in 1991.
Most Heavily Weighted Winner (since 1970):	My Good Man with 60kg in 1978.
Lightest Weighted Winner (since 1970):	Palace Revolt with 48.5kg in 1989.

Recent Sydney Cup Winners

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2019 Sydney Cup	1st	TBD	TBD
	2nd	TBD
	3rd	TBD
2018 Sydney Cup	1st	Who Shot Thebarman	3 minutes 20.04 seconds
	2nd	Zacada
	3rd	Sir Charles Road
2017 Sydney Cup	1st	Polarisation	3 minutes 29.16 seconds
	2nd	Who Shot Thebarman
	3rd	Big Duke
2016 Sydney Cup	1st	Gallante	3 minutes 24.5 seconds
	2nd	Libran
	3rd	Grand Marshal
2015 Sydney Cup	1st	Grand Marshal	3 minutes 24.70 seconds
	2nd	Who Shot Thebarman
	3rd	Like A Carousel
2014 Sydney Cup	1st	The Offer	3 minutes 23.86 seconds
	2nd	Opinion
	3rd	Sertorius
2013 Sydney Cup	1st	Niwot	3 minutes 20.4 seconds
	2nd	Efficient
	3rd	Once Were Wild
2012 Sydney Cup	1st	Mourayan	3 minutes 24.29 seconds
	2nd	Norsqui
	3rd	Aliyana Tide
2011 Sydney Cup	1st	Stand To Gain	3 minutes 29.1 seconds
	2nd	Older Than Time
	3rd	Solid Billing
2010 Sydney Cup	1st	Jessicabeel	3 minutes 21.86 seconds
	2nd	Divine Rebel
	3rd	Harris Tweed
2009 Sydney Cup	1st	Ista Kareem	3 minutes 27.4 seconds
	2nd	Divine Rebel
	3rd	Mr Tipsy
2008 Sydney Cup	1st	No Wine No Song	3 minutes 25.5 seconds
	2nd	Pentathon
	3rd	Lang
2007 Sydney Cup	1st	Gallic	3 minutes 27.3 seconds
	2nd	Irazu
	3rd	No Wine No Song
2006 Sydney Cup	1st	County Tyrone	3 minutes 22.6 seconds
	2nd	Zabeat
	3rd	Three Chimneys
2005 Sydney Cup	1st	Mahtoum	3 minutes 27.6 seconds
	2nd	County Tyrone
	3rd	Philosophe
2004 Sydney Cup	1st	Makybe Diva	3 minutes 21.1 seconds
	2nd	Manawa King
	3rd	Mummify
2003 Sydney Cup	1st	Honor Babe	3 minutes 30.5 seconds
	2nd	County Tyrone
	3rd	Grey Song
2002 Sydney Cup	1st	Henderson Bay	3 minutes 26.7 seconds
	2nd	Mr. Prudent
	3rd	Spirit Of Westbury
2001 Sydney Cup	1st	Mr. Prudent	3 minutes 26.9 seconds
	2nd	Prophet’s Kiss
	3rd	Starina
2000 Sydney Cup	1st	Streak	3 minutes 30.3 seconds
	2nd	Sharscay
	3rd	Ears’ Ronny