While not as prestigious as the BetVictor Gold Cup run in November, the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup is still a valuable handicap chase run on the New course at Cheltenham. It was won last year by Frodon, who later went on to land the Grade 1 Ryanair at the Cheltenham Festival. That was a second win in the race in three years for Paul Nicholls’ classy chaser but he’s not in the line-up this year.
Caspian Caviar Gold Cup Last 10 Winners
| Year | Horse, Age and Weight Carried | Jockey/Trainer | SP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Frodon 6yo 11-12 | Bryony Frost/Paul Nicholls | 7/1 |
| 2017 | Guitar Pete 7yo 10-2 | Ryan Day/Nicky Richards | 9/1 |
| 2016 | Frodon 4yo 10-10 | Sam Twiston-Davies/Paul Nicholls | 14/1 |
| 2015 | Village Vic 8yo 10-0 | Richard Johnson/Philip Hobbs | 8/1 |
| 2014 | Niceonefrankie 8yo 11-5 | Aidan Coleman/Venetia Williams | 16/1 |
| 2013 | Double Ross 7yo 10-8 | Sam Twiston-Davies/Nigel Twiston-Davies | 7/1 |
| 2012 | Unioniste 4yo 9-9 | Harry Derham/Paul Nicholls | 15/2 |
| 2011 | Quantitativeeasing 6yo 10-7 | Barry Geraghty/Nicky Henderson | 6/1 |
| 2010 | Poquelin 7yo 11-7 | Ian Popham/Paul Nicholls | 16/1 |
| 2009 | Poquelin 6yo 11-8 | R Walsh/Paul Nicholls | 7/2F |
Caspian Caviar Gold Cup History
This valuable handicap chase was first run at Cheltenham in 1963 when the race was known as the Massey Ferguson Gold Cup. It retained that title until 1980 but has had several sponsors and title changes since. Boylesports supported the race from 2006 to 2009 as the Boylesports.com Gold Cup and the 2010 renewal was run as the Vote A P Gold Cup as part of a successful campaign to encourage racegoers to vote for Tony McCoy in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. In 2011, noted racehorse owner Andy Stewart backed the race to promote his Spinal Research charity until it was taken over by its current sponsors.
Caspian Caviar Gold Cup Trends
- Since the turn of the century, no chaser aged older than eight has been successful and only three have been placed from 53 runners stretching back 14 years.
- Official ratings have also been significant lately with six winners of the last seven winners being rated between 133 and 149.
- None of the last eight winners have started at shorter odds than 6/1.
- Only one of the last 18 winners hadn’t raced within the previous 40 days.
- Paul Nicholls has trained the winner in five of the last 10 years.
Horse Racing Betting at Boylesports
I really don’t understand the ante-post support for the hard-pulling novice Not That Fuisse (10/1 with Coral). He’s not looked like winning any of his three runs over fences and hasn’t won in four previous visits to Cheltenham.
The money for Aintree winner Riders Onthe Storm (a general 4/1) is easier to justify but he didn’t have much to spare over runner-up Cepage, who is 5lb better off and is a best 7/1.
Keeper Hill (a general 16/1) did well to beat Midnight Shadow at the weights at Haydock but is error-prone and that is not a good trait for running around Cheltenham.
Lalor is possibly overpriced at 20/1 with Boylesports but he became disappointing after beating Dynamite Dollars at Cheltenham last season and this will be the first time he has raced beyond 2m1f.
Willie Mullins sends over Robin Des Foret (a general 14/1) but his age goes again one of the strongest trends for this race and he hasn’t raced since March. He’s never won outside of novice company and none of the stable’s regular riders have thought it worth their time accompanying him across the Irish Sea so a watching brief is advised.
The record of the Nicholls stable in this race is outstanding and Brelan D’As (a general 10/1) was just beaten in the BetVictor Gold Cup with Warthog (a general 14/1) eight lengths behind. The fifth Magic Saint has already franked the form but is the other Nicholls runner that is fancied this weekend.
SECRET INVESTOR found the going too soft when making his reappearance in a Grade 2 at Down Royal. That run will have blown away any cobwebs, however, and there’s every chance he’ll make further progress this season having come good in the spring. He’s having his first-ever run in a handicap and while a mark of 150 is high enough, the seven-year-old has more scope at this level than most of his rivals.
Caspian Caviar Gold Cup Current Best Odds
Riders Onthe Storm 4/1, Cepage 7/1, Secret Investor 8/1, Brelan D’As and Not That Fuisse 10/1, Good Man Pat 12/1, Clondaw Castle, Robin Des Foret and Warthog 14/1, Keeper Hill 16/1, Benatar, Generous Day, Knocknanuss and Lalor 20/1, Spiritofthegames 25/1, Imperial Presence 40/1
(Odds correct at 3.45pm December 12)
