Key Points
- Today’s betting tip won this race last year and can retain his crown
- The stable have won four renewals of this race including three of the last six
- He hasn’t had his favoured soft ground all season but should get it here
As part of the Axe The Racing Tax campaign, the British horse racing industry goes on strike today (10 September 2025) taking the unprecedented action of refusing to race. This is in protest against the Government's proposed tax rise for betting on the sport. As a result, I have looked further ahead with an antepost selection for you.
If you’re new to my articles, I’m RacingGav and I’m the resident horse racing tipster here at Betting.co.uk. I have typically been posting four articles per week but with the continued success of the tips, this will now be increasing to five! These are predominantly daily betting tips but I also cover other areas too such as antepost betting (like this one), guides and big race trends.
If you are looking for some antepost bets, you have come to the right place as this article itself is one. In addition to that, I already have antepost bets live for the Irish Champion Stakes, Cesarewitch Handicap and
King George VI Chase
this year. I have then also looked ahead to 2026 for the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree Grand National.
Betting advice
- Friday 12 September - 2025 Doncaster Cup Stakes -
Sweet William
- @ 6/4 -
2pt Win
(available at 7/4 with William Hill odds boost)
William Hill are my bookie choice for this bet
At the time of writing, William Hill and one other are offering 6/4 on Sweet William to win the Doncaster Cup Stakes. If you look under the specials at William Hill, they actually have him boosted to 7/4, but I won’t quote that in case it’s gone by the time this article goes live. In addition to that, they have a fantastic sign up offer. If you
bet £10, you’ll get £40 of free bets. That’s fantastic value and well worth taking up.
Sweet William can give the Gosden’s win number five
I think Sweet William can win the Doncaster Cup Stakes for a variety of reasons and in the next part of this article, I’ll show you why.
Sweet William tip won this race last year and can retain his crown
Last year, an arguably stronger field of six went to post and Sweet William came out victorious in good style. He officially won by one length making it all look really easy as he just idled towards the finish.
He defeated the late great Trueshan that day, as well as other useful rivals in the form of Point Lonsdale, Coltrane and Gregory. Those four were rated 112, 115, 112 and 113 that day - a stronger line up than Sweet William will face this time around.
Although he didn’t stay the 2m 4f in the Ascot Gold Cup, we know that he stays the 2m 2f trip very well, and he also enjoys a galloping track like Doncaster. I think he has an exceptional chance of retaining his crown on Friday, and I’m struggling to see what will beat him.
The stable have won four renewals of this race including three of the last six
The Gosden’s have recorded four victories in this race, in 2010, 2019, 2021 and 2024. Samuel got the first win on the board for them, the great Stradivarius won two renewals, and then Sweet William won the race for them last year. With such a strong record in the race, and this reported as his target and final run of the season, you know that Sweet William will be fully tuned up for this. Afterwards, he will enjoy a well-earned rest in the field until next season.
Coltrane is the only other runner coming back from last year’s renewal, but he was no match for Sweet William in the 2024 renewal, and he’s eight years old now. Sweet William didn’t look to enjoy Goodwood, yet he still beat Sunway there, so it’s hard to see the form reversed, especially over this longer trip. Hipop De Loire is likely just looking for a place to qualify for the Melbourne Cup.
That leaves Kyle Of Lochalsh, Pendragon, Oxford Comma and Tashkhan to beat. These four are rated 105, 97, 101 and 105 respectively, so they have plenty to find on ratings, with Sweet William currently running off a mark of 115. In Pendragon’s favour he receives 11lb as a three-year-old, but that still leaves him 7lb to find.
Sweet William hasn’t had his favoured soft ground all season but should it here
The two standout performances of Sweet William’s career came in the 2024 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup and this Doncaster Cup Stakes last year. Those two runs came on Soft and Good to Soft ground respectively. His last run at the Ebor Festival, where he came second to stablemate Trawlerman was up there, and it came on Good to Firm ground, but I think he’s at his best with some juice in the ground.
At the time of writing, the official going description is Good to Soft. According to the weather forecast I use, we are looking at 8.4mm of rain falling at the track today, with a further 0.4mm and 0.3mm across Thursday and Friday. I would suspect that circa 8 to 10mm of rain falling between now and the race would see the going remain Good to Soft, if not change to Soft. Either way, there should be juice in the ground for Sweet William, and he’ll love that. It would also mean a question mark for some of the field who would prefer quick conditions.
Can Sweet William win back to back renewals?
As always, you must weigh up the pros, the cons, and the price when deciding whether to bet. For me, there are many pros for Sweet William. We know he loves this C&D, he should get his ideal ground conditions, and he’s the one they need to beat on ratings. If anything, this looks a weaker renewal than last year, we know this is his target before being put away until next season, and the stable has a strong record in the race. In terms of the negatives, I’m struggling to find one. His latest run was a cracker, and there is no shame in being defeated by Trawlerman, who is the best stayer around at the moment.
I’m not usually one for getting stuck into short prices, and 6/4 is certainly at the low end for me. However, he went off 7/4 last year and that was a stronger race. I see no reason why Sunway or Coltrane will reverse their form with him here. The remaining five need to take a big step forward to even compete with him, never mind improving beyond him. With no disrespect to Sweet William’s rivals here, I think even money would be a fair price, and he should be a shade off odds on. So, I think there is value in the 6/4 price, and even more with William Hill’s odds boost making him 7/4, if you can get on it.
I was almost tempted to put up a 3pt bet for Sweet William here. However, as we are relying on the forecast weather for his ideal conditions, and it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that one of his rivals could pull something out of the bag, I’m keeping it at 2pts. If the quoted price is still available on the day, and the predicted rain has fallen, I might top up on the day. However, by the time the day of the race comes around, I think the 6/4 for Sweet William will be long gone.
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