The Totescoop6 Challenge Cup takes place at Ascot on Saturday 1st October and is the big handicap run in Britain this weekend. Run over 7F for 3yos and upwards, in recent years it has begun to attract higher class animals and the Wokingham & Ayr Gold Cup have provided key pointers for this.

Below we take a look at the trends for the past 10 years:

Age (Win-Place-Runners)
3yo: 1-6-32
4yo: 4-6-67
5yo: 3-8-56
6yo+: 2-8-50
No strong trends on the ages of winners.
The last 3 winners aged 3 had won a handicap at Newmarket in July.

Weights
horses carrying 9-4 or more: 4-8-64
horses carrying 8-10 to 9-3: 6-15-115
horses carrying 8-9 or less: 0-6-26
The last 6 winners carried 8-13 or more.
Top Weight: 07007004000 (0-1-11)
horses carrying a penalty: 1-1-7.

Official Ratings
horses rated 100 or higher: 7-13-88
horses rated 90 to 99: 2-15-107
horses rated 89 or below: 1-0-10
Higher rated horses have held an edge in recent years, with 8 of last 9 winners being rated 99 or higher, including the first 2 home in each of last 6 runnings.

Recent/Past Form
9 of 10 winners finished in first 4 on 1 or both of last 2 turf starts
9 of 10 winners had run in past 45 days
9 of 10 winners contested a class 3 or higher race last time
7 of 10 winners (last 7) posted an RPR of 100+ last time
9 of 10 winners had won no more than once that season
10 of 10 winners had won 1 to 3 handicaps
9 of 10 winners had won a race with 12+ runners
10 of 10 had won at class 2 level or above
7 of 10 winners had won over 7F (3 exceptions posted an RPR of 102+ over 7F that season)
10 of 10 winners had won a race worth 12K+
7 of 10 winners had contested a class 1 race

Other Races
Previous year's winner (Buckstay): 1030 (1-1-4)
Record of horses that finished in first 6 in Wokingham Handicap: 8141 (2-1-4)
Record of horses that finished in first 5 from Ayr Gold Cup: 90011041531 (4-1-11)
Bbag-Sales.de German Silver Salver H'cap winner (Dutch Law): 01 (1-0-2)
Albert Bartlett Handicap winner (Dutch Law): 2250 (0-2-4)
Betfred Be Part Of The Action Handicap winner (Certificate): 08 (0-0-2)
Goodwood Revival Stakes winner (Certificate): 990 (0-0-3)
Betfred TV Ladies Day Handicap winner (Cornwallville): 7070 (0-0-4)
Longines International Stake winner (Librisa Breeze): 06870 (0-0-5)
5 of 10 winners (5 of last 7) ran in Ayr Gold Cup last time, finishing 81545
3 of 10 winners (3 of last 7) ran in the Wokingham, finishing 603
3 of 10 winners (3 of last 5) ran in Goodwood Revival Stakes Handicap, finishing 608
3 of 10 winners ran in Steward's Cup, finishing 060
3 of 10 winners ran in Bbag-Sales.de German Bloodstock Sales H'cap, finishing 491
2 of 10 winners ran in British Stallions Studs EBF Handicap, finishing 13
2 of 10 winners ran in Lady Wulfruna Stakes, finishing 46

Trainers
Andrew Balding (1-1-7) & Richard Fahey (1-1-14) have each saddled a winner and a placed finisher in past 10 years.
Peter Chapple-Hyam (1-0-1), John Gosden (1-0-2), Hughie Morrison (1-0-3), William Haggas (1-0-5) & Kevin Ryan (1-0-7) have also saddled the winner once in last 10 years.
James Fanshawe (0-1-1), Eve Johnson-Houghton (0-1-1), George Margarson (0-1-3), Jeremy Noseda (0-1-3), David O'Meara (0-1-4), David Barron (0-1-5) & Mark Johnston (0-1-10) have all filled 1 place in past 10 runnings.

Draw
horses drawn 1 to 10: 7-21-100
horses drawn 11 to 20: 2-6-77
horses drawn 21 or higher: 1-1-28
12 of last 13 winners at Ascot were drawn in stalls 1 to 11.

Racing Style
5 of 10 winners raced prominently
2 of 10 winners were held up in midfield
3 of 10 winners were held up towards the rear

Price
No strong trends on prices, 6 of 10 winners were priced between 9/2 & 12/1, though the other 4 winners were sent off at 16/1, 16/1, 33/1 & 50/1.
Favourites (2-3-10) have won 2 of the last 10 and backing the favourite would have left you with a £1 level stakes profit of £3.50.

Summary:
Based on trends from the past 10 years you are looking for a horse:
- Carrying 8-13 or more
- Officially rated 99 or higher
- Finished in the first 4 in a class 2 or 3 handicap on 1 or both of last 2 starts
- Posted an RPR of 100+ last time
- Won no more than once in 2016
- Previous won 1 to 3 handicaps
- Won over 7F (or posted an RPR of 102+ over 7F in 2016)
- Won a class 2 race or higher worth 12K+
- Won a race with 14+ runners
- Previously contested a class 1 race
- 3yos that had won a handicap at Newmarket in July do well
- Finished in first 5 in Ayr Gold Cup last time
- Finished in first 6 in Lady Wulfruna Stakes, Wokingham and/or British Stallion Studs Handicap
- Ran in Goodwood Revival Stakes, Steward's Cup and/or Silver Salves Stakes
- Drawn 1 to 11