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Cheltenham Gold Cup 2018

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  • #16
    Originally posted by Kevloaf View Post
    Bellshill pretty left-field?

    My one from left-field is American - I was at Uttoxeter the day after the Gold Cup and with soft in te going under Noel Fehily absolutely hacked up. I can see 40/1 in a few places, and if I knew it'd be soft ground I would have a bet...but I don't so I won't.
    You can get 90 on the exchanges Kev. I was trying to get some small stakes matched at 120. As you say he'll need soft ground but what price will he be after he wins the Hennessey?!

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    • #17
      Yeah . Bellshill is a bit of a long shot , but I said before he's won a good no of class 1 races and 3rd in the R.S.A ,
      And beaten Altior . , so worth a small punt at 50-1 (66-1 ladbrokes).

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      • #18
        Minella Rocco has the Gold Cup as the aim (no mention of the National). To start off in the same Punchestown race Don Cossack ran and won twice

        <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ahead of the new jumps season we caught up with <a href="https://twitter.com/JonjoONeill">@JonjoONeill</a> to speak about stable star Minella Rocco <a href="https://t.co/A0N2bP60ph">pic.twitter.com/A0N2bP60ph</a></p>&mdash; Racing Post TV (@RP_TV) <a href="https://twitter.com/RP_TV/status/904331109344964609">September 3, 2017</a></blockquote>
        <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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        • #19
          More from Noel Meade

          Disko
          He won two Grade 1s last year and we're really looking forward to seeing what he can do this season. We've very high hopes for him and, if he stays the trip, he could develop into a Cheltenham Gold Cup contender. I think he'll be twice the horse this year that he was last season.

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          • #20
            Anyone seen any news on Killataugh Vic?

            Is he going to come back?

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            • #21
              Originally posted by Hurricane fly View Post
              Anyone seen any news on Killataugh Vic?

              Is he going to come back?
              He has left Mullins yard and is away back to his original trainer C McBratney. Riddled with injuries now unfortunately he'll do well to ever see the course again. Given the trainer hes with if he gets back maybe hes one for hunter chases

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              • #22
                I'm quite sweet on Disko and, on his form with Our Duke, is well over-priced at 33/1.
                Last edited by archie; 6 September 2017, 08:12 AM.

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by archie View Post
                  I'm quite sweet on Disko and, on his form with Our Duke, is well over-priced at 33/1.
                  25s and even 20s some places?

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                  • #24
                    Originally posted by Garrison Savannah View Post
                    25s and even 20s some places?
                    All roads lead to Paddy Power.

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                    • #25
                      I don't think Disko's price is in much danger of collapsing anytime soon. He'll be brought along quite slowly you'd have thought? Agree his price is quite big BUT that might be because I think Our Duke is far too big and they have related form. I did fancy Disko for the Ryanair personally so I will keep an eye out for how he is finishing his races

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                      • #26
                        Might Bite looks a superstar , way he picked up again when idling in RSA , tells me he will stay gold cup distance , great cruising speed who gets opposition at it early.
                        Yorkhill & Douvan from the green emerald isles need to prove they stay , class both of them but leap of faith required.
                        Sizing John and OUr Duke already proven at trip and will be on premises if both get to race safe and sound comes March.
                        Two at sexy prices are Whisper , who has great Cheltenham record and he wasnt stopping against Might Stop.Looks value bet at this stage of season , looks to me he been overlooked.
                        Other one is American who looks smart , jumps like a bucking stag.Only thing stops me wading in with my wheelbarrow is i read he ground dependant. If he wins Hennessy watch his odds tumble (looks well weighted for that id imagine ,after stop start season)

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                        • #27
                          So after 3 close but failed attempts, it would seem Willie Mullins will no longer be relying on Djakadam to be the main Gold Cup this year. You feel he deserves a crack at the Ryanair to see if he can get a much deserved Cheltenham win under his belt as there is zero chance he can make it 4th time lucky now. That moves us onto his other options…

                          For me THE stand out hope for connections in the race is Yorkhill. I’ve made my views clear many times elsewhere on the forum though (particularly the ‘Any Race’ thread) so I won’t go on again. All I will say once again though is that if they’d have stopped his season after that JLT run, given him the summer off then the Gold Cup would look 100% the race for him this year. He still has plenty of questions to answer on whether he can actually win the race (like quite a few) but it would be the logical target. I think particularly with how the race could be run with the likes of Might Bite in there, it could suit him down to the ground, but for now, until we know he’s at least staying chasing there’s little point in going into that.

