Time to sign off with Greg Wood’s Gold Cup report. Willie Mullins made history this week with his 100th Festival win; he’ll be back for more next year where Galopin Des Champs is expected to go for the hat-trick. Thanks for joining me, it’s been fun.
As for the leading trainer, it’s no surprise at all to see Willie Mullins top the charts for a sixth straight year. His nine Festival wins matched the collective victories for all British trainers. Dan Skelton’s four wins with brother Harry on board were all that home fans really had to shout about.
Trainer standings:
Nine wins Willie Mullins
Four wins Dan Skelton
Three wins Gordon Elliott
Two wins Gavin Cromwell, Henry De Bromhead and Paul Nicholls
One win Kim Bailey, Emmet Mullins, Fiona Needham, Paul Nicholls, Joseph O’Brien, Ben Pauling and Jeremy Scott
Paul Townend is the Festival’s top jockey for a third straight year, with his six wins an improvement on the five he managed in both 2022 and 2023.
Jockey standings:
Six wins Paul Townend (six wins)
Four wins Harry Skelton
Two wins Rachael Blackmore, Derek O’Connor and Mark Walsh
One win David Bass, Harry Cobden, John Dawson, Sam Ewing, Danny Gilligan, Ben Jones, Jack Kennedy, Patrick Mullins, JJ Slevin and Lorcan Williams.
Cheltenham is over for another year but despite a big turnout today, changes are needed to keep racegoers invested, writes Barry Glendenning.
Ireland win the Prestbury Cup 19-9: A closing victory for Elliott, his third of the week, means Irish trainers finish on 19 runs to Britain’s nine – improving on the 18-10 margin we saw in 2022 and 2023.
Better Days Ahead wins the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle
Danny Gilligan brings Gordon Elliott’s 16-1 shot home in front of Waterford Whispers, who just ran out of steam on the final climb. Quai De Bourbon is third, with Answer to Kayf’s late surge completing an all-Irish top four.
Updated
Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle: Seven horses in contention as we approach the last, with Better Days Ahead and Quai De Bourbon among them …
Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle: The leaders up the pace, stretching out the field. Waterford Whispers still leads from Ocastle Des Mottes with No Ordinary Joe and Russian Ruler improving. Mel Monroe has fallen back and is now pulled up …
Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle: The favourite, Waterford Whispers, takes up the lead. All to race for, although Shared is detached at the back.
Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle: Ocastle Des Mottes is the early leader among the 21-strong field, with Mel Monroe just behind …
They’re off in the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle, the final race of the Festival – and the sun has come out! Better late than never.
One more race? Go on then …
Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle odds
Waterford Whispers 3/1
Quai De Bourbon 9/2
Better Days Ahead 13/2
Ocastle Des Mottes 17/2
Answer To Kayf 10/1
Whats Up Darling 12/1
No Ordinary Joe 14/1
Sonigino 18/1
Mel Monroe 20/1
Yeats Star 20/
Bingoo 33/1
Sequestered 33/1
Jay Jay Reilly 33/1
Angels Breath 50/1
Jason The Militant 66/1
Russian Ruler 80/1
Shared 80/1
Hollow Games 80/1
Magic Tricks 100/1
Stuzzikini 110/1
Fiveonefive 125/1
Odds via Oddschecker
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Betterdaysahead 10/1 into 6/1
Ocastle Des Mottes 9/1 into 6/1
Sequestered 40/1 into 22/1
Updated
Cheltenham 4.50 result
1 Limerick Lace (K M Donoghue) 3-1
2 Dinoblue (M P Walsh) 15-8 Fav
3 Marsh Wren (C Gethings) 28-1
Also: 5-2 Allegorie De Vassy 4th
Nine ran. Non Runners: 4, 5
Limerick Lace wins the Mares' Chase!
It’s a mighty slog uphill to the line for Limerick Lace, holding off another JP McManus chance in Dinoblue. Marsh Wren holds on for a hard-earned third place.
