# The Week in Racing: Haiti Couleurs, Rubaud and a Melbourne Cup First _The week in racing, 31 Oct to 7 Nov 2026: Breeders' Cup, Melbourne Cup, Charlie Hall, Down Royal and the Haldon Gold Cup, plus our model's week._ *Source: [https://stablebet.co.uk/racing-news/racing-week-roundup-2026-11-08/](https://stablebet.co.uk/racing-news/racing-week-roundup-2026-11-08/) · last updated 2026-11-08* ## The week in short This week had the Breeders' Cup and the Melbourne Cup abroad, and three of the autumn's good jumps races at home. At Keeneland, Sovereignty won the Breeders' Cup Classic and Aidan O'Brien took his Breeders' Cup total to 24. Three days later at Flemington, Ciaron Maher trained the first three home in the Melbourne Cup, which no trainer had done before. Closer to home, Pic D'Orhy won the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on the first Saturday of the week, and Haiti Couleurs took the Grade 1 Champion Chase at Down Royal the same afternoon. On Friday, Rubaud won the Haldon Gold Cup for Paul Nicholls, run at Aintree this year because firm ground in the south-west cost Exeter its fixture. This roundup covers the races from Saturday 31 October to Friday 6 November. Saturday 7 November's results were not in when it was written, so they open next week's edition. Below: the big results, what our model and the Daily Five machines did, three talking points, and what is coming at Cheltenham next week. Every winner and starting price from Britain and Ireland is on our [racing results](/racing-results/) pages. ## The big results ### Breeders' Cup, Keeneland (30 and 31 October) Sovereignty beat The Puma and his stablemate Knightsbridge in the Classic, the last race of the meeting, and now heads to stud. Benvenuto Cellini won the Turf for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore, their third winner of the two days, and O'Brien left Kentucky with 24 Breeders' Cup wins. Japan won the Sprint with T O Elvis. American-trained horses won nine of the 14 races and European-trained horses four. Every winner and placing is on our [Breeders' Cup 2026 results](/racing-news/breeders-cup-2026-results/) page, and the [Breeders' Cup 2026 review](/racing-news/breeders-cup-2026-review/) goes through who came out of it well and who did not. ### Melbourne Cup, Flemington (Tuesday 3 November) Point Of Law, ridden by Ethan Brown, won the Group 1 over 1m 7f 200y for Ciaron Maher, and Maher's Zahrann and Juja Kibo filled second and third. Reuters and SEN both report that no trainer had saddled the first three in the race before. Sons And Lovers was fourth for Joseph O'Brien. ### Charlie Hall Chase, Wetherby (Saturday 31 October) Pic D'Orhy (10/11 favourite) won the Grade 2 [Charlie Hall Chase](/racing-news/charlie-hall-chase/) for Dan Skelton and Harry Skelton, from Handstands and Riskintheground in a field of six, on ground described as good, good to firm in places. Harry Skelton rode four of the seven winners on the card: Minella Hollow, Kateira and Filibustering as well as Pic D'Orhy. Earlier, Strong Leader (13/8) won the Grade 2 West Yorkshire Hurdle, a three-runner race, for Olly Murphy and Sean Bowen. ### Down Royal Champion Chase (Saturday 31 October) Haiti Couleurs (8/1) won the Grade 1 [Champion Chase](/racing-news/down-royal-champion-chase/) for Rebecca Curtis under Paul Townend, beating Fleur In The Park by four and three-quarter lengths in a field of five. In the Grade 2 Racing Post Chase that followed, Kala Conti (5/6) won for Gordon Elliott. Both races are on our [results for 31 October](/racing-results/2026-10-31/). ### Haldon Gold Cup, Aintree (Friday 6 November) Rubaud (4/1) won the Grade 2 Haldon Gold Cup for Paul Nicholls and Sam Twiston-Davies, six and a half lengths clear of JPR One, with Mirabad third of the six runners. Later on the card Montregard (5/1) won the 12-runner Premier Handicap chase for Tom Lacey and Harry Cobden. The full card is on our [results for 6 November](/racing-results/2026-11-06/). ### Elsewhere in the week At Clonmel on Thursday, Kappa Jy Pyke (2/9) won the three-runner Grade 2 Clonmel Oil Chase for Willie Mullins and Paul Townend. On the Flat, Bengal Tiger (6/4) won the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes at Newmarket on 31 October for Aidan O'Brien, after the race was moved from Newbury's storm-hit card. ## What our model did this week Our model rates every runner in the British and Irish races it covers and publishes its top-rated horse in each. The [Track Record](/ai-race-predictor/track-record/) settles every one of those picks as a level-stakes win bet at starting price, winners and losers alike, so the numbers below are the whole week and not a selection from it. All of them come from a frozen record of the week, so they will not move after this page is