As the days tick by, the 2022 Cheltenham Festival draws ever closer. Once again, the cream of British and Irish racing will converge on the famous Cheltenham racecourse to battle it out in some of the biggest races on the calendar, with punters scrambling for tips on the horse betting sites UK.
The most prestigious race of all is undoubtedly the Gold Cup. Run over a distance of three miles, two furlongs and 70 yards, there is a rich history associated with the day four feature race, and it’s every jockey and trainer’s dream to land a winner in this race of all races.
Each year, there are always one or two horses who seem to get the most attention, either due to their form earlier in the season, or the fact that they might have won the Gold Cup in previous years. 2021 champion Minella Indo, and second-place A Plus Tard, are certainly dominating the headlines this time as Cheltenham draws near.
Both entries come from the stable of Henry de Bromhead, who enjoyed a sensational Festival last year. Having won the Champion Hurdle with the supremely talented Honeysuckle, he then landed a one-two in the Gold Cup, although perhaps not in the order he would’ve expected. A Plus Tard was the more favoured of the two according to the bookies, and that’s why the in-form Rachael Blackmore was on board. However, it was young Jack Kennedy on Minella Indo who stole the show.
This year, the two horses are set to go hoof-to-hoof once again, and many are viewing the race as a straight shootout between them, especially considering A Plus Tard’s tremendous form recently. However, to focus only on De Bromhead’s two contenders is to do a disservice to the other talented horses who will line up on March 18th for the Cheltenham showpiece.
One of these is Galvin, who burst onto the scene with some impressive wins throughout 2020 and 2021. Trained by Gordon Elliott, the eight-year-old is approaching his prime and is a strong contender for the Gold Cup, especially after pipping A Plus Tard to win the Savills Chase at the recent Leopardstown Christmas Festival.
Al Boum Photo can’t be ruled out either. The Willie Mullins-trained ten-year-old won the Gold Cup on two successive occasions in 2019 and 2020, and although he was forced to settle for third last year, this is a horse who has been there and done it at the highest level, and knows what it takes to win the Gold Cup.
Then there is the wildcard of Tornado Flyer, who came from nowhere to win the King George VI Chase for Mullins on Boxing Day despite lengthy odds of 28/1. That victory saw his odds to win the Gold Cup slashed dramatically, and after pulling off such a tremendous win at Kempton, you wouldn’t be surprised to see him excel at Cheltenham too.
So often in horse racing, we see our predictions go up in smoke, and one wonders whether all the hype surrounding Minella Indo and A Plus Tard will take the pressure off another contender with sights set on upsetting the apple cart.