Updated
Mares’ Chase: Up the hill and Limerick Lace takes charge with Dinoblue closing and Allegorie De Vassy still in contention …
Mares’ Chase: A couple of lengths’ gap for the front three with Dinoblue improving behind as Pink Legend loses ground at the back. Marsh Wren now leads from Limerick Lace …
Mares’ Chase: Instit the early leader ahead of Marsh Wren and Kestrel Valley, with Limerick Lace fourth on the inside …
They’re off in the Mares’ Chase! It’s all rather gloomy at Cheltenham now with the rain falling. Might need my binoculars for this one.
Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase odds
Dinoblue 15/8
Limerick Lace 5/2
Allegorie De Vassy 7/2
Riviere Detel 8/1
Marsh Wren 33/1
Instit 35/1
Pink Legend 40/1
Harmonya Maker 50/1
Kestrel Valley 100/1
Odds via Oddschecker
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Allegorie De Vassy 5/1 into 3/1
Pink Legend 80/1 into 28/1
Updated
5.30 Martin Pipe Hurdle
And so to the now-traditional conclusion to the Festival, and a race that, like the Albert Bartlett earlier on the card, has been won by some very useful chasers of the future in its short existence, including none other than Galopin Des Champs just three seasons ago. It is, as you would hope and expect of a getting-out race at the end of the biggest betting Festival of the racing year, a hyper-competitive event, and Irish-trained contenders are very much to the fore in the betting.
Waterford Whispers (Henry de Bromhead), Quai De Bourbon (Willie Mullins) and Better Days Ahead (Gordon Elliott) head the market, but the Brits have won two of the last four and in the hope of paying for this Festival (and several more to come), I’ll take a stab at James Moffatt’s Bingoo at around 33-1. He needs to be forgiven a lacklustre showing last time but that was over two miles and this return to two-and-a-half will definitely suit. He also has the assistance of the very excellent Patrick Wadge in the saddle – he’s a real star of the future. Selection: Bingoo.
What a run from Sine Nomine, trained by Fiona Needham, who is clerk of the course up at Catterick racecourse.
Sine Nomine runs down Its On The Line to win the St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters' Chase
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 15, 2024
They'll be dancing up at @CatterickRaces #ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/eCUmlQx2j5
Cheltenham 4.10 result
1 Sine Nomine (Mr John Dawson) 8-1
2 Its On The Line (Mr Derek O’Connor) 11-8 Fav
3 Time Leader (Mr Toby McCain-Mitchell) 50-1
12 ran. Also: 66-1 D’jango 4th
Updated
Sine Nomine wins the Hunters' Chase!
A spectacular final run from John Dawson gets the 12-1 shot by half a length from Its On The Line, with 50-1 shot Time Leader third. Delight for the bookies and the Brits, who end the Irish dominance of day four..
Updated
Hunters’ Chase: Two from home, Ferns Lock runs out of steam and Time Leader takes up the reins with Its On The Line and a charging Sine Nomine giving chase …
Hunters’ Chase: From The Heart is pulled up, as is Ramillies after falling away dramatically. Ferns Lock leads from Time Leader, with Its On The Line being ridden along on the outside. The grey Sine Nomine and last year’s winner, Premier Magic, are both improving …
Updated
Hunters’ Chase: They’re moving at a decent pace, Time Leader now edging into contention alongside Ramillies and Its On The Line, who is pushed along by Derek O’Connor. Ferns Lock and Shantou Flyer still in front …
Hunters’ Chase: Its On The Line is tucked in behind Shantou Flyer and leader Ferns Lock, who has jumped edgily so far. From The Heart and Quintin’s Man are drifting at the back …
Updated
Away they go! Ferns Lock again pulls away from the pack, but Barry O’Neill steers him back just in time, and then sets about making the early running. A couple of notable veterans behind him in the shape of Samcro and Shantou Flyer …
Time for the Hunters’ Chase. The trackside bookies are hoping that warm favourite here falls short after Gallopin Des Champs’ Gold Cup success. Its On The Line could be another Mullins winner – but this time for Willie’s nephew, Emmet. The second-favourite, Ferns Lock, is struggling to settle as they approach the line.
