| HISTORY | | | | a place 1, 2, 3. |
| | | | |
| The first recognised Cheltenham Festival took | | | | Other Bets Available |
| place at Prestbury Park in 1902. The | | | | |
| precursor to the Gold Cup, a four-mile | | | | Kauto Star to Win 2008 & 2009 Gold Cups |
| steeplechase, for amateur riders was run in | | | | |
| 1904. The inaugural Cheltenham Gold Cup was | | | | 6/1 with betdirect |
| run in 1924, won by Red Splash. The winning | | | | |
| prize money was £700.The last twenty-five | | | | Denman to Win 2008, 2009 & 2010 Gold Cups |
| runnings have seen eight 9-year-olds, seven | | | | |
| 8-year-olds, five 10-year-olds and five | | | | 25/1 with betdirect |
| 7-year-olds successful. Only seven of the | | | | |
| last twenty-five favourites have won: Kauto | | | | Kauto Star and Denman to finish 1st and 2nd |
| Star 2007, Best Mate 2003 / 2004, Master Oats | | | | |
| 1995, Desert Orchid 1989, Dawn Run in 1986, | | | | Priced at around 6/4 on several online |
| and Bregawn in 1983. Four Irish-trained | | | | betting sites. |
| horses have won in the same period: War of | | | | |
| Attrition 2006, Kicking King 2005, Imperial | | | | Betting without Kauto Star and Denman |
| Call 1996 and Dawn Run (the 1984 Champion | | | | |
| Hurdle winner) in 1986. | | | | Your selection to win or be third behind the |
| | | | above two. Obviously, prices will be much |
| THE CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP TODAY | | | | shorter than in the outright market. Current |
| | | | prices with Betfair (subject to 5% |
| The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National | | | | commission): |
| Hunt steeplechase run over a 3-mile, 2½ | | | | |
| furlong course with 22 fences. The 2008 | | | | 4/1 Exotic Dancer, 11/2 Kicking King, 9/1 |
| Cheltenham Gold Cup is scheduled for Friday | | | | Star de Mohaison, 15/1 Mossbank, 10/1 Snowy |
| 14th March, with prize money of £450k. | | | | Morning, 12/1 Aces Four, 20/1 BAR. |
| There are two trainers who could, | | | | |
| theoretically, equal or even better Michael | | | | Betting without Kauto Star, Denman & Exotic |
| Dickinson's feat of sending out the first | | | | Dancer |
| five, as he did in 1983. Amongst the | | | | |
| forty-two entries, both Paul Nicholls and | | | | Best Prices: 9/2 Kicking King, 11/2 Neptune |
| David Pipe have six entries each. There are | | | | Collonges, Star de Mohaison, 7/1 Knowhere, |
| some notable absentees from the entries. | | | | Snowy Morning, The Listener, 9/1 Mossbank, 10 |
| Irish trainer, Michael Hourigan has entered | | | | 1 Our Vic, 12/1 Another Promise, Halcon |
| his promising Mossbank, but not Beef Or | | | | Genelardais, Tamarinbleu, 14/1 Aces Four, 16 |
| Salmon, who has run in the last five Gold | | | | 1 Lantartique, Ollie Magern, Racing Demon, 20 |
| Cups. The 2005 winner, Kicking King, exceeded | | | | 1 Celestial Gold, Mister Top Notch, Rule |
| the measured expectations of his trainer, Tom | | | | Supreme, Turko, 25/1 Monkerhostin, 33/1 BAR. |
| Taaffe, and all but won on his recent | | | | |
| comeback run at Gowran Park, having been off | | | | Match Bets |
| the course for some 750 days. | | | | |
| | | | One horse versus another, regardless of the |
| CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP BETTING | | | | race result. The match between Kauto Star and |
| | | | Denman is likely to generate most interest. |
| N.B. Prices quoted are as at 26th January | | | | With betdirect, 4/6 Kauto Star, 6/5 Denman. |
| 2008. | | | | |
| | | | Conclusion |
| Ante-Post Betting | | | | |
| | | | In a handicap race, such as the Grand |
| The ante-post market has effectively been | | | | National, the better horses concede weight to |
| "killed" by the strength of Kauto Star and | | | | their lesser rivals, to allow them to compete |
| Denman, both from the yard of former jockey, | | | | on equal terms. The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a |
| Paul Nicholls. The current ante-post prices | | | | Grade 1 race, NOT a handicap, with all the |
| on offer are: | | | | runners carrying 11st 10lb (with the |
| | | | exception of mares, who receive a 5lb |
| 5/4 Kauto Star, 2/1 Denman, 10 Exotic Dancer, | | | | allowance). This means that, theoretically, |
| 16 Kicking King, 25/1 Mossbank, Star De | | | | the best horse should win. As a result, the |
| Mohaison, 33 Aces Four, In Compliance, Snowy | | | | prices of the fancied runners tend to be |
| Morning, The Listener, 50 Celestial Gold, | | | | shorter than in handicaps. However, there are |
| Halcon Genelardais, Madison Du Berlais, | | | | a number of online markets available that |
| Neptune Collonges, Our Vic, Racing Demon, | | | | exclude the market leaders, so it should be |
| Tamarinbleu, Turko, 66 L'Antartique, Ollie | | | | possible to have an interest in the race, |
| Magern, Rule Supreme, State Of Play, Turpin | | | | without investing vast sums. |
| Green, 100 BAR. Each-way one-quarter the odds | | | | |