published. ### The model's week Over the 7 days from Saturday 31 October to Friday 6 November, the model settled 255 top picks and 67 of them won, a strike rate of 26.3%. The return on those bets at starting price was −17.7%. Its best day for winners was 13 from 45 on Wednesday 4 November. For the longer view, the all-time record, which updates every night, stands at −13.6% from 11,526 bets with a strike rate of 24.5%. One week is a small sample, and the model is a test of how well a rating reads a race, not a tipping service. ### The Daily Five In the [Daily Five](/ai-race-predictor/lab/can-you-beat-the-bookies/), readers pick against our AI in five British and Irish races a day, scored in points at starting price. The machines' picks are frozen at 5am. Across the week's 35 races, the AI's picks found 6 winners for −117 points, and simply taking the 5am favourite found 13 for +80. The AI's best result was Courtbrack Boy at 9/1 at Clonmel. In the big races it had Pic D'Orhy in the Charlie Hall, which won, and Mirabad in the Haldon Gold Cup, which finished third. It preferred Jassas to Bengal Tiger in the Horris Hill. How the readers did is on the [Daily Five leaderboard](/ai-race-predictor/lab/can-you-beat-the-bookies/leaderboard/). ### The Silicon Tipster League The [Silicon Tipster League](/ai-race-predictor/lab/tipster-league/) asks 5 outside chatbots to pick every race and settles them at starting price. These are live figures and update every morning: after 124 days, Claude leads the chatbots at -13.9%, and 5 of them are behind a baseline that backs the favourite in every race. The League's own weekly edition, [what the AI tipsters got right and wrong from 26 October to 1 November](/ai-race-predictor/blog/ai-tipster-week-2026-w44/), goes through each chatbot's week. ## Talking points ### Firm ground is still shaping the jumps programme The autumn has been too dry in places for jumping. Exeter's Haldon Gold Cup meeting and Wincanton's weekend fixture were both called off because the ground was still mostly firm, and Aintree picked up a replacement two-day fixture on Friday and Saturday, with ITV showing both days ([Sporting Life](https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/aintree-to-stage-haldon-gold-cup-as-west-country-weekend-cancelled/235068)). Sandown's card on Sunday 8 November is now all hurdles because the chase course cannot be raced on, though it stays a seven-race card ([The Jockey Club](https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/sandown/events-tickets/countryside-day/)). Going reports are worth checking closely before any jumps bet for the next few weeks. ### Sovereignty retires to Darley The Breeders' Cup Classic was Sovereignty's last race. He retires to stud with Darley for the 2027 season, as [Darley America](https://www.darleyamerica.com/news/sovereignty-reigns-supreme-g1-breeders-cup-classic) confirmed after Keeneland, and his campaign and career record are set out in [BRISnet's report](https://www.brisnet.com/racing/news/breeders-cup/sovereignty-reigns-supreme-in-breeders-cup-classic/). Our [Breeders' Cup winners to stallions](/racing-news/breeders-cup-winners-to-stallions/) piece follows Curlin, Gun Runner and Flightline from the racecourse to the breeding shed. ### A race-morning scratching at Flemington Chris Waller's Asterix was withdrawn from the Melbourne Cup on the morning of the race after a member of his staff applied a liniment to the horse on race day, which the rules do not allow. Stewards fined Waller A$50,000. Both [Reuters](https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/2026-11-03-point-of-law-storms-home-to-win-the-melbourne-cup/) and [SEN](https://www.sen.com.au/news/2026/11/03/melbourne-cup-results-why-was-asterix-scratched-chris-waller-fine) reported the withdrawal and the fine. ## Next week: Cheltenham's November Meeting Cheltenham's November Meeting runs from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 November. The [November Meeting festival hub](/festivals/cheltenham-november-meeting/) gathers everything we have on it, and our [Cheltenham November Meeting guide](/racing-news/cheltenham-november-meeting/) has the day-by-day schedule and how to watch. Saturday's feature is the Paddy Power Gold Cup, a Premier Handicap chase over 2m 4½f. Sunday closes the meeting with the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle. Both are handicaps, and they are the meeting's two main betting races. Our [November Meeting tips](/racing-news/cheltenham-november-meeting-tips/) page covers the weekend's races, and once the runners are declared they go on our [Cheltenham racecard](/racecards/cheltenham/) the day before. If you plan to bet on the meeting, [Cheltenham offers](/bookmakers/cheltenham-offers/) lists the current deals for the course, [Cheltenham