4.50 Mares Chase
There’s an interesting move in the betting for the Festival’s penultimate race, as Gavin Cromwell’s Limerick Lace has replaced Dinoblue, Willie Mullins’s main hope, at the top of the betting. Both horses run in the green and gold of JP McManus, and Mark Walsh, the owner’s main rider, is aboard Dinoblue, who had Wednesday’s surprise Champion Chase winner, Captain Guinness, six lengths adrift when second to her stable companion, El Fabiolo, at Leopardstown last month.
This is her third trip to the Festival and this race is less competitive than the Grand Annual, in which she finished an excellent second on her handicap debut 12 months ago. Limerick Lace has not been out since taking a Listed race at Doncaster in late December, and while she came 10 lengths clear, the bare form still gives her a good bit to find with Dinoblue. Mullins’s runner has to be the pick at the current prices, although the money for her main rival is a little unnerving. Selection: Dinoblue.
Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase odds
Its On The Line 11/8
Ferns Lock 10/3
Billaway 7/1
Premier Magic 8/1
Sine Nomine 8/1
Samcro 25/1
Quintins Man 28/1
Time Leader 40/1
Shantou Flyer 40/1
Django 80/1
Ramillies 100/1
From The Heart 200/1
Odds via Oddschecker
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Billaway – 12/1 into 13/2
Updated
Willie Mullins is up to nine Festival winners this week – more than all the British trainers combined (eight). How will he celebrate? By heading to Uttoxeter tomorrow for the Midlands Grand National.
There are still three more races to come today – while we wait, have a crack at our sports quiz of the week.
Willie Mullins: “He’s put himself in the superstar category, to do what he did, the way he did it. Paul was so positive on him, I think we have to come back and go for a third win next year. The loose horse was his only concern, he hit one fence early, after that he travelled easily.”
Mullins wins his fourth Gold Cup, and Galopin Des Champs joins Al Boum Photo in winning back-to-back trophies for the trainer. Oddschecker reports that Galopin Des Champs is already as short as 5-2 to make it a hat-trick at the 2025 Festival.
Updated
The winning moment for Galopin Des Champs:
🏆🏆 𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 15, 2024
Back-to-back Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cups for Galopin Des Champs! #ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/A81A4vr0hr
Cheltenham Gold Cup result
1 Galopin Des Champs (P Townend) 10-11 Fav
2 Gerri Colombe (J W Kennedy) 13-2
3 Corach Rambler (D R Fox) 14-1
11 ran. Also: 16-1 L’Homme Presse 4th
Non Runner: 7
Updated
Our photographer Tom Jenkins has spent the week at Cheltenham. Here are his highlights from the 2024 Festival.
The winning jockey, Paul Townend, talks to ITV. “We rode him completely different to last year, and he was just so brave for me. I wasn’t sure we had enough at the last, but it’s the Gold Cup, you just have to. What makes him special? His heart. We had to go to reserves there that only the real special ones have.”
Galopin Des Champs wins the Cheltenham Gold Cup!
The favourite and 2023 winner has far too much in the closing stages, with the loose horse of Fastorslow his main obstacle down the straight. Gerri Colombe must settle for second, while Corach Rambler takes third after a thrilling late burst and L’Homme Presse is fourth.
Updated
Approaching the last, a leading trio of Gallopin Des Champs, Gerri Colombe and L’Homme Presse has emerged – with Corach Rambler coming back into contention from nowhere …
Gold Cup: five fences to go Past the halfway mark and the pace stays fairly even – but Fastorslow unseats its rider! Bravemansgame joins the leading group on the outside, while Monkfish and Corach Rambler are losing touch …
Gold Cup: 10 fences to go It’s still L’Homme Presse and The Real Whacker out in front, pursued by Gallopin Des Champs. Gerri Colombe and Fastorslow are both well-placed, with Jungle Boogie also racing keenly in midfield …
Gold Cup: 15 fences to go A very steady early pace as they negotiate a water jump and two open ditches. Corach Rambler struggling a little at the back alongside Monkfish, but a long, long way to go.
