Cheltenham Gold Cup Betting – 2017 Horse Race Preview

The pinnacle for punters of horse racing this week will be the Cheltenham Gold Cup betting opportunities. The race is considered to be one of the most popular horse races in Britain. It is definitely the most popular steeplechase race. It is the most renowned of all National Hunt events and it is part of the Cheltenham Festival.

The first Cheltenham Gold Cup, as a steeplechase race was held in 1924. The first race called the Cheltenham Gold Cup was held in 1819, but it was a flat race. Timico is the current sponsor of the Gold Cup with a deal until 2019.

The race takes place at the New Court at Cheltenham. The surface is turf, the track is left handed and it is 3 miles and 2 ½ furlongs long. Horses aged 5 years or older are allowed to participate in the race. The total prize purse now exceeds half a million and the winner can expect a prize of over £300,000.

The amount that punters wager on Cheltenham Gold Cup betting is measured in millions. The race always attracts huge crowds, viewers and punters alike.

2017 Cheltenham Gold Cup Betting Preview

As you will see, in the past five years the favourite won only twice. Moreover, three of the last five winners had odds equal to or higher than 7/1. These odds would guarantee a pretty decent profit, even if you don’t wager a large amount of money. Surprises are quite common in the Cheltenham Gold Cup betting. This is why the odds for the favourite to win are usually not much higher than the odds for the horse which is rated second or third.

For this year’s race there is a pretty small margin of difference between the odds offered for the favourite and the second and third rated horse. This indicates that we will witness a tight and close race.

Cue Card

The Cue Card is this year’s favourite. The odds for this horse to win are either 3/1 or 7/2 with most bookmakers. Cue Card is an 11-year old gelding owned by Jean Bishop with plenty of races and a win rate of 45.71%. It is no surprise that the horse is considered to be the favourite for the upcoming Cheltenham Gold Cup betting.

Native River

Native River is a 7-year old gelding that has competed in 18 races so far and managed to win half of them. The best odds that you can get for this horse to win are 4/1. This means that bookies feel that the difference between Native River and Cue Card is marginal at best. The third rated Djakadam has a solid chance of winning and the odds for that are 4/1 or 9/2 at most betting sites. This means that the perceived difference in quality between Djakadam and Native River is even smaller.

The above indicates that there is a big possibility for these three horses to take the top three spots at the Gold Cup. The odds that each of the three horses will finish in the top three in the Cheltenham Gold Cup betting are close to evens.  But one shouldn’t write off the chances of the other participants, especially since there are 28 participants.

Sizing John and Outlander

Sizing John, trained by Mrs John Harrington is given odds of 8/1, 9/1 or 10/1 depending on the bookmaker. One should not write off the chances of this 7-year old gelding. The chances for the Outlander are pretty much the same. It could be said that these two horses are definitely in the category of possible winners.

Outsiders

The remaining horses are considered to have significantly lower chances. However Champagne West, Bristol De Mai, More Of That, Empire Of Dirt and Don Poli stand certain chances as do Minella Rocco and Vroum Vroum Mag. The odds for all of these 7 horses vary between 16/1 and 33/1. Some bookies give higher odds for one of them and lower for another and vice versa.

Surprises Happen Often at the Cheltenham Gold Cup

A win for any of the horses that weren’t mentioned will be nothing short of a miracle. There are horses for which odds at 100/1 or even 200/1 are offered. However, older punters may remember that the odds for the 1990’s winner Norton's Coin were set at 100/1 before the race. Mr Mulligan won at odds 20/1 in 1997. The following 1998 Cool Dawn won at odds 25/1.

One can bet that at least one of the top three rated horses will not manage to secure a top 3 spot. The odds for each of the other horses to finish in the top 3 are about 3/1 and higher. This could be a possible angle for a bet to have.

Last Five Cheltenham Gold Cup Winners

The Gold Cup in 2016 was the 88^th Cheltenham Gold Cup and it was held on March 18. That year, Don Cossack, a stud horse which was favourite to win the race at odds 9/4 won the race by 4 ½ lengths and the third horse was 10 lengths behind the second. An interesting fact is that the three horses in the first three places were trained in Ireland. Don Cossack was 9 years old at the time of the rice, trained by Gordon Elliott and ridden by Bryan Cooper.

The 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup was remarkable in many ways. The winning horse, Coneygree won by a much shorter margin of only 1 ½ lengths, but more importantly the 8-year old horse ridden by Nico de Boinville and trained by Mark Bradstock was the first rookie to win the Gold Cup since the 1974 race. The odds for Coneygree to win were 7/1, whereas the favourite finished 7^th.

Lord Windermere is the name of the horse that won in 2014. Jockey Davy Russell and trainer Jim Culloty managed to succeed against all odds, as their horse was given only 20/1 chances of winning. The favourite, Bobs Worth at 11/4 odds managed to win in 2013, but in 2012 it was Synchronised, a horse which was given odds of 8/1 that managed to win the race. The horse who finished second and managed to earn its owner over £100,000 was The Giant Bolster, at odds 50/1.

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