3:30 Cheltenham Racing Tips (18th March) TIMICO CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP CHASE (Grade 1) (CLASS 1) (5yo+)

For many, the highlight of Cheltenham comes with the Gold Cup Chase. This Grade 1 race over 3m 2f 70y is run on good going. 

Who do you fancy to win? 

Its inaugural winner, Red Splash, came in 1924, trained by Fred Withington in the silks of Major Wyndham.  

The greatest of all National Hunt horses have won this contest. Do you know the horse with the most wins? In a period of five years Golden Miller won five times (1932 - 1936). 

Other historic winners not to be forgotten include Vincent O'Brien's Cottage Rake (1948 - 50). L'Escargot, The Dilker & the incredible mare Dawn Run (1986). In this modern era, who could forget Best Mate, a three-time winner (2002 - 04), dual winner Kuato Star & Denman (2008). Last year saw Mark Bradstock's Coneygree prevail, ridden by Nico de Boinville at 7/1SP. With Coneygree out with injury, nine horses ply their trade. 

The betting suggests six horses have claims here with Gigginstown Stud fielding two runners Don Cossack & Don Poli for Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins respectively. The latter trainer has Djakadam and outsider On His Own. 

So who are we going for here? Cue Card - an Irish son of King's Theatre -  is no stranger to success and total earnings just under £1M. Fifth place or better would achieve that incredible goal. Colin Tizzard's ten-year-old is, perhaps, coming to the end of his glory days but you wouldn't doubt this gelding on his last three starts. Connections will be hoping this step up in distance and differing tactics will see a bold attempt and at each way prices is worth a small bet. 

Cheltenham Gold Cup Preview

The 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup looks wide open with five horses vying for favouritism. To complicate matters further, three of them are trained by Willie Mullins who is chasing his first victory in chasing’s blue riband event.

Djakadam spearheads Mullins Gold Cup challenge.

Mullins looks set to resist the temptation to allocate different targets for his Gold Cup runners and his challenge will be led by last year’s runner-up Djakadam.

The seven-year-old moved well into the home straight last year but could not pass the determined Coneygree, eventually failing by a length and a half. With that rival absent through injury, Djakadam was promoted to Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite after winning impressively at Punchestown in December. His 12 lengths victory over Valseur Lido looks even better in light of the runner-up’s unlucky last fence exit in the Irish Gold Cup last month.

Djakadam was expected to confirm his status as market leader in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham in January but crashed out at the tenth fence. Mullins does not feel that the setback has damaged his preparation significantly and he remains a leading contender.

Valseur Lido has been neglected in the market in recent days and has drifted out to 20-1. Mullins believes that the Gold Cup trip will suit him much better than the extended two and a half miles of the Ryanair Chase. He is as short as 5-1 for the latter and the final decision rests with the owners, Gigginstown House Stud.

Cue Card and Vautour set to renew rivalry.

The King George VI Chase on Boxing Day provided a thrilling spectacle as Cue Card battled to a head victory over Vautour. The two are set to clash again in the Gold Cup along with the beaten favourite Don Cossack who crashed out at the second last.

Cue Card has been a magnificent servant to the Colin Tizzard stable and has already won a Champion Bumper and a Ryanair Chase at the festival. He dispelled doubts about his ability to stay three miles when winning the Betfair Chase at Haydock in 2013. He won the race for a second time in November before his epic battle with Vautour.

Connections of the runner-up were thrilled with their horse who was kicked for home early in the home straight. That was his first attempt at three miles and there remain question marks about his stamina for the extra quarter of a mile at Cheltenham. He was a brilliant winner of the JLT Novices’ Chase at last year’s festival over two and a half miles.

Don Cossack appeared to be staying on when he fell at Kempton and he bounced back with a bloodless victory at Thurles in January. Gordon Elliott’s nine-year-old thrashed Cue Card at Aintree last year on good ground and connections will be hoping that the ground does not become too soft.

Bryan Cooper expected to side with Don Poli

Jockey Bryan Cooper has to choose between the four Gigginstown entries; Don Poli, Don Cossack, Road To Riches and Valseur Lido. It will be a surprise if he deserts Don Poli who has won both of his races this season. Yet another representative of the Mullins stable, he burst into the Gold Cup picture when winning the RSA Chase impressively last year.