They’re off in the Gold Cup! The field fans out over the first pair of fences, with outsider The Real Whacker leading the way from L’Homme Presse and Galopin Des Champs …
The runners and riders are out on the track, with Paul Townend giving the favourite a good look at the first fence. There’s a hush descending over the grandstands. Away we go …
Here’s how Galopin Des Champs won last year’s race:
Ten minutes until race time, and Willie Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs is now edging into odds-on to win a second straight Gold Cup. There’s also late money going on Gerri Colombe (13-2) with Fastorslow at 9-1 and L’Homme Presse at 16-1.
3.30 Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup
Galopin Des Champs Evs
Gerri Colombe 13/2
Fastorslow 8/1
L’Homme Presse 14/1
Bravemansgame 18/1
Corach Rambler 18/1
Nassalam 20/1
Monkfish 20/1
Jungle Boogie 28/1
Gentlemansgame 28/1
The Real Whacker 50/1
Odds via Oddschecker
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Gerri Colombe 10/1 into 13/2
Updated
Next, it’s the week’s biggest race of all – the Gold Cup. Here is Greg Wood’s preview:
As noted in the opening post earlier on, Galopin Des Champs’ attempt to repeat his win last year very much sets this up as a betting heat, as the coin-toss even-money favourite is the only place to start. Willie Mullins saddled a dual winner as recently as 2020, when Al Boum Photo followed up his success 12 months earlier, but overall, this has always been a devilishly difficult race to win twice.
Al Boum Photo was the first to repeat since the great Best Mate – who, of course, went on to win a third Gold Cup too – back in 2003. Plenty of previous winners have tried and failed in that time, and Galopin Des Champs has been a little in-and-out over the last months too, so for me, he’s worth opposing, not least as there is a lot about L’Homme Presse’s form over the last two years to suggest that it has all been leading towards a huge run this afternoon.
Venetia Williams has brought him along with typical patience and skill, the handful of relatively minor dips in performance are easily explained, and he has been crying out for this step up to three-and-a-quarter miles. At around 12-1, he will definitely be carrying a little of my cash but this is a Gold Cup that any of them could win and there are a million-and-one ways it could all unfold.
This is how close Harry Redknapp came to a second winner at this year’s Festival, before losing in stoppage time.
Talk about leaving it late 😲
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 15, 2024
Stellar Story denies The Jukebox Man to win the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle#ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/hHY99G0dzn
Cheltenham 2.50 result
1 Stellar Story (Sam Ewing) 33-1
2 The Jukebox Man (Kielan Woods) 18-1
3 Dancing City (D E Mullins) 8-1
Also: 2-1F Readin Tommy Wrong, 40-1 Spread Boss Ted 4th
13 ran. Non Runners: 1, 12
“He’s a horse that jumps very well, he loved that ground today,” says jockey Sam Ewing, who claims his first ever Festival win. “Earlier this week, I couldn’t wait to go home!” he adds. “It’s unbelievable, brilliant for everybody.”
Stellar Story is a 33-1 winner, the longest odds of the week, and another on the board for Gordon Elliott and Gigginstown. The big pre-race favourite, Readin Tommy Wrong, fell away spectacularly and was eventually pulled up.
Updated
Stellar Story wins the Albert Bartlett Hurdle!
Readin Tommy Wrong has fallen away, and nobody is able to match the pace of The Jukebox Man, who gets over the last with Stellar Story still in hot pursuit. He’s led this race for three miles … but he won’t win it! Stellar Story finds a second wind down the home straight, and takes it by a nose.
