Gawler Cup 2026 – Tips, Field, Horses, Odds & $100 Betting Preview

The Gawler Cup (1500m) headlines Friday’s meeting at Gawler, with an open betting market suggesting there are plenty of winning chances in this year’s feature.

Below is our speed map, runner-by-runner preview and $100 betting strategy for the 2026 Gawler Cup.

2026 Gawler Cup Runner Preview:

1. Chicago Storm: Previous winner of the race that was a total forgive and a pass mark IMO when resuming at Murray Bridge. Will be ridden with much more intent here, he clearly appeals.

2. Sav On Ice: Surprise winner of the Balaklava Cup and then ran to usual when down the track in the Murray Bridge Cup. He goes through to the keeper.

3. Bootlegger: Far from disgraced in the Murray Bridge Cup but think he needs to improve a bit too much to be a winning threat.

4. Sir Kingsford: Led everywhere bar the final few strides in the Murray Bridge Cup in a super effort. He looks the leader and should get front end control, so he should take running down.

5. Bamyan Buddha: Racing very well at present. The gate makes things very tricky but with a positive ride, could get across and is one for exotics.

6. Age Of Kings: If he brought his absolute best. But, happy to watch.

7. Cicala: Cicala looks a 1200m horse so 1500m here is a query. She went through the Balaklava/Murray Bridge Cups, running at the mile, and ran well, but was never threatening each time. Much better suited at 1200m I find, which is the trip she has accepted for on Saturday. Hard to beat if she runs there vs here.

8. Snow Patrol: He’s going terrible and for mine isn’t troubling these.

9. Dirty Old Town: Think the rise to 1500m is a tick. Just not sure how well he’s going based on last start. Thought he was plain.

10. Isuspectjeu: First up and will need the run, so she goes through to the keeper.

11. Jilladora: Gradually building fitness but needs it a fraction easier.

12. Stirrup Cup: Thought he was sneaky good in the Murray Bridge Cup and despite needing luck from the gate, is a knockout hope.

13. Alpine Flyer: Good from near the speed at Murray Bridge. Gradually building peak fitness, maps to do no work, she’s dangerous.

14. Scandalize: Not going well enough.

15. Teardrop Rotation: Dangerous with her best but she’s not troubling these.

2026 Gawler Cup $100 Betting Strategy:

$20 Win/$80 Place Chicago Storm

2026 Gawler Cup Speed Map

Sir Kingsford loves to roll on speed and suspect he will lead them up. Chicago Storm is fitter and can settle near the front. Bootlegger is another that likes to settle handy so I suspect a genuine tempo is on the cards.

2026 Gawler Cup Field

No	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	CHICAGO STORM	David Aldridge	Jason Holder	6	60kg
2	SAV ON ICE	Garret Lynch	Ms Tala Hutchinson (a1.5/51kg)	4	58.5kg
3	BOOTLEGGER	Dan Clarken & Oopy MacGillivray	Will Price	9	57kg
4	SIR KINGSFORD	G & N Searle & B Callanan	Ms Teagan Voorham	17	57kg
5	BAMYAN BUDDHA	Grant Young	Ms Brooke King (a0/50.5kg)	18	56kg
6	AGE OF KINGS (IRE)	Michael Hickmott	Ms Kayla Crowther	10	54kg
7	CICALA	Will Clarken & Charlotte Sorby	Ms Rochelle Milnes	11	54kg
8	SNOW PATROL (NZ)	Travis Doudle	Ben Price	19	54kg
9	DIRTY OLD TOWN	Andrew Gluyas	Ms Rose Hammond (a2/50kg)	16	54kg
10	ISUSPECTJEU (NZ)	Grant Kluske	Harry Grace	15	54kg
11	JILLADORA	Justin Pickering	Ms Alysha Warren (a1.5/53kg)	13	54kg
12	STIRRUP CUP	Sarah Rutten	Ms Margaret Collett	14	54kg
13	ALPINE FLYER	Kym Healy	Ms Lauren Stojakovic	3	54kg
14	SCANDALIZE (NZ)	Chris Bieg	Connor Murtagh	1	54kg
15	TEARDROP ROTATION	Chris Bieg	Ms Felicity Atkinson (a1.5/51kg)	8	54kg
16e	STARLITE VALLEY	Kym Healy		2	54kg
17e	WILLYBEAFACTOR	George Dimitropoulos	Ms Stacey Metcalfe	12	54kg
18e	MALDINI	Stephen Theodore		5	54kg
19e	METRICAL (NZ)	Aaron Bain & Ned Taylor	Ms Taylor Johnstone	7	54kg

2026 Gawler Cup Odds