The race has a long and rich history and the roll of honour is littered with some of the greats of the chasing game, from Golden Miller who won the race on five consecutive occasions (1932-36), Bregawn leading home a 1-2-3-4-5 for trainer Michael Dickenson in 1983, the mare Dawn Run completing the Champion Hurdle/Gold Cup double in 1986, Desert Orchid’s evocative win in the mud in 1989 and then the Best Mate hat-trick (2002-2004) and of course most recently the head to heads between stable mates Kauto Star and Denman which have taken racing off the back pages and onto the front pages.
If none of those excite you then the Cheltenham Festival has clearly passed you by.
As befits the leading steeplechase of the year it is not easily won but there are some patterns and traits that can help us in our search for the winner. First of all the ideal age range is between seven and nine, the last ten year old to be victorious was Cool Dawn back in 1998 and once these chasers slip in double figures in the age stakes the edge and pace needed tends to slip away from them.
Fortunately from a punters point of view shocks in the race of late have been few and far between and all of the last ten winners of the race have started in the first three in the betting, which contrasts greatly with the previous decade. The 90s served up no less than six 16/1 plus winners, including the shock winner Norton’s Coin who was 100/1 in the Cheltenham racing betting.
One good reason to discount a horse from being your selection is one that has yet to win in the same season
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