Updated
Albert Bartlett Hurdle: Captain Teague and Readin Tommy Wrong are keeping pace with the leading group, alongside Search for Glory. Ahead of them, The Jukebox Man leads Stellar Story, Johnnywho and Dancing City …
Albert Bartlett Hurdle: The field are tightly bunched with five hurdles to go, The Jukebox Man and Stellar Story still leading the pack …
Albert Bartlett Hurdle: And it’s The Jukebox Man who sets the early pace, with Stellar Story and Dancing City in second and third, just in front of Johnnywho. It’s a sedate start on sticky ground.
Off they go in the Albert Bartlett! Harry Redknapp is back and looking for another winner with The Jukebox Man, after Shakem Up’Arry delivered for the former football manager yesterday.
We’re just forty minutes away from the Gold Cup – but first, the Albert Bartlett. Can a British trainer get on the board and break Mullins’ winning streak so far today? We’ll find out.
4.10 Festival Open Hunters’ Chase
Two 66-1 winners in the last four years alone suggest that this is a race to treat with extreme caution, although the market leaders this time around do look quite solid, and are closely matched on form. Its On The Line, who was part of JP McManus’s pre-Festival spending spree, is the likely favourite and has beaten Ferns Lock and Billaway, who won this race two years ago, already this season.
He also finished second behind the shock winner Premier Magic, who is back for another crack for his trainer/jockey Bradley Gibbs, and significantly shorter in the betting this year at around 8-1. If forced to have a bet, I’d probaby opt for Ferns Lock, who travelled like the best horse in the race before being edged out late on by Its On The Line at Down Royal in December. Selection: Ferns Lock
That victory continues an intriguing career arc for France’s Absurde, who won the Ebor with Frankie Dettori on board last year and also ran well in the last Melbourne Cup. Here’s a lovely picture of his groom, Emilie Seigle, celebrating his winning moment.
2.50 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) odds
Readin Tommy Wrong 5/2
Gidleigh Park 5/1
Captain Teague 8/1
Dancing City 10/1
Johnnywho 12/1
High Class Hero 12/1
Lecky Watson 14/1
Chigorin 16/1
Search For Glory 16/1
The Jukebox Man 18/1
Stellar Story 28/1
Spread Boss Ted 50/1
Butcher Hollow 80/1
Dripsey Moon 150/1
Odds via Oddschecker
Market Movers from Oddspedia:
Captain Teague 10/1 into 8/1
High Class Hero 14/1 into 10/1
Updated
Greg Wood's Gold Cup preview
3.30 Cheltenham Gold Cup
As noted in the opening post earlier on, Galopin Des Champs’ attempt to repeat his win last year very much sets this up as a betting heat, as the coin-toss even-money favourite is the only place to start. Willie Mullins saddled a dual winner as recently as 2020, when Al Boum Photo followed up his success 12 months earlier, but overall, this has always been a devilishly difficult race to win twice.
Al Boum Photo was the first to repeat since the great Best Mate – who, of course, went on to win a third Gold Cup too – back in 2003. Plenty of previous winners have tried and failed in that time, and Galopin Des Champs has been a little in-and-out over the last months too, so for me, he’s worth opposing, not least as there is a lot about L’Homme Presse’s form over the last two years to suggest that it has all been leading towards a huge run this afternoon.
Venetia Williams has brought him along with typical patience and skill, the handful of relatively minor dips in performance are easily explained, and he has been crying out for this step up to three-and-a-quarter miles. At around 12-1, he will definitely be carrying a little of my cash but this is a Gold Cup that any of them could win and there are a million-and-one ways it could all unfold.
Selection: L’Homme Presse
Absurde is owned by an Irish family syndicate, but only one member, Andrew Heffernan, is actually here today. He looks absolutely shell-shocked, and explains that his grandmother, Margaret, bought the horse for all of her grandchildren. They all just beat Sir Alex Ferguson at the Cheltenham Festival!
A 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙 ride from @PTownend
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 15, 2024
Absurde picks his way through to win the BetMGM County Handicap Hurdle#ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/Qlio3OEr0b
“A lot of satisfaction in that one, to tell you the truth,” says Paul Townend. “I thought he had the pace, but the ground was a big worry. I was able to go out and take a chance, and it paid off.”
