Long Run Odds at the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2012

Kauto Star mishaps lands Long Run favourite title

Horse Racing Betting

Long Run Odds at the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2012 have been effected by the news that his main challenger, Kauto Star has  picked up an injury and is 50/50 to make the Festival showcase race at Prestbury Park on Friday, March 16th. The battle of Long Run and Kauto Star was set up for the big race, it was the big story and now we wait with bated breath to see whether or not Kauto Star trainer Paul Nicholls thinks the two times Gold Cup winner will be fit to go in the Festival’s feature race. So with the uncertainty floating around about Kauto Star, it has left Long Run the outright clear favourite in ante post Cheltenham Gold Cup betting and that means his price has been reeled in shorter at the head of the field. Kauto Star was the only horse to beat Long Run last year and with the breath of new life that Kauto Star seemed to be enjoying, it will be a cruel blow for racing fans, for the Cheltenham Gold Cup and punters if he fails to turn up to have a shot at his third  Gold Cup title. So anyway, it all leaves Long Run in the huge ascendancy now in your horse racing betting for this year’s renewal of the prestigious race.

In last year’s field, Long Run was the young pretender, the maverick in the field against the massive combined experience of Imperial Commander, Denman and Kauto Star. Long Run lived up to his huge potential and stormed Prestbury Park, grabbing the headlines by a massive seven lengths over Denman. With Kauto Star looking as if he may have come to the end of his illustrious career, towards the end of last year, Long Run found a renewed challenge from the legend. Kauto Star turned up and beat Long Run in the BetFair Chase and then again in the King George VI Chase at the back end of last year. That left a dip in Long Run’s form and suddenly Kauto Star looked a strong shot to have a genuine chance at yet another Gold Cup. But Long Run’s Trainer Nicky Henderson has insisted that Long Run, the seven year old for this year’s race, is in good enough form, and he made his first outing of 2012 with a win over Gold Cup challenger Burton Port at Newbury. The win  for Long Run there was only by half a length, but there was a sense that Long Run, usually feisty and edgy, was holding something back. Long Run has improved his stamina, but has it come at a cost of a top gear? Even in victory over Burton Port, the bookies immediately lengthened Long Run Odds at the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2012, because it wasn’t an explosive result, and Long Run and Kauto Star were trading equally as 5/2 favourites for this year’s Gold Cup afterwards. That was until the Kauto Star schooling injury news.

If Long Run had been holding out, that would be understandable with the Gold Cup right around the corner, but more importantly, he had enough in the tank, with enough to spare, to still beat one of his other main contenders at Cheltenham this year. If Kauto Star doesn’t make it, then as it stands, third favourite Burton Port, also trained by Nicky Henderson will get his chance to express his potential as the main threat to Long Run. But at the end of the day, Long Run Odds at the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2012 is indicative of his chances. He is firm favourite for a reason, because he can be destructive to any field on his day. There should be a better run than what he produced at Newbury and there probably will be. Therefore with the Ante Post Long Run Odds at the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2012, trainer Nicky Henderson could well be eyeing up another major triumph, one way or the other.

Best Long Run Odds at the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2012
6/4 at  Paddy Power

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