2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup Betting Tips
Galopin Des Champs is now trading as the short-priced favourite to win the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup and it’s hard to crab his form this season. The horse won the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown in the Dublin Racing Festival, with the Willie Mullins-trained charge claiming an eight-length victory although it was against a modest field.
Previously to this, the horse won the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase as the 2/9 favourite although sterner examinations are sure to come and we should note that the horse fell in the Turners Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham last year. Perhaps we will see reigning champions A Plus Tard come to the boil and the horse has previously been brilliant in the Gold Cup.
There was so much to like about the horse’s victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup twelve months ago when landing a twelve-length win as the 3/1 favourite, even if this season hasn’t gone at all to plan. The horse was sent off as the 1/2 market leader in the Betfair Chase before being pulled up at Haydock in November and there’s clearly a question mark coming into the Festival.
Bravemansgame has the look of a good Cheltenham each-way bet and the Paul Nicholls-trained runner is operating at an attractive price to secure a victory here. The eight-year-old obliged with back to back wins this season, with the latest of these coming in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase where the runner obliged by an amazing fourteen lengths. Perhaps there is more to come.
Perhaps we should start with Minella Indo who was the 2021 Gold Cup winner and the Henry de Bromhead will therefore be bidding to record a double when it comes to the 2022 Cheltenham Festival top race. Jockey Rachael Blackmore is likely to give the horse a tremendous spin although there’s a question mark over a runner who has failed to win this season.
Since winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup on 19 March 2021, the horse finished third in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal. This took place on 30 October, with Frodon and Galvin proving too strong. The runner was then pulled up in the King George VI Chase before finishing second behind Conflated in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup.
A Plus Tard is the Cheltenham Gold Cup betting favourite and this is another Henry de Bromhead-trained charge. Having finished just over a length behind Minella Indo in the 2021 Gold Cup, we clearly have to respect the chances of a runner who was the brilliant winner of the 2021 Betfair Chase.
The argument is that, while that twenty-two length win was mightily impressive, there is still the fact that the race took place at Haydock Park. This is a much flatter track than Cheltenham, with A Plus Tard then being sent off as the odds-on favourite in the Savils Chase at Leopardstown over the festive period.
Galvin was able to land the spoils on that occasion and our Cheltenham Gold Cup betting tip is the Gordon Elliott-trained runner who hasn’t put a foot wrong this season. Davy Russell is likely to be on board a horse who has demonstrated that he can put in a splendid round of jumping, while the horse won the National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices' Chase at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival.
Al Boum Photo will bid to land a third Cheltenham Gold Cup win, with the ten-year-old having finished five-and-a-half lengths behind Minella Indo in the previous renewal and some might argue that age isn’t on his side. Not a lot was gleaned from a facile win in the Savills New Year's Day Chase and much depends on how Mullins is able to prepare the former champ.
Can Al Boum Photo Land a Hat-Trick in the Gold Cup?
Al Boum Photo was sent off at odds of 12/1 to win the 2019 Cheltenham Gold Cup, although the Willie Mullins-trained charge demonstrated all his class to land a victory ahead of Anibale Fly, with the horse putting in a smart round of jumping at Prestbury Park on good to soft ground.
The horse then returned to win the 2020 Gold Cup at the Cheltenham meeting, with Al Boum Photo sent off as the 10/3 favourite on that occasion and it’s currently possible to land odds bigger than this when it comes to the horse securing a hat-trick.
It’s clearly difficult to train a horse to win three Gold Cups, although Best Mate was able to manage it in living memory, with the runner being lightly raced in the build-up to the 2021 Gold Cup and the horse hasn’t been seen at a track since narrowly beating Santini last March.
Who Are the Other Main Gold Cup Contenders?
Santini was extremely close to being a Gold Cup winner twelve months previously and Nicky Henderson has the eight-year-old prepared for another assault on this race, having recently run a solid enough race when finishing fifth in the King George VI Chase behind Frodon and Clan Des Obeaux among others.
However, we know that Santini can battle hard over this Cheltenham track and Henderson will fancy that Al Boum Photo can be toppled this time around, while the same trainer has Champ potentially lining up for this race too.
Champ produced a blinding performance in the RSA Chase on 11 March when coming from a long way back up the straight to beat Minella Indo, with Barry Geraghty potentially on board to try and produce the goods once again although it will be interesting to see how he is after a long break.
Can Minella Indo Win First Gold Cup?
Minella Indo looked for all the world a winner when leading up the Cheltenham Hill in the RSA Chase, with the horse having previously scored victories at Wexford and Navan, Henry de Bromhead then seeing his horse fall in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown.
De Bromhead will hope that his runner doesn’t suffer any ill-effects from that fall and another interesting runner could be Frodon who is currently trading at 14/1, with punters knowing that the horse enjoys the Cheltenham track.
After nearly four days of fantastic horse racing at the Cheltenham Festival, it all comes down to the highlight feature race of the meeting, with the Gold Cup the biggest race of the week and it attracts a huge amount of media attention and betting interest.
This is a prestigious encounter which is run over three miles, two-and-a-half furlongs, with Al Boum Photo looking to win the race for the second time after a brilliant success in 2019 which saw the eight-year-old fend off the challenge of Anibale Fly and score for each-way backers at 12/1.
Willie Mullins is as good as it gets when it comes to training at the Cheltenham Festival, with Paul Townend likely to retain the ride and it was a flawless round of jumping at Tramore on New Year’s Day where Al Boum Photo obliged as the 4/7 favourite.
However, the horse was unable to win on the previous encounter when finishing second to Kemboy and perhaps the latter is the big danger when it comes to the 2020 renewal, with the seven-year-old also trained by Mullins who could have a stranglehold on the race this time around.
Kemboy claimed the spoils in the Betway Bowl Chase at the Aintree meeting before that success in the Coral Punchestown Gold Cup, with the horse having unseated his rider in the previous Gold Cup at Cheltenham although it could be a different story this time around.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a real test of stamina and one can’t help but feel as though Clan Des Obeaux could run an impressive race, with Paul Nicholls having produced an excellent training performance when winning the King George Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.
The eight-year-old could have started to reach his peak this season and he finished a credible fifth place in last year’s Gold Cup, with the horse then finishing second to Kemboy at Aintree.
There were only five horses who entered the King George, although Clan Des Obeaux was sent off at odds of 11/2 and yet won by a distance of 21 lengths ahead of Cyrname who was priced as the 5/4 favourite.
The fact that the King George was run on soft ground is quite a telling factor and Nicholls will surely want the heavens to open in order for Clan Des Obeaux to have the best possible chance of winning.
Lostintranslation was also in that race at Kempton on Boxing Day and it was disappointing for connections to see that the horse was pulled up after previously looking impressive in previous races.
Having won at Carlisle, there was a victory in the Betfair Chase when beating Bristol De Mai and trainer Colin Tizzard will hope that the horse comes out of the King George disappointment in a great place to win.
Delta Work is another horse trading at single figures, with the runner triumphing over the Christmas period, with the six-year-old having fended off Monalee by a head at Leopardstown and obliging at 11/2.
Presenting Percy was sent off as the 100/30 favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup last season before finishing in a disappointing eighth place, with the horse having failed to rediscover the sort of form that saw the horse win the RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase twelve months previously.
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