Assessing the Early Favourites For the Cheltenham Gold Cup

Assessing the Early Favourites For the Cheltenham Gold Cup

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is one of the most hotly anticipated events in the National Hunt racing calendar. It offers the biggest prize pool for any non-handicap race and presents a true challenge of speed, stamina, and jumping ability to all who race in it. This year the competition looks as stiff as ever, but some favourites are already emerging in the betting. This is our take on which of those horses deserve their short prices and which might be better avoided.

Galopin des Champs

First in the betting is Galopin des Champs, who is already priced as short as 11/8. Excluding an unlucky fall at Cheltenham, the seven-year-old has won all of his last eight appearances. Most recently, he impressed in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown, where he made short work of the competition, leaving them eight lengths behind by the finish post.

Up until this victory, detractors may have questioned if he had the stamina for the Gold Cup. Although he hasn’t run over the full distance yet, he’s now won twice over three miles, so any stamina concerns ought to have been put to bed.

As far as we’re concerned, Galopin des Champs deserves every inch of his favourite status. However, if you’re considering a bet on Galopin des Champs, then using one of the many Cheltenham free bets on offer could be a good idea. His odds are likely to get shorter in the lead-up to the race, so a free bet can provide better value.

Noble Yeats

Noble Yeats is the second favourite in the betting, and there are plenty of things to like about this gelding. At eight years old, he’s still relatively lightly raced, having competed in just 12 chases over the course of his career so far.

His 2022 Randox Grand National win – which was enthusiastically commentated by Ruby Walsh – proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s got more than enough stamina to win the Gold Cup. He also won a good race last year in the Many Clouds Chase over a distance of 3 miles and 1 furlong.

However, his last outing at Cheltenham saw him beaten in the Cotswold Chase by Ahoy Senor. Anybody thinking about placing a win-only bet should bear this in mind, as the Cotswold course is almost exactly the same as the Gold Cup course. Additionally, Ahoy Senor was beaten by fellow Gold Cup contender Bravemansgame on several occasions, suggesting the price for Noble Yeats may be a little short in comparison.

A Plus Tard

A Plus Tard is next in the betting, which is hardly surprising as he won the Gold Cup last year by an incredible 15 lengths. He also placed second the year before that, so it’s clear that he performs well on the course and can comfortably stay the distance.

If he’s back to form, he’ll be hard to beat this year. However, he has had some setbacks recently that shouldn’t be ignored. He was pulled up in his last outing at Haydock in the Betfair Chase when his jockey Rachael Blackmore noted that he wasn’t travelling correctly. After this, he was scheduled for another race but suffered a knock on the journey to the course and was pulled from the entries before the start.

It’s never encouraging to see a horse suffer multiple setbacks without a race in between, but trainer Henry de Bromhead is renowned for not racing his horses if he suspects they might suffer an injury. Assuming A Plus Tard is back in top form, then he will certainly be in the mix.

We hope you enjoyed the article “Assessing the Early Favourites For the Cheltenham Gold Cup.” What are your predictions for this years Gold Cup? Let us know!

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