Townend’s win over Harry Skelton also gives him an edge in the jockey’s standings, while Mullins’ eighth win of the Festival surely wraps up the winning trainer contest.
Cheltenham 2.10 result
1 Absurde (P Townend) 12-1
2 L’Eau Du Sud (Harry Skelton) 7-2 Fav
3 Pied Piper (D J Gilligan) 14-1
4 Magical Zoe (Adrian Heskin) 8-1
17 ran. Non-runners: 4, 5, 11, 12, 17, 23
Absurde wins the County Handicap!
L’Eau Du Sud looked to have it in the bag over the last, but Absurde produced, well, an absurd late charge to take a dramatic win. Behind them, Pied Piper pips Magical Zoe in a tight race for third.
Updated
County Handicap Hurdle: Approaching the last, L’Eau Du Sud overtakes long-time leader Afadil, while behind him Paul Townend and Absurde has found a big late burst …
Updated
County Handicap Hurdle: L’Eau Du Sud and Magical Zoe move upfield as Pied Pier is pushed on. Absurde and Bialystok have drifted towards the back but the pack are still tightly bunched.
They’re off in the County Handicap Hurdle! A pair of outsiders make the early running in Afadil and Media Naranja. The green-and-gold JP McManus pair of Zenta and Petit Tonnerre are well-placed in behind, alongside Mr Freedom.
Time for the day’s second race, the County Handicap Hurdle. Eight of the last nine renewals have been won by either Dan Skelton (four) or Willie Mullins (four). Skelton’s L’Eau Du Sud – another contender part-owned by Alex Ferguson – goes off as favourite.
Updated
Mark Walsh’s win in today’s opening race was his second of the week, moving him alongside Rachael Blackmore and Derek O’Connor in the jockey standings. Paul Townend and Harry Skelton both have four wins each.
Updated
2.50 Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle
The last and the longest of the Festival’s novice hurdles, and also a relatively recent addition to the schedule, having been among the new events when the meeting moved to four days in 2005. In just 20 years, though, it has already proved itself to be a fine guide to the top chasers of the future, with two subsequent Gold Cup winners – Bobs Worth and Minella Indo – on its roll of honour, and the latest renewal, on paper at least, looks well up to scratch. Readin Tommy Wrong has been a likely favourite for this ever since his win in a Grade One at Naas in January, when he was the outsider of four Willie Mullins runners in the betting but got up to beat Ile Atlantique – who ran well to finish third in Wednesday’s opener – and looks certain to appreciate this step up in trip.
Paul Nicholls snapped a run of four consecutive Irish-trained winners with Stay Away Fay last year and Captain Teague, a Grade One winner at Newbury over Christmas, will have plenty of supporters, and he has course form too, having been the best horse at the weights when second in a Grade Two at the November meeting here. Harry Fry is also a past winner of this, with Unowhatimeanharry in 2016, and his unbeaten Gidleigh Park is another live contender, though the favourite looks pretty solid to me.
Selection: Readin Tommy Wrong
2.10 BetMGM County Handicap Hurdle odds
L’Eau Du Sud 7/2
So Scottish 5/1
King Of Kingsfield 6/1
Faivoir 17/2
Zenta 10/1
Magical Zoe 11/1
Risk Belle 12/1
Absurde 16/1
Bialystok 16/1
Pied Piper 18/1
Petit Tonnerre 18/1
Hansard 25/1
Mr Freedom 25/1
Encanto Bruno 40/1
Westport Cove 40/1
Afadil 40/1
Aucunrisque 50/1
Gin Coco 50/1
Samui 50/1
By Your Side 66/1
Parramount 66/1
Media Naranja 110/1
Odds via Oddschecker
Market Mover from Oddspedia:
Zenta 14/1 into 9/1
Here’s that relentless run to the line from Majborough. Big horse, big future?
