After much anticipation the 2012 Cheltenham Festival is finally upon us and serves up a feast of tasty races such as the Arkle Chase and the Champion Hurdle. And bringing the festival to a close on Friday is the Gold Cup, a true highlight to the jump season.
With close to 90 years of Gold Cup history you can be assured of a line up of the best Jockeys, Horses and Trainers this year, all hoping to get their names in the record books alongside of the greats of yesterday. Like the Irish duo of racehorse Cottage Rake and trainer Vincent O’Brien who claimed their first of three consecutive victories in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. It was perhaps this string of victories more than any other factor that led to the Cheltenham Festival developing into the unofficial national hunt championships contested by the English and Irish racing fraternities.
However it is the recent history that you will want to know if you are someone who enjoys a bet on this prestigious event. Of particular interest is the news that Kauto Star will be running after he was all but ruled out after a nasty fall during training in February.
Long Run is currently the favourite over Kauto Star but not by much. Burton Port is also up there at 7/1 with Weird Al looking worth a punt at 10/1 after an impressive win in the Charlie Hall Chase last October.
