Cheltenham Races

The 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup, sponsored by Totesport, was a vintage renewal of the “Blue Riband” event, with three previous winners – Kauto Star, Denman and defending champion Imperial Commander – among the 13 runners. However, it was Long Run, winner of the rearranged King George VI Chase at Kempton in January, who started favourite at […]

The 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup, sponsored by Totesport, featured ten runners and produced a dramatic finish, with odds-on favourite Kauto Star taking a crashing fall at the fourth last fence. Trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Ruby Walsh, Kauto Star had won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2007 and 2009 and started 8/11 in […]

The 2009 Cheltenham Gold Cup, sponsored by Totesport, featured 16 runners, but was billed as a rematch between stable companions Denman and Kauto, who had finished first and second in the race in 2008. On that occasion, Denman had fared better of the pair, staying on well in the closing stages to win by 7 lengths. […]

The 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup, sponsored by Totesport, featured twelve runners, three of which were trained by Paul Nicholls, and a lopsided market, in which bookmakers offered 16/1 bar the first three in the betting at the off. The race was billed, quite rightly, as a match between the defending champion, Kauto Star, and stable […]

In the previous post we were waxing lyrical about the bevy of female talent at the Cheltenham Festival, with praise being heaped on the 2018 performances (a record breaking four wins for female jockeys) and hopes for 2019. Could Rachael Blackmore,  Lizzie Kelly  and co show that they can more than mix it with the men? Well, for […]

In the past decade at the Cheltenham Festival, while the Irish Independent Leading Trainer Award has been presented to just four men, the Holland Cooper Leading Jockey Award has been presented to just three, Ruby Walsh, Barry Geraghty and, most recently, Davy Russell. Thanks in large part to long, fruitful associations with Paul Nicholls and Willie […]