Kingsford Smith Cup
Kingsford Smith Cup
Group One Betting Guide
Date: | Saturday, June 1, 2024 |
Location: | Eagle Farm Racecourse – Brisbane, Queensland |
Prize Money: | $1,000,000 |
Distance: | 1300m |
The BTC Cup – also known as the Kingsford Smith Cup – is a Group 1 race held at Brisbane’s Eagle Farm. The race is a three-year-olds and older weight-for-age event over 1300m.
The BTC Cup was previously the opening group one race of the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival, but is now run in the middle of the Carnival following the Doomben 10,000 and the Doomben Cup.
Formerly run over the 1200m journey, the $1,000,000 race is now over the 1300m trip and has a fantastic group of former winners among its ranks.
2024 Kingsford Smith Cup Betting Odds
Markets for the 2024 Kingsford Smith Cup are currently unavailable.
Best BTC Cup bookmakers
The BTC Cup is a group one race that previously kicked off the Brisbane Winter Carnival, and while it is not as prominent as it once was, any bookmaker worth their salt has markets up well in advance of the race.
Tote prices and other Fixed Odds markets tend to open when the race is four to five days away.


Sport Table
Latest BTC Cup News
Betting on the BTC Cup
The BTC Cup always brings out the best sprinters in the country to the sunshine state, and is the preamble to the Stradbroke Handicap, which is typically run a fortnight later.
Naturally, the key form race heading into the BTC Cup is the Doomben 10,000 held a fortnight prior, and for the interstate raiders the TJ Smith Stakes has produced a couple of winners over the years.
In recent times however, the race has been not favourable to the key market elects.
Since Black Caviar won the race as a short-priced favourite in 2011, only two favourites Impending (2018) and Think About It (2023) has rewarded favourite punters since.
Punters need to beware of the big names in this race, given a lot of runners use the race as a tune up for the Stradbroke.
2024 Kingsford-Smith Cup Final Field
Horsebetting.com.au will update this page when the 2024 Kingsford Smith Cup field is released.
Previous Kingsford-Smith Cup Fields
Plenty of the future sprinting superstars of the racing scene have competed in the Kingsford-Smith Cup, here is what the final fields looked like in the last couple of years.
No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight 1 Eduardo Joseph Pride Nash Rawiller 5 59kg 2 A Case Of You Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) Mark Zahra 6 59kg 3 Paulele James Cummings Ben Melham 16 59kg 4 Rothfire Robert Heathcote Blake Shinn 7 59kg 5 Vilana James Cummings James McDonald 13 59kg 6 Converge Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Tim Clark 1 59kg 7 King Of Sparta Peter & Paul Snowden Chad Schofield 2 59kg 8 Kirwan’s Lane John O’Shea Opie Bosson 15 59kg 9 Eleven Eleven Gregory Hickman Tyler Schiller 14 59kg 10 Gentleman Roy Ben & JD Hayes Craig Williams 18 59kg 11 Think About It Joseph Pride Sam Clipperton 8 59kg 12 Emerald Kingdom Desleigh Forster Damien Thornton 4 59kg 13 Alpine Edge Toby & Trent Edmonds Ryan Maloney 17 59kg 14 The Inferno Cliff Brown Craig Newitt 9 59kg 15 Promise Of SuccessJohn O’SheaJason Collett1257kg16 Palaisipan Chris Munce Joshua Parr 19 57kg 17 Chaillot (1E) Steven O’Sea & Matthew Hoysted Ben Thompson 11 57kg 18 Irish Songs (2E)Louise WhiteLarry Cassidy1059kg19 Antino (3E)Tony GollanJames Orman359kgNo. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight 1 Private Eye Joseph Pride Brenton Avdulla 16 59kg 2 Laws Of Indices Annabel Neasham Rachel King 21 59kg 3 Ellsberg Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou Nash Rawiller 12 59kg 4 Eleven Eleven Gregory Hickman Hugh Bowman 4 59kg 5 Apache Chase Desleigh Forster Jim Byrne 6 59kg 6 Wild Planet Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes William Pike 19 59kg 7 Rothfire Robert Heathcote James Orman 14 59kg 8 Olmedo Annabel Neasham Brodie Loy 3 59kg 9 Signore Fox Peter & Paul Snowden Ben Thompson 11 59kg 10 Sierra SueTrent Busuttin & Natalie YoungDaniel Moor2057kg11 September Run Chris Waller Craig Williams 7 57kg 12 Entriviere Mark Walker Opie Bosson 17 57kg 13 Paulele James Cummings James McDonald 8 57kg 14 Isotope Tony Gollan Ryan Maloney 13 57kg 15 Away Game Ciaron Maher & David Eustace John Allen 18 57kg 16 Brooklyn Hustle Jason Warren & Dean Krongold Jamie Kah 5 57kg 17 Scallopini (1E) Steven O’Dea & Matthew Hoysted Boris Thornton 9 59kg 18 Niccanova (2E)Steve TregeaAnthony Allen1059kg19 Jamaea (3E)Robert & Luke PriceTommy Berry1555kg20 Ranch Hand (4E)Chris WallerKerrin McEvoy157kg21 Alpine Edge (5E)Toby & Trent EdmondsRobbie Fradd257kgNo. