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Cheltenham Gold Cup Build-Up Continues
With the Cheltenham Festival just under two months away, punters around the world are investing heavily in the ante-post betting markets. During this period of the racing season attention tends to focus on a few key races for portents of who will excel at the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The Paddy Power Gold Cup run at Cheltenham in November is always an interesting preview of the talent that will be on show at the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The 2006 Paddy Power Gold Cup saw Exotic Dancer put in a fine performance to take the title, demonstrating the form that eventually carried him to second place in the 2007 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The 2007 Paddy Power Gold Cup witnessed French jumper L’Antartique take victory, indicating that this horse may just be the wildcard of the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup. With two wins at Cheltenham racecourse in 2007, L’Antartique offers a great ante-post Cheltenham Gold Cup bet at 66-1 odds.
Moving to the King George VI Chase, usually the main race punters look to for indications of form amongst the Cheltenham Gold Cup runners. As it turns out, the 2007 King George VI Chase ultimately served the purpose of confirming what most racing fans already know – that Paul Nicholl’s Kauto Star is the horse to beat at the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The gifted runner took his second consecutive King George VI Chase on boxing day, running the perfect race for Irish jockey Ruby Walsh. Kauto Star stayed in touch with the pace-setters for the first two miles of the race before gradually pulling into the lead. Cracking on the pace on the final stretch at Kempton Park, Kauto Star outstripped second placed Our Vic by 11 lengths to take the race with ease.
Exotic Dancer had something of a disappointing race, coming in third, once again proving that despite his class he is no match for what appears to be a legend in the making. Based on his second place at the King George VI Chase Our Vic looks good for a show at the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup, but will need to put in a special performance to steal Kauto Star’s thunder on Blue Riband day.
If you’re looking to see some of the of the other 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup runners on display in the near future, look no further than the Grade 2 Letheby And Christopher Chase which will be run on Saturday the 26th of January. Often referred to as the Pillar Chase this race is run at Cheltenham Racecourse, and is 1 furlong short of Gold Cup distance.
Whilst Kauto Star, Denman and Exotic Dancer will all be absent from proceedings come the weekend, the 2008 Letheby And Christopher Chase should provide a good indication of form for participating 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup runners, with bookies favouring Our Vic to take the title. 1995 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Master Oats’ win at the 1995 Pillar Chase demonstrates that you ignore the winner of this often underrated race at your peril.
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