Road To Riches also holds an entry in the Ryanair and he really wants good ground to be at his best. Noel Meade felt that the testing conditions were responsible for his defeat by Carlingford Lough in the Irish Gold Cup. The winner was almost pulled up with four to jump at Leopardstown but the leaders folded up in the home straight. His main objective is thought to be the Grand National but he could take his chance if the going is suitably testing.

Cue Card is not completely alone in attempting to keep the Gold Cup on home soil. Alan King’s Smad Place won the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in November before finishing fourth in the King George. The popular grey earned his place in the field when profiting from the fall of Djakadam in January.

Grand National winner Many Clouds is also in the line-up after his intended prep race at Kelso was abandoned. He finished sixth last year and a similar performance on Friday would set him up perfectly for another tilt at the Aintree showpiece.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is due off at 3.30 on Friday 18th March and will be screened live on Channel 4.

By Harvey Mayson

Cheltenham Festival 2016 Ante Post Racing Tips

The 2015/16 jumps season is nearing a close which can only mean one thing, the road to Cheltenham is not far away. Those who count down the days to the start of the flat season don’t have long to wait either, with the Lincoln and first of the English Classics all in sight in an exciting part of the year in horse racing.

The Festival is the biggest week of the year in jumps racing and here are some of the best bets for the 2016 meeting.

Cue Card – Cheltenham Gold Cup

The Cheltenham Gold Cup this year could be one of the best in a long time with a number of novice chasers taking their chances against the more experienced horses.

One of the runners with a wealth of experience at this level and in this division is Cue Card. Colin Tizzard’s runner won the biggest race of his career on Boxing Day when he got the better of Vautour by a head at Kempton in the King George. The victory brought up his third win of the season as he has also scored in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby among others.

The now 10-year-old has proven his stamina over the 3m trip and showed a fluent round of jumping on all three of his starts this season. Cue Card is definitely worth a bet on the Gold Cup with Paddy Power where he is 13-2 to win the race for the first time.

Annie Power – Champion Hurdle

The whole complexion of the Champion Hurdle was shaken up when Faugheen was ruled out of the opportunity to defend his crown in the race through injury. Trainer Willie Mullins has therefore had to shuffle his pack and it is thought that he will supplement Annie Power for the premier 2m hurdle contest this season rather than run her in the Mares’ Hurdle or the World Hurdle.

Barring a last hurdle blunder in 2015, Annie Power would have won the Mares’ Hurdle at the Festival by a large distance. She made up for that error by winning at the Punchestown Festival in May, while more recently she also scored in Ireland in her preparation run for Cheltenham.

This year’s Champion Hurdle looks much weaker without Faugheen in the field so Mullins clearly thinks his runner can become only the fourth mare in history to win the race where she is 2-1 to do so.

Outlander - JLT Novices Chase

Mullins has the strongest stable he has ever brought over to the UK for the Festival this year. One of the horses which isn’t quite getting as much attention as his recognised superstars is Outlander who is set to run in the JLT Novices Chase where he is 5-1 to win the race.

The eight-year-old has had a faultless campaign with three wins from three in his opening campaign over fences. His latest success was in a Grade One contest at Leopardstown where he finished ahead of Monksland and Pont Alexandre. He looks good enough to add to Mullins’ tally at the Festival this year.

Silviniaco moves a step closer to Gold Cup glory

The Paul Nicholls-trained Silviniaco Conti put up an impressive performance to get the better of last month’s Betfair Chase winner Cue Card in a tremendous renewal of the Grade 1 King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day and now looks a genuine contender for top honours in March in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Third on his seasonal return at Haydock behind the Colin Tizzard-trained Cue Card, the French bred seven-year-old had clearly come on a good deal for his first run of the term and he was the only horse able to stay with Cue Card as last term’s Ryanair Chase hero set a searching gallop in testing ground at the Sunbury track.