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight 1 Trekking James Cummings Kerrin McEvoy 12 59kg 2 Gytrash Gordon Richards Jason Collett 15 59kg 3 Savatoxl Tony & Calvin McEvoy Barend Vorster 14 59kg 4 ImagingChris WallerJames McDonald1659kg5 Kementari James Cummings Joshua Parr 1 59kg 6 Victorem Jenny Graham Mark Du Plessis 2 59kg 7 So Si Bon Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes Mark Zahra 3 59kg 8 Niccanova Steve Tregea James Orman 11 59kg 9 Vega One Tony Gollan Jamie Kah 13 59kg 10 Jonker Tony Gollan Jim Byrne 4 59kg 11 Signore Fox Peter & Paul Snowden Ryan Maloney 5 59kg 12 Blazejowski Greg Eurell Jye McNeil 10 59kg 13 Savatiano James Cummings Hugh Bowman 8 57kg 14 Outback Barbie Tony Gollan Brenton Avdulla 9 57kg 15 Pennino Darryl Hansen Tiffani Brooker 7 57kg 16 Dame Giselle Peter & Paul Snowden Tim Clark 6 55kg
2023 BTC Cup result
1st – Think About It ($5.00)
2nd – Converge ($4.00)
3rd – Rothfire ($2.30)
Recent BTC Cup winners
- It was a first-time Group 1 success for Think About It, taking out the Kingsford Smith Cup at Eagle Farm. The son of So You Think continued his model of consistency remaining undefeated since resuming in the new year, with this now being his sixth win on the trot. It’s been a meteoric rise as a four-year-old from the Joseph Pride barn, now resulting in Group 1 glory and doing so in stylish fashion, while also ticking the weight-for-age box in the process. Jockey Sam Clipperton has been a big part of this horse’s maturing this campaign, taking the reins on all six occasions to score victories. It was another classy steer from Clipperton, producing a ‘no panic’ ride when finding himself cast three-wide the entire trip and Vilana unable to take him into the race. His mount still stormed down the middle of the course and was able to kick clear, hanging on from a game Rothfire and Converge sneaking rails runs almost spoiling the party for favourite backers. It’s full steam ahead now for Think About It, with all signs pointing to the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap – where he is a firm $3.50 favourite with for QLD’s premier race.
- Trainer Desleigh Forster gave Jim Byrne one instruction for his ride on Apache Chase; do not go slow! Byrne followed those instructions to perfection, having his mount flying along out in front throughout the Kingsford-Smith Cup, with Apache Chase fending off his rivals to claim Group 1 glory. Despite being vulnerable for the taking inside the final furlong, Apache Chase kept kicking in the home straight under urgings from Byrne and held off the fast finishing Paulele and Eleven Eleven, with 0.4 lengths separating the first four, with Rothfire back in fourth.
- All connections to Vega One would have been scrunching their tickets up before the race was over. Barrier 13 and stuck behind a blockade of horses down the straight things were not looking good for the five-year-old gelding, however it was the brilliant riding of Jamie Kah that found the gap that didn’t exist to get up on Jonker and Signore Fox to win by .5 of a length.
- The Kingsford Smith Cup was cancelled due to the lockdowns because of COVID-19
- Remarkably, The Bostonian was sent around as a $10 chance in the BTC Cup, but on the back of another superb steer from Michael Cahill the pair grabbed back to back Group 1 victories. Having been granted the run of the race, Cahill found a gap in the home straight at the 300m mark and the Tony Pike-trained gelding managed to hold out the rank outsider Princess Posh and race favourite Trekking in the concluding stages.
- Godolphin runner Impending came into the 2018 BTC Cup hoping to improve on a strong run in the Doomben 10000 two weeks prior, but when Le Romain kicked away in the straight it looked like a win would be beyond the four-year-old. The horse surged to the line however to topple Le Romain in a photo-finish.
