Cheltenham 2014 : Gold Cup Betting

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 and is at the time of writing a 13/8 shot with bet365. 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. It is the penultimate run that would concern me if I was looking to get involved on the market leader at such short prices.

Next in the market is Silviniaco Conti at 3/1 (GENERAL who 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. That being said wo knows where the horse would have finished if had not fallen when going well and in addition a course third here in 2010 behind Menoarah suggest the track will not be a problem.

Last Instalment is the 7/1 third favourite and 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.

Triolo Dalene (10/1) 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 poor Cheltenham form with an 11th and a pull up from two starts and as such is not for me. Another 10/1 chance is the Mouse Morris runner First Lieutenant. The horse was second behind by Cue Card here last year in the Ryanair and since then has been solid if unspectacular. Recent defeats to both Bobs Worth and Last Instalment mean that the nine-year-old has a lot of making up to do to come out on top here.

Willie Mullins is represented by On His Own (16/1) who comes here on the back of two straight victories though on three previous Cheltenham runs the horse has shown no liking for the course and this not one I could be siding with.

The Giant Bolster (16/1) 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.

VERDICT: Silviniaco Conti was going well when falling last year and I think with a clear round this time the King George winner should be able to see off Bobs Worth to land the Gold Cup. Course specialist The Giant Bolster represents good each-way value with question marks over a number of the others.

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

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13/03/2014     © Frixo 2026