By the final turn, only Silviniaco Conti remained as a danger to Cue Card, former champion Long Run having failed to respond to first-time blinkers while Dynaste failed to make the grade.

Al Ferof plugged on to take third, but up front it was Silviniaco Conti under a fine ride from Noel Fehily who leaped into the lead at the penultimate fence and eventually came away to score by three-and-a-half-lengths as the gallant Cue Card finally ran out of gas.

Punters reacted quickly to the impressive victory with Silviniaco Conti being slashed to a top price of 4.9 favourite on Betfair having traded at double figures prior to his Kempton victory. Bobs Worth, the defending champion is now a 5.9 shot in the latest odds, while Ireland’s Sir Des Champs, runner-up to Bobs Worth in the blue riband contest last season, now offered at 7.4.

Cue Card (9.8) is expected by many to head for a repeat bid for the Ryanair Chase over a shorter trip and is a clear 4.7 ante-post favourite on Betfair to land the two-mile-five –furlong event once again.

Cue Card trumps them all in thrilling Betfair Chase

Colin Tizzard’s high-class Cue Card proved the ace in the pack in an outstanding renewal of the Grade 1 Betfair Chase at Haydock on November 23 and has now emerged as a genuine contender for top honours in the Cheltenham Gold Cup at the home of National Hunt racing on March 14, writes Elliot Slater.

By general consent this was the best ever renewal of the Betfair Chase, a contest that long ago established itself as a serious trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup and has been won by some of the top British steepelchasers of recent times. With last year’s winner Silviniaco Conti in the race alongside reigning champion Bobs Worth, former champion Long Run, last season’s star novice Dynaste, and others, Cue Card (9/1) was far from the punters’ main fancy in a race that simply oozed class.

Trainer Colin Tizzard instructed his son Joe to take the bull by the horns aboard Cue Card, a horse who had never previously raced over the distance of three-miles-one-furlong. Clearly believing last year’s Ryanair Chase winner would stay, the pair set off at a good gallop and one by one the big names started to crumble, Bobs Worth, the favourite being one of the first beaten.

Approaching the final fence Cue Card was under strong pressure as he was all but joined by both Silviniaco Conti and Dynaste, but showing tremendous determination and bags of class, he stayed on powerfully on the Haydock run-in to score a superb victory, leaving behind the disappointment of finishing only third at Exeter on his seasonal bow.

Slashed from a pre-race 27 to just 8.8 on betfair.com for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the spring, Cue Card may next bid for the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day where he could lock horns again with a number of his defeated rivals from the Haydock contest.

Weighty Challenge for Cue Card on Seasonal Return

Colin Tizzard’s high class chaser, Cue Card, is all set to make his seasonal return at Exeter on November 5 when he will bid to land the prestigious Grade 2 BetVictor Haldon Gold Cup Chase for the second year running.

Twelve months ago, the gelded son of King’s Theatre made a successful return to the fray in the Haldon Gold Cup when slamming the useful Edgardo Sol by no less than 26 lengths but, on that occasion, he was rated 157.

A tremendously successful 2012/13 campaign saw the son of King’s Theatre rocket up the ratings, meaning that, if he is to repeat the feat, he will have to do so off a 15lb higher mark and give away at least 17lbs to his nearest rival in this limited handicap.

After winning last year’s race, Cue Card went on to post his only disappointing effort of the term when fifth behind Long Run in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, but he bounced back in February to beat Captain Chris in the Grade 1 Betfair Ascot Chase.

Better was to come though as Tizzard’s charge stormed up the Cheltenham hill at the Festival meeting, slamming the high-class First Lieutenant in the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase, one of the biggest ever successes for his handler.

Ending the season in the Grade 1 Melling Chase at Aintree, it came as no surprise to punters gambling with Betfair when Cue Card failed to lay a glove on the mighty Sprinter Sacre but he ran a fine race to be second to Nicky Henderson’s superstar performer.

Amongst the likely opponents to Joe Tizzard’s mount at Exeter are the progressive William’s Wishes, the formerly very smart Somersby, and Tom George’s Module, fourth in the Grade 1 RSA Chase on his final outing of last season and a potential danger to a Cue Card repeat victory.