- Clearly Innocent trounced its rivals in the 2017 Kingsford-Smith Cup (BTC Cup) at Eagle Farm. The Kris Lees-trained runner was considered a course specialist at Scone, but transferred that form to Eagle Farm where it enjoyed the wet conditions at Eagle Farm. Read the report here.
- Malaguerra was not one of the key elects in the market going into the 2016 BTC Cup, but was found late in the market to firm into $7. In one of the tightest finishes in the race’s history the gelding held on well in a photo-finish ahead of Dothraki.
- The $26 outsider Hot Snitzel was not expected to be a factor in the 2015 edition of the race, but when the horse sprinted from midfield to challenge the long-time leader, roughie backers would have had their hearts in their mouths. The horse went on to salute, but failed to win a race thereafter.
- Famous Seamus is a horse that teased punters over the journey, and most backers did not want to go near the $21 pop heading into the race. However, under a perfect ride from Ryan Wiggins the Kiwi import blazed down the outside to record one of the best wins of its career.
- In a performance that belied its huge price, Your Song ($12) absolutely torched its rivals to record a comfortable five length win – the biggest margin since Black Caviar’s towering performance in 2011. The horse raced just a further two times in its career before retiring a month later.
Previous BTC Cup winners
BTC Cup Past Winners | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Horse | Jockey | Trainer |
2023 | Think About It | Sam Clipperton | Joseph Pride |
2022 | Apache Chase | Jim Byrne | Desleigh Forster |
2021 | Vega One | Jamie Kah | Tony Gollan |
2020 | Race Not Held | ||
2019 | The Bostonian | Michael Cahill | Tony Pike |
2018 | Impending | Damian Browne | James Cummings |
2017 | Clearly Innocent | Hugh Bowman | Kris Lees |
2016 | Malaguerra | Glen Colless | Lee & Anthony Freedman |
2015 | Hot Snitzel | Blake Shinn | Peter & Paul Snowden |
2014 | Famous Seamus | Ryan Wiggins | Noel Mayfield-Smith |
2013 | Your Song | Peter Robl | Anthony Cummings |
2012 | Sea Siren | Jim Cassidy | John O’Shea |
2011 | Black Caviar | Luke Nolen | Peter Moody |
2010 | Albert The Fat | Damian Browne | Eden Petrie |
2009 | Duporth | Luke Nolen | Anthony Cummings |
2008 | Apache Cat | Corey Brown | Greg Eurell |
2007 | Bentley Biscuit | Nash Rawiller | Gai Waterhouse |
2006 | Gee I Jane | Scott Seamer | Neville Couchman |
2005 | Spark Of Life | Chris Munce | Allan Denham |
2004 | Thorn Park | Danny Nikolic | Bob Thomsen |
2003 | Falvelon | Alan Russell | Danny Bougoure |
2002 | Lord Essex | Scott Galloway | John Hawkes |
2001 | Fritz | Noel Harris | Mark Walker |
2000 | Falvelon | Michael Cahill | Danny Bougoure |
BTC Cup Past Winners Pre 2000
BTC Cup Past Winners Pre 2000 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Horse | ||
1999 | Staging | ||
1998 | General Nediym | ||
1997 | Accomplice | ||
1996 | Chief De Beers | ||
1995 | Seawinne | ||
1994 | Buck’s Pride | ||
1993 | Buck’s Pride | ||
1992 | Barrosa Boy | ||
1991 | St. Jude | ||
1990 | Gypsy Rogue | ||
1989 | High Regard | ||
1988 | Cool Report | ||
1987 | Broad Reach | ||
1986 | Goldorme | ||
1985 | Sports Ruler | ||
1984 | Mr. Illusion | ||
1983 | Strawberry Road | ||
1982 | Todonic | ||
1981 | Grand Rocky | ||
1980 | Vinegar Joe | ||
1979 | Stylee | ||
1978 | March Legend | ||
1977 | Innisfree | ||
1976 | Ima Shadow | ||
1975 | Martindale | ||
1974 | Tontonan | ||
1973 | Triton | ||
1972 | Charlton Boy | ||
1971 | Ricochet | ||
1970 | Cabochon | ||
1969 | Dual Control | ||
1968 | Prince Gauntlet | ||
1967 | Eye Liner | ||
1966 | Flying Fancy | ||
1965 | Todwana | ||
1964 | Rashlore |