The big horse leads them home 💪
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 15, 2024
Majborough wins the JCB Triumph Hurdle for @WillieMullinsNH #ITVRacing | #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/LmSEJi2hO1
Updated
Cheltenham 1.30 result
1 Majborough (M P Walsh) 6-1
2 Kargese (D E Mullins) 4-1
3 Salver (G Sheehan) 10-1
12 ran Also: 7-2 Fav Storm Heart, 6-1 Nurburgring 4th
Non Runners: 8,11
“I expected him to be favourite, he was my pick for this race,” says Willie Mullins, who moves on to 101 Cheltenham victories. He adds that jockey Mark Walsh planned to make the running, but the pace kept him in midfield, but that Majborough “jumped beautifully”. Could he be a Gold Cup contender one day? “Maybe a few years down the line, but he’ll go novice chasing first.”
Majborough wins the JCB Triumph Hurdle!
It’s a two-horse race between Kargese and Majborough, who gets the better of the long slog uphill to win comfortably in an all-Mullins battle. Salver comes home in third after a determined effort.
Updated
JCB Triumph Hurdle: Salver and Ithica’s Arrow open a five-length gap as Fratas drops back – but the Mullins trio of Kargese, Majborough and Storm Heart are all in the hunt approaching the last …
JCB Triumph Hurdle: The Mullins runners are largely grouped together in midfield, although Highwind is at the back alongside Nurburgring. Storm Heart beginning to move through the field now alongside Majborough, in behind the leading trio …
And they’re off! Salver, Fratas and Ithica’s Arrow the early leaders …
Time for the opening race – the JCB Triumph Hurdle, which is a Grade One, two-mile and a furlong affair.
Will today bring drama to match the 2013 Mascot Gold Cup at Wetherby? Impossible, surely. Oh, Snappy! What might have been …
Updated
1.30 JCB Triumph Hurdle (Grade One) odds
The top four in the betting for today’s opener are all trained by Willie Mullins. He had a blank day on Thursday, but don’t expect a repeat of that this afternoon.
Storm Heart 7/2
Kargese 5/1
Bunting 6/1
Majborough 13/2
Nurburgring 7/1
Salver 8/1
Salvator Mundi 12/1
Mighty Bandit 20/1
Ethical Diamond 28/1
Highwind 40/1
Fratas 40/1
Peking Opera 100/1
Ithacas Arrow 150/1
Odds via Oddschecker
Market Mover from Oddspedia:
Salver 16/1 into 8/1
Updated
A couple of later non-runners to mark on your cards: Hansard in the County Handicap (2.10) and Carole’s Pass in the Mares’ Chase (4.50).
There’s just half an hour to go until our first race of the day, the Triumph Hurdle. Get tips for all seven Friday races from Greg Wood:
Updated
2.10 County Handicap Hurdle
A typically deep and competitive field for the County, but the punters have latched on to a relative handful of the runners over the last couple of days. King Of Kingsfield, the favourite, is the obvious place to start, as it is hard to recall a runner in a Festival handicap whose form has been so thoroughly franked earlier at the meeting. Gordon Elliott’s novice was a fairly close third in a Grade One at Leopardstown last month – 14 lengths behind the winner, Ballyburn, who ran away with Wednesday’s opener, and seven lengths behind the runner-up, Slade Steel, who was a comfortable winner of Tuesday’s Supreme.
He races off a mark of 140 here, which puts him towards the top of the weights with some hardened and classy handicappers in opposition, but could well take another big step forward on what will be only his sixth start over hurdles. L’Eau Du Sud, the runner-up in the Betfair Hurdle last time, has also caught the eye of backers, as Dan Skelton, his trainer, has already also showcased his remarkable talent for saddling handicap hurdle winners at this meeting when Langer Dan took Wednesday’s Coral Cup for the second year running. Skelton also runs Favoir, who will bid to repeat the same trick having won this race 12 months ago off a 2lb lower mark.
