Looking beyond Silviniaco Conti at the Cheltenham Gold Cup
One of the biggest events of the horse racing season, the Cheltenham Festival is nearly upon us. And with it is plenty of excitement over the showpiece race of thse event, the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The blue ribbon race of the jump season is the most valuable non-handicap chase in the UK and former winners include legends of the sport such as Arkle, Golden Miller and Kauto Star.
The speculation over which horse will etch its name into Cheltenham folklore this time round has begun in earnest. The Gold Cup odds at Cheltenham Festival will tell you that the current favourite is Silviniaco Conti. This season, the impressive gelding has recorded repeat victories in the King George VI Chase and the Betfair Chase. Trainer Paul Nicholls has good reason to hope that Silviniaco will land the big prize at Cheltenham as well.
However, there will be plenty of competition. Last year’s winner Lord Windemere will hope for a repeat performance and it is certainly not an impossibility. But, with less than a month until the Gold Cup day, there are plenty of other names on the pundits’ lips.
Just a few days ago, Holywell showed that he may recapture some of last season’s outstanding form to become a genuine contender, by romping home to victory at the Ivan Straker Memorial Chase at Kelso. It certainly helped that Tony McCoy was back in the saddle and as a result of Holywell’s win, most bookies have shaved their odds on him for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Indeed, legendary jockey McCoy seems to fancy Holywell’s chances, describing him as “definitely a horse who will have a good chance in the Gold Cup.”
Another name to watch out for though is Coneygree, the second top British chaser in the Cheltenham Gold Cup after Silviniaco Conti. It hasn’t been confirmed whether the 8-year-old will run in the big race, but there is plenty of excitement about the prospect. Should he run and win, Coneygree would become the first novice to triumph in the race since 1974. He recently won his first non-novice race by an impressive seven lengths at Newbury’s Denman Chase. That followed an incredible 40-length win on Boxing Day at the Grade One Feltham Novice Chase at Kempton.
One way or the other, there are plenty of horses to look out for at the Cheltenham Gold Cup beyond Silviniaco Conti
Image By Carine06 (Flickr: Silviniaco Conti) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
