If you’re a betfair customer, you can get odds of nearly 4/1 that Imperial Commander wins the Cheltenham Gold Cup for the second year running when the Festival takes place next month.
Fixed-odds punters can get odds of 7/2 with the likes of bet365 which is pretty much the same price as the one on the exchanges when you take into account the commission that is deducted on winning bets.
There seems no obvious reason why Imperial Commander won’t finish in front of Denman and Kauto Star just as he did last year. In fact, the logical conclusion is that Imperial Commander will finish in front of everything again this year.
The ever-popular Kauto is sure to come in for (sentimental) support on the day but he needs to be back to his best; even though his fiercely protective connections insist that time is not catching up with him, it’s hard to make a case for Kauto this time around.
Anyone who watched the King George Chase might have thought it might be the last race for the Paul Nicholls-trained horse, although connections insist that the horse had health problems that day and you can back the former champ at 8/1 with Ladbrokes.
A fresher-than-fresh Denman is respected but the memory of Imperial Commander stretching away from him last year is also fresh. The Machine is 7/1 with Paddy Power to repeat his triumph of 2008, although some will argue his price is plenty short enough.
The joker in the pack is undoubtedly Tidal Bay whose trademark final-furlong sprint past beaten horses is usually left too late to the frustration of his dwindling band of supporters. However, allowing for no more than a Groundhog-Day performance from Tidal Bay, each-way support is likely to be rewarded and this could even be regarded as a value bet.
There is a tempting 33/1 available with bet365 that the Howard Johnson-trained horse can have an ‘on’ day rather than an ‘off’ day when the Gold Cup comes around.
Long Run is the young pretender, having beaten a below-par Kauto last time out, but then so did Riverside Theatre, which makes the form appear less than rock-solid. However, it was a fine performance from the horse to win the King George Chase and many will be backing him at 13/2 (bet365) with each-way money on the basis that a top three finish is not out of the question.
Pandorama (20/1 Ladbrokes) will be an interesting proposition and Noel Meade is surely due for a change of luck at Cheltenham. Kempes (14/1 Ladbrokes) has now entered the Gold Cup picture following his recent success at Leopardstown. A few punters had pencilled in Kempes for the Ryanair but if Willie Mullins thinks he’s a Gold Cup horse, then he’s a Gold Cup horse.
