Cheltenham Gold Cup Predictions, Betting Tips & Odds (Cheltenham 2024 - DAY 4)
- Written by David Bet
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the most prestigious prize in steeplechasing and the feature race of the Cheltenham Festival. Run over 3 miles and 2½ furlongs on Cheltenham Racecourse’s new course, the Cheltenham Gold Cup is open to racehorses aged five and above. As we predicted, Galopin Des Champs won the 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup for trainer Willie Mullins and Jockey Paul Townend at odds of 7/5. This article contains our 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup betting preview, with picks, predictions, best odds, trends and no deposit free bets.
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CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP BETTING PREVIEW
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the highlight of the four days of the Festival, with the best chasers in the UK and Ireland taking on each other in the most anticipated race of the year. It's a Grade 1 chase covering three miles and about two and half furlongs, for horses aged five years and upwards. The Gold Cup runners have twenty-two jumps to face before a gruelling climb up the Cheltenham hill.
A strong pace usually means this becomes a war of attrition up the hill, and stamina rather than speed is the essential requirement. Defending champion Galopin Des Champs is sure to be back to defend his title and will be tough to beat.
And now we take a closer look at this year's Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup and try to determine which horse is likely to prevail in the big race.
Who will win the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2024?
The defending champion GALOPIN DES CHAMPS has suffered two defeats at the hands of Fastorslow after last year's success in the Gold Cup. Anyway, he has been faultless since then, winning the Savills Chase at Leopardstown in December and the Irish Gold Cup at the same track in February.
FASTORSLOW finished a very close second in two Cheltenham Festival handicap chases, including in last year's Ultima Chase Handicap (runner up to Corach Rambler). He has improved since then, defeating Galopin Des Champs twice - at Punchestown last April and in the John Durkan. He then finished runner up to Galopin Des Champs in the Irish Gold Cup, beaten by four lengths.
BRAVEMANSGAME ran a cracker in the 2023 Gold Cup, as he was only beaten by 7 lengths by a superb Galopin Des Champs despite jumping brilliantly and a remarkable turn of foot. This season Paul Nicholls' star has recorded consecutive runner-up finishes in the Charlie Hall, the Betfair Chase and the King George VI Chase.
GERRI COLOMBE, beaten in last year's Brown Advisory Novices' Chase by The Real Whacker, has been below par so far. He finished 23 legths behind Galopin Des Champs in the Savills Chase. Prior to that he was an unconvincing winner of the Ladbrokes Champion Chase and didn't run too badly over Christmas at Leopardstown.
GENTLESMANGAME was an impressive winner on his sole novice race at Leopardstown last year, before returning on the track in September with a runner-up finish to Easy Game in the Grade Two PWC Champion Chase. He then landed the Charlie Hall Chase, taking advantage of a final flight mistake from Bravemansgame. He hasn't been since since then and lack of experience could be a huge negative.
Dark horses?
L'HOMME PRESSE suffered a nasty injury in the 2022 King George VI Chase and returned this season at Lingfield where he beat Protektorat in the Fleur De Lys Chase. Then Charlie Deutsch's mount jumped poorly and was beaten by Pic D'Orhy by five lengths in the Ascot Chase.
HEWICK was a surprising winner of the King George VI Chase at Kempton and has clearly progressed well over fences in the last two years. He was still in with a chance of placing in last year's Gold Cup before his fall at the second-last. Shark Hanlon's stable star could be an interesting each way option in case of favourably good ground.
CORACH RAMBLER could be the dark horse here. Lucilla Russell's star had a phenomenal 2023, winning the Ultima Handicap for a second year in a row and scoring in the Grand National at Aintree. Despite that Grand National success, Derek Fox's mount is yet to prove that he is better than just a brilliant handicapper.
Willie Mullins' MONKFISH has won 8 of his 13 starts, including the Brown Advisory back in 2021. He was out of action for almost two years due to an injury but returned in action in January when he scored in the Grade 2 Galmoy Hurdle back in January.
Sam Twiston-Davies' THE REAL WHACKER won at the Brown Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last season. This term Patrick Neville's eight-year-old finished fourth in the King George, and second in the Cotswold Chase.
JUNGLE BOOGLE is a lightly raced horse despite being 10-year-old. He has recorded four wins in just five starts but Henry De Bromhead's charge was soundly beaten by El Fabiolo the only time he stepped up in class.
Welsh Grand National winner NASSALAM completes the field. He won that race at Chepstow by a whopping 34 lengths but was well beaten into 10th at the Festival last year in the Ultima behind Corach Rambler.
The section below contains the most backed entries at the moment:
All the bookmakers we recommend are offering No Runner No Bet on every Cheltenham Festival race.
CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP TRENDS
- Just 6 of last 14 winners were favourites/joint favourites
- 21 of the 23 winners were priced 9/1 or less
- 19 of the 23 winners had won or placed at the Cheltenham Festival before
- 10 of the last 13 winners have won last time out (17 of the 23 winners overall)
- 22 of the 23 winners were previous Grade 1 winners
- 14 of the last 16 winners ran 3 or less times that season
- 12 of the last 13 winners were officially rated 164 or higher
- 22 of the 23 winners were aged between 7-9
CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP PREDICTIONS
Find here our recommended bets on the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2024. Feel free to copy our Cheltenham Festival expert picks and get the highest odds available on the market by clicking the 'Bet' button! Plus, we suggest you to visit our Enhanced Odds section to claim boosted prices.
Ruby Walsh's Tips
"I’ve been with Galopin Des Champs for a long time and I like everything about him. He was very good last year and he’s the best horse in here. Fastorslow will most likely chase him home. Corach Rambler or Gerri Colombe will likely be third."
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2024 CHELTENHAM DAY 4 TIPS AND PREDICTIONS
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2024 CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP FAQs
What time is the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the 4th and feature race run on Day 4 of the Cheltenham Festival. That falls on Friday March 15, 2024 and the official starting time is 3:30pm.
How many obstacles are jumped in the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
There are 22 obstacles to jump for the Cheltenham Gold Cup runners
What is the distance of the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is run on a distance of 3 miles 2 and a half furlongs
What is the prize money for the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
The total prize money on offer for the Cheltenham Gold Cup at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival will be £625,000.
Who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup last year?
Last year's renewal was won by Galopin Des Champs at SP of 7/5, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend.
What weights are carried for the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
11st 8lb (5yo). 11st 10lb (6yo+), with a 7lb allowance for mares.
Who is the leading jockey in the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
Thanks to Al Boum Photo in 2020 and 2021, and Galopin Des Champs last yea, Paul Townend is the only current jockey to win the race more than once in recent history. Nico De Boinville went very close to record his second success - after Coneygree in 2015 - with Santini in 2020.
Who is the leading trainer in the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
No modern trainer has saddled more winners than Paul Nicholls (4). Anyway, Henry De Bromhead has saddled the first two home in two of the last three renewals while Willie Mullins won the 2019 and 2020 editions with Al Boum Photo, and last year courtesy of Galopin Des Champs. Moreover, Nicky Henderson has saddled two winners and four placed horses from just 16 runners.