extra places](/bookmakers/cheltenham-extra-places/) shows which bookmakers pay extra places in the big handicaps, and [best BOG bookmakers](/bookmakers/best-bog-bookmakers/) explains Best Odds Guaranteed, which pays the starting price when it is bigger than the price you took. The week after, on Saturday 21 November, Haydock stages the Grade 1 [Betfair Chase](/racing-news/betfair-chase/). Next week's edition of this roundup picks up Saturday's results from Aintree and elsewhere, and the run-up to Cheltenham. ## Sources and verification British and Irish results come from two independent feeds that had to agree: the results feed behind our [racing results](/racing-results/) pages, and Sporting Life's results, read for each date through our results script. Saturday 7 November's racing was still to come when this was written. The move of the Haldon Gold Cup to Aintree is from [Sporting Life's report of 27 October](https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/aintree-to-stage-haldon-gold-cup-as-west-country-weekend-cancelled/235068), and both results feeds record the race at Aintree. Sandown's all-hurdle card is from [The Jockey Club's Sandown page](https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/sandown/events-tickets/countryside-day/) and the same Sporting Life report. The Melbourne Cup result, the Maher one-two-three and the Asterix fine are from [Reuters](https://www.businessday.co.za/sport/2026-11-03-point-of-law-storms-home-to-win-the-melbourne-cup/) and [SEN](https://www.sen.com.au/news/2026/11/02/melbourne-cup-2026-results-winner-top-4-full-field-finishing-order). The two reports gave the winner different places in the betting, so we have left his price out. The Breeders' Cup facts were checked for our results and review pages against the official Breeders' Cup results and Equibase's chart. The model, Daily Five and League figures are read from the files our Lab pages publish. The week's figures are frozen; the League figures update every morning. ## Frequently asked questions ### Who won the Melbourne Cup in 2026? Point Of Law won the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on Tuesday 3 November 2026, ridden by Ethan Brown and trained by Ciaron Maher. Maher also trained the second, Zahrann, and the third, Juja Kibo, which Reuters and SEN both report had never happened before in the race's history. Sons And Lovers was fourth for the Irish trainer Joseph O'Brien. The race is a Group 1 run over 1m 7f 200y. ### Why was the Haldon Gold Cup run at Aintree? Exeter, where the race is normally run, lost its fixture because the ground was still mostly firm after a dry summer and autumn, and Wincanton's weekend meeting was called off for the same reason. Aintree staged a replacement two-day fixture on Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November 2026, with the Haldon Gold Cup on the Friday. Rubaud won it for Paul Nicholls and Sam Twiston-Davies. ### Who won the Charlie Hall Chase and the Down Royal Champion Chase in 2026? Both were run on Saturday 31 October 2026. Pic D'Orhy won the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby for Dan and Harry Skelton, beating Handstands, on a day when Harry Skelton rode four winners on the card. At Down Royal, Haiti Couleurs won the Grade 1 Champion Chase for Rebecca Curtis and Paul Townend, beating Fleur In The Park. Every finishing order is on our [results for 31 October](/racing-results/2026-10-31/). ### How did the Stablebet model do this week? From Saturday 31 October to Friday 6 November, the model's top picks won 67 of 255 races, a strike rate of 26.3%, for a return of −17.7% at starting price. Every pick is settled, winners and losers alike, and the full record is on the [Track Record](/ai-race-predictor/track-record/) page. The model is a test of how well a rating reads a race, not a tipping service. ### When is the Paddy Power Gold Cup in 2026? The Paddy Power Gold Cup is on Saturday 14 November 2026, the middle day of Cheltenham's November Meeting, which runs from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 November. It is a Premier Handicap chase over 2m 4½f. The Greatwood Handicap Hurdle follows on the Sunday. Our [Cheltenham November Meeting guide](/racing-news/cheltenham-november-meeting/) has the schedule, and the declared runners go on our [Cheltenham racecard](/racecards/cheltenham/) the day before. ## Bet responsibly
### Bet responsibly The results and figures on this page are for information, and nothing here is a tip. A big weekend at Cheltenham is easy to overdo, so set a budget before the meeting starts, keep any free bet inside it, and stop when it is spent. If gambling stops being fun, free confidential support is available from [BeGambleAware](https://www.begambleaware.org/) on 0808 8020 133. 18+.