                          Next up is the possibility of Douvan stepping up in trip. The yard have the horse who time after time beat the current Gold Cup winner with his eyes closed and although you can’t just take Douvan vs Sizing John over 2 miles and expect the same thing to happen in the Gold Cup, they must have been watching SJ last Spring and thinking what if…despite what they may say publicly I think they’d all be very confident they can beat SJ whatever the trip such was the gulf in class over 2 miles. Connections have often raised the possibility of the horse stepping up in trip and being a Gold Cup horse. Like archie mentioned on the Champion Chase thread, I also think Douvan is destined to run in this race. In an ideal world I want to see the head to head match up between Altior and Douvan this year, then next year they try the King George and Gold Cup but from connections point of view, you have to have the mindset of why wait (especially considering the misfortune Ricci has had in the last couple of seasons with his horses) If they see it being his aim. Douvan will be 8 at next years festival so really this year would be the ideal time to step him up. It’s into the complete unknown though on how he will do over the Gold Cup trip having never run further than 17F though. I have little doubt he’ll take it in his stride though and be right up there if he does go down this route.

                          Graham Wylie has 2 others that could and at one point in their careers looked to be future Gold Cup prospects in Belshill and Black Hercules, both at 66/1. The former put some of the doubts to bed he doesn’t act at the course in the RSA last year and did beat this years Galway Plate winner Balko des Flos convincingly on chase debut but even so looks like he has a long way to make up with the head of the market. He still finished 10 lengths behind the front 2 in that RSA and that was despite Might Bite’s antics, were it not for that it would have been much further. He could very line up here as a 2nd/3rd string and run his race but i’d be very surprised if he could turn the RSA form round. Black Hercules endured a nightmare season last year not looking anything like the same horse and one where they didn’t even bother taking him to any of the Spring Festivals. A year before that he was a comfortable winner of a 3m chase at Warwick in heavy ground and followed that by showing plenty of speed in winning the JLT. Festival form and stamina proven if they can suddenly get it all to click with the horse (he was showing good signs at home but never showed it on the racecourse according to Mullins) then he could be a wildcard. It would take a leap of faith to think they can get him back on the right track before you even think he needs to then improve another level to the head of the market.

                          From a personal point of view i’d LOVE to see Yorkhill go for this race with Douvan taking on Altior. If I was Mullins though, bearing in mind he has Min and Great Field for the CC and the Gold Cup is the race he wants to win most i’d target the Gold Cup for both and see how they both get on. Douvan comes over for the King George and Yorkhill takes in either the Lexus or Irish Gold Cup in February. If both were to win their respective races he likely has the front 2 in the market and has his best ever shot of winning the race he craves. The Ryanair would then lie in wait for either of them were they to falter…(cue more slamming of the Ryanair ). Good luck telling that plan to Ruby though...

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                          • #28
                            Originally posted by The Beast View Post
                            Other one is American who looks smart , jumps like a bucking stag.Only thing stops me wading in with my wheelbarrow is i read he ground dependant. If he wins Hennessy watch his odds tumble (looks well weighted for that id imagine ,after stop start season)
                            I know they skipped the RSA chase with American for Uttoxeter on the Saturday because of the ground. It was soft at Uttoxeter and he bolted up. I'll have a keen interest in the horse all season.... one for the season rather than the festival for me...

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                            • #29
                              Great write up Jono , very interesting !.

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                              • #30
                                Thistlecrack, Douvan, and Might Bite on 26th December would be nice to see !

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