Powers Gold Cup

The Powers Gold Cup is one of the most important steeplechase events of the Irish national hunt racing season. The event is one of the feature races at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival, which also hosts the Irish Grand National.

The Powers Gold Cup is run over a distance of 2 miles and 4 furlongs on Fairyhouse Racecourse, with 15 fences jumped during the race. Entry to the Powers Gold Cup is open to 5-year-old and above national hunt racehorses.

In the past the Powers Gold Cup attracted the biggest names in both British and Irish national hunt racing. However, in recent years the race has become a more parochial event, and the Powers Gold Cup mainly draws highly-rated Irish chasers.

Powers Gold Cup Betting Tips

• A wide variety of age groups have achieved success in the Powers Gold Cup, with winners aged anywhere between 6 and 11. Around 70% of race winners fell in the 6 to 7-year-old age group.
• Punters looking for a great lay betting opportunity need look no further than the Powers Gold Cup. Antepost favourites have poor record in the race, taking under 30% of the race titles in the past decade. Betting against the favourite therefore appears to be the logical option in this race.
• The majority of Powers Gold Cup winners are priced from 7/1 and lower, which means that race can return good value on each-way and place bets.
• The race also tends to attract smallish fields, with less than 10 in the field the norm. This means each-way and place bets can provide extra value for punters set on backing a racehorse in this event.

Powers Gold Cup History

The Fairyhouse Powers Gold Cup has been run since 1960 and was originally run over a distance of 2 miles 2 furlongs and featured 14 fences. The present race format was introduced during the 1994 national season.

For much of its history the Powers Gold Cup attracted some of the finest racehorses in the sport of national hunt racing. In 1964 the race was won by the legendary Arkle. In recent years a number of impressive Irish chasers have taken the race title, including multiple Grade 1 winner Rince Ri.