The Cheltenham Gold Cup seems to attract more speculation regarding which horse will win it than any other race. Perhaps this is because of the importance of the race. It is the most important jump race on the National Hunt calendar and the most prestigious. As a result it attracts many of the very top horses.
The defending Champion is Imperial Commander and this season he has been going great guns. He has been performing very well. He won the Betfair Chase with relative ease and he won at Haydock against a strong field. The result of these wins was a shortening of his Gold Cup odds but he has also had a small set back. He injured his leg and although the wound is healing well, he is unlikely to run again before the Gold Cup so he might find that he has not got the staying power this year for such an arduous race.
Naturally many punters favour Kauto Star, and who can blame them. He has been going reasonably well this season and he got off to a flying start at Down Royal; he won the JNwine Champion Chase comfortably victory which started people favouring him for the Gold Cup. Unfortunately, it has not all been good. In the King George VI Chase at Kempton he lost out to Long Run who won the race with ease and generally looked the superior horse. Long Run is trained by Nicky Henderson and seems to be in tip top form to take the Gold Cup. It is certainly worth keeping an eye on his price. It could be that this year he will be the new champion.
Naturally we must still consider Denman’s chances Naturally many Cheltenham betting punters favour Kauto Star. He has already won the cup on two occasions, in 2008 and 2009, losing out to Kuato star in 2009. In 2010 he came second to Imperial Commander, and although many of his fans were disappointed, second is only one place of victory. However he has not been in great form this season. In the Hennessy Gold Cup he carried the top weight and started very well, however he ran out of steam in the closing stages and lost out to Diamond Harry.
Diamond Harry, trained by Nick Williams, is another horse worth watching and could easily spring a surprise.