The Cheltenham Festival is on the horizon and with it comes another fascinating renewal of the prestigious Gold Cup. At last year’s meeting at Prestbury Park, most expected the Festival’s showpiece to be a two-horse race between two-time defending champion Al Boum Photo and Henry de Bromhead’s A Plus Tard, mostly due to the form of the Irish trainer and jockey Rachael Blackmore, only for Minella Indo, a 9/1 outsider, to swoop in and steal the headlines.
Talk is already focused on De Bromhead’s pair reigniting their rivalry again at Cheltenham this year, with A Plus Tard the ante-post favourite in the Gold Cup betting markets. Comparing both horses’ form so far this season, A Plus Tard, who won the Grade One Betfair Chase by a commanding 22 lengths at Haydock on his seasonal reappearance in November, should be no match for the struggling Minella Indo with those looking for a bet on Cheltenham 2022.
However, after a busy festive period of racing, it appears that the favourite’s main rival will, in fact, be Gordon Elliott’s Galvin and not his stablemate. The eight-year-old stunned A Plus Tard at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival, beating him over the line by a shorthead to win the Grade One Savills Chase from 7/1. That victory over three miles in Ireland has resulted in Galvin moving into second favourite, with his odds slashed to as short as 4/1 with some bookies.
The Elliott-trained horse isn’t the only one to have made waves over Christmas though, as Willie Mullins’ Tornado Flyer caused an almighty upset in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day — winning the historic race by some nine lengths clear of the more fancied Clan Des Obeauxi, a previous King George winner, from a massive 28/1.
He instantly entered the Gold Cup ante-post market at around 12/1, but has since drifted out to around 14s as the hype and talk of that mammoth victory quickly begins to fade and his true ability comes back into the question. After all, that was Tornado Flyer’s first triumph in nine outings, a streak that dated all the way back to December 2019.
Still, he is not far behind his stablemate and Mullins’ other potential entry, Al Boum Photo (10/1). The 10-year-old was well beaten by De Bromhead’s duo on his hat-trick attempt last year, ultimately finishing over five lengths behind Minella Indo, and many claimed his time at the top was over after being beaten by Clan Des Obeaux in the Punchestown Gold Cup the following month.
However, it was ‘mission accomplished’, according to Mullins, when Al Boum Photo won his seasonal reappearance in the New Year’s Day Chase at Tramore — his fourth successive victory in the Grade 3 race at the seaside track in Ireland. He led home only three, including his stablemate Burrows Saint, but it was back to winning ways and exactly what the Irish trainer and Paul Townend would have wanted.
It looks set to be another renewal of the Gold Cup dominated by Irish horses, with Protektorat, trained by Dan Skelton, Britain’s best shout at 10/1. He came up just short in the Grade 3 Cup at the November Cheltenham meeting, but bounced back with an impressive 25-length victory in the Grade 2 Many Clouds Chase at Aintree in December. It’s likely still going to be too big of an ask for the seven-year-old to win the Cheltenham highlight at this stage of the five-year-old’s career.
Disclaimer:
- As per the Public Gambling Act of 1867, all Indian states, except Goa, Daman and Sikkim, prohibit gambling
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- Land-based casinos, Online gambling and E-gaming (games of chance) are legalized in Sikkim under the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules 2009
- Only some Indian states have legalized online/regular lotteries as per and subject to the conditions laid down by state laws. Kindly refer to the same here
- Horse racing and betting on horse racing, including online betting, is permitted only in a licensed premise in select states. Kindly refer to the 1996 Judgement by the Supreme Court Of India here and for more information
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