Cheltenham 2014 : Bon looks the job once more in difficult looking Gold Cup puzzle

Bobs Worth will look to become the first horse since Best Mate (2003/04) to land back-to-back Cheltenham Gold Cups, something that eluded even the great Kauto Star and his stablemate Denman. The Nicky Henderson runner will go off as favourite on Friday (15:20) as the horse is clearly a specialist at the course with five victories from five runs. The nine-year-old has made two appearances this season with a hugely disappointing sixth at Haydock followed by victory at Leopardstown at the end of December. Haydock was never likely to be a course that suited and that victory in Ireland is more relevant to the Festival. I think Henderson will have the horse at a peak this time of the year and with proven finishing power at the track and over the tough hill it has hard to see past Bobs Worth especially with question marks about all the other runners in the field.

Next in the market is Silviniaco Conti who at the time of writing was around 3/1 (GENERAL) second favourite. The Paul Nicholls runner was travelling well when falling three from home in this race last year and subsequently won the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day seeing off Cue Card and Al Ferof. This race is usually a fine marker for the Gold Cup in the Festival with six of the last 11 winners having won the Kempton race in the year previously. A trend that is against the Nicholls runner though is that ten of the last 13 winners had finished in the first two in the Festival before. In addition a third is the best performance ever produced by the horse at this track. The fall last time out was not the first time that Conti hit a fence and you have to worry about the ability to get around once more.

Last Instalment is the third favourite and is likely to go off between 5/1 and 7/1 depending on the bookmaker. The Phillip Fenton runner produced a flawless jumping performance last time out when winning the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown in February. It has hard to know what to make of that performance as it came out of nowhere. Previous to this it was a third at Thurles that marked a return to the track after two years absent. This horse could be incredibly fresh then again would you want to be siding with such fragile legs going up the famous hill at the Festival track. In addition we have no Cheltenham experience to speak of and has never travelled outside Ireland.

Captain Chris was sixth last season but a year on will be expected to feature higher in the mix. The Phillip Hobbs runner is two from two this season with victories at Kempton and Ascot. The horse clearly has Festival form having won at 2011 in the Arkle Chase though you have to worry about the stamina over this distance as it look tired running on last year.

Triolo Dalene is the second string Henderson runner and comes here on the back of three victories from last four starts including at Newbury last time out. The horse though has some poor Cheltenham form with an 11th and a pull up from two starts not inspiring confidence. The Giant Bolster was fourth in the race last year and second in the year previous. It is a horse that clearly loves Cheltenham having last time out landed the Argento here. The David Bridgwater runner probably lacks the class to win this race, but will run all day and might be worth a little interest in the place market against some runners with weaker course form.

RECOMMENDATION: Bobs Worth to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, (best price)
The Giant Bolster to place in Gold Cup, (best price)

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08/03/2014     © Frixo 2026