2023 Sprint Cup Betting Tips, Best Bookmakers & Free Bets

The highlight on the afternoon is the Sprint Cup, a Group One six-furlong contest that has been won by many of the sport's great sprinters, including Moorestyle, Dayjur and Dream Ahead.

The Sprint Cup was created in 1966 by Robert Sangster. Initially, the race was open to horses of two-years-old and above. It was run in early November and took place on a turning six-furlong track during its early history.

Be Friendly was a juvenile when he won the first-ever running of the Sprint Cup. He successfully defended his crown as a three-year-old the following season, and remains the only two-time winner of the Sprint Cup.

It wasn't until 1979 that the Sprint Cup was moved to Haydock. Organisers also moved the race back to its current position on the calendar and takes place in early September every year.

The last of Lester Piggot's three victories in this race came aboard Moorestyle in 1980. The following year, trainer John Dunlop won for the first time at Haydock when Runnett scored. Dunlop went on to secure further victories with Habibti, Lavinia Fontana and Invincible Spirit, and remains the winning-most trainer in the history of this Group One.

Dayjur won the Sprint Cup during his stunning campaign in 1990. Kevin Darley guided Pipalong to victory at the turn of the millennium, and he's since been followed into the winner's enclosure by fellow greats like Invincible Spirit, Dream Ahead and Gordon Lord Byron.

Karl Burke's filly, Quiet Reflection score in excellent style in 2016. Harry Angel and The Tin Man have also secured impressive victories in recent seasons.

In 2019, Hello Youmzain held off his elders to hand trainer Kevin Ryan his first victory in the Haydock Sprint Cup.

After hitting the frame on a number of occasions, Dream Of Dreams finally claimed a Group One win in the 2020 Sprint Cup, seeing off Glen Shiel and Golden Horde to score in impressive fashion. Starman was then expected to win the 2021 Sprint Cup, but the hot favourite was beaten by 11/1 shot Emaraaty Anna.

Favourites don't have the greatest of records in Haydock's Sprint Cup. Since the year 2000, only six favourite have managed to win.

In those 20 years, eleven of the winners went off at single-figure prices. Eight winners have started at odds between 10/1 and 14/1, with only Invincible Spirit - a 25/1 outsider in 2002 - carrying odds longer than 14/1 to victory.

The ground is an all-important factor in the Sprint Cup. Haydock is renowned for having testing ground, and recent runnings of this Group One bolster that reputation, with all of the last four runnings of the Sprint Cup taking place on soft or heavy ground.

Horses drawn low have enjoyed a good record in the Sprint Cup in recent seasons. Only two of the last ten winners were drawn in stall nine or wider.

Three-year-olds and older horses have a fairly equal record in the Sprint cup this decade. However, younger horses have been particularly dominant in recent times, with five of the last six editions of the Sprint Cup going the way of the three-year-olds.