For me, the most intriguing option is Emmet Mullins’s So Scottish, who ran well over fences in the Plate Handicap here last year and is able to run off a significantly lower hurdles mark today. He showed plenty of speed when finishing fourth in a Listed two-mile handicap at the Dublin Racing Festival and Mullins, like Skelton, knows how to get his horses handicapped to win. Unfortunately, since I picked him out yesterday, So Scottish has also caught the eye of Tom Segal, one of the Racing Post’s most respected tipsters, and from an early price of 14-1, he is now vying for favouritism at 6-1. I’ll take it as a positive sign that Tom agrees with me. Tom, on the other hand, may see it the other way round.
Selection: So Scottish
Updated
Catch up on Thursday’s Festival action here:
1.30 Triumph Hurdle
The profile of this race has changed completely since the introduction of the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle in 2005, with the 28-runner fields that were a familiar sight at the turn of the century replaced by an average muster of 15 over the last decade. It has changed fairly significantly over the last seven days too, with Sir Gino, the certain favourite, now out due to the malaise that is currently affecting the Nicky Henderson yard.
That leaves an open-looking contest, albeit one in which Willie Mullins holds all the aces and most of the picture cards too, including the first four horses home in last month’s Spring Juvenile Hurdle, Ireland’s main trial for this race. Kargese, Storm Heart, Majborough and Bunting were separated by a grand total of two-and-a-quarter lengths at Leopardstown and it promises to be a close-run thing again today, with Storm Heart, who looked likely to appreciate this stronger test of stamina, perhaps the value bet at the likely odds.
Selection: Storm Heart
The Gold Cup is one of the biggest horse races in the world – but when it was first run, it wasn’t even the main event at Cheltenham. Greg Wood takes a look back at 100 years of history:
Good morning, everyone. Here’s the Friday schedule and the latest odds from Oddschecker.
1.30 JCB Triumph Hurdle – odds
2.10 BetMGM County Handicap Hurdle – odds
2.50 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle – odds
3.30 Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase – odds
4.10 St. James Place Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase – odds
4.50 Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase – odds
5.30 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle – odds
Preamble
Good morning from Cheltenham, where the first full house of the week (we think) is pouring into the track – and absolutely legging it, in some cases, to bagsy seats in the bar – ahead of the final day of the Festival meeting, and to mark the 100th birthday of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Declining crowds at the Festival have been a theme of the week, and yesterday’s figure was 12 per cent down on last year, which was, in turn, well down on the year before. But there is a definite buzz around the area today, and a sense that there are just a lot more people here already, so it will be a real cause for concern if the attendance figure falls below the official “cap” of 68,500.
It probably helps that the feature race of the week has a bit of something for everyone, including an even-money favourite in Galopin Des Champs, the defending champion, who demands to be either backed or opposed. Willie Mullins’s chaser has looked magnificent at times since his victory here last year, not least when he ran away with a race at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting, but there has been a sub-par performance or two along the way as well, and Fastorslow, the second-favourite, is 2-1 up in their three meetings so far.
Hewick, the King George winner, has sadly been ruled out, but it is actually possible to make some kind of case for every runner in the field. Two of the biggest outsiders – Monkfish and The Real Whacker – are former winners of the Brown Advisory Novice Chase here over three miles, while two more – Gentlemansgame and Jungle Boogie – are so lightly-raced over fences that they really could be anything, and represent trainers with a fine Gold Cup pedigree.
Among the shorter-priced alternatives to the favourite, Gerri Colombe was touched off in the Brown Advisory last year, while Bravemansgame is a former King George winner and L’Homme Presse – the third former Brown Advisory winner in the field – has looked tailor-made for this race since his Festival success two years ago, when he powered through the line as if he wanted to go around again.
It is a fascinating puzzle and a suitably competitive race for the Gold Cup’s big anniversary, on a card that also includes two more Grade One events for novice hurdlers – the Triumph Hurdle and the Albert Bartlett. And as ever, if you can’t (or would prefer not to) be there, you can follow all the action as the Festival builds to a crescendo here on the Guardian’s live blog.
