Cheltenham Races

The 2017 Cheltenham Gold Cup, sponsored by Timico, featured 13 runners, headed by 3/1 favourite, Djakadam, who had previously finished runner-up behind Don Cossack in 2016 and Coneygree in 2015. Indeed, having travelled well for most of the way, Djakadam looked as if he might break Willie Mullins’ Gold Cup “hoodoo”, but made a mistake […]

The 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup, sponsored by Timico, featured just nine runners, but was nonetheless a dramatic contest, in which the market leaders came to the fore. The race was won by then 9-year-old Don Cossack, owned by Gigginstown House Stud, trained by Gordon Elliot in Co. Meath and ridden by Bryan Cooper. In fact, […]

The 2019/20 National Hunt season is well underway and several exciting contenders have already emerged for the biggest prizes at the Cheltenham Festival in March. The Gold Cup, the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the Champion Hurdle and the Stayers’ Hurdle are all up for grabs at the most important and prestigious meeting of the year. […]

The 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup, sponsored by Betfred, featured 16 runners and had the distinction of being the first to be won by a novice since Captain Christy in 1974. The novice in question, on this occasion, was Coneygree, an 8-year-old gelding bred by the late John Oaksey and trained by his son-in-law Mark Bradstock […]

The 2014 Cheltenham Gold Cup, sponsored by Betfred, featured 13 runners and was a dramatic race with an historic, if controversial, finish. After two false starts, five horses, headed by 11/4 second favourite Silviniaco Conti, still held a chance jumping the final fence. However, on the run to the line, Silviniaco Conti veered right towards […]

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is, of course, a ‘conditions’ race, in which entire horses and geldings carry the same weight, regardless of their previous form. Consequently, while it would be unfair the ‘Blue Riband’ contest ‘uncompetitive’ on occasions – it is, after all, the most valuable steeplechase of its kind run in Britain – only […]