Cheltenham: Day Four
Friday 19th March 2010 is Kauto Star v Denman day and spread bettors will have to tie their colours to one of these masts over the next few days. The ground looks like it is going to be no worse than good to soft on the final day and there's every chance it will be good. Most racing spread betting fans would see that as a positive for Kauto and a negative for Denman, so it will be interesting to see how the match bet between the big two develops during the Festival. Whatever happens, Paul Nicholls is long odds on to train the winner and become the first trainer to win four straight Gold Cups since Basil Briscoe in 1935.
There was a time in the mid 1990's when a number of outsiders were successful in this race, but SP spread sellers have done better in recent years as it has tended to go to those at the head of the market. Five of the last seven jollies have won and the biggest priced winner this Millennium was War Of Attrition at 15/2 in 2006. Seven-year-olds have won the most Gold Cups in the past decade and of course Kauto was seven when he first came up the hill. Followers of the Clive Smith-owned superstar on the spreads will be hoping he can become only the second 10-year-old to win the race in the past 16 renewals.
The Gold Cup has seen some epic performances over the years and racing spread bettors will undoubtedly be interested in the winning distance markets. There have been some close finishers over the past 10 years, none more so than when Best Mate won his third Gold Cup by an ever diminishing 1/2 length. However, spread buyers would be happy with the last two results with Denman winning by 7 lengths in 2008 and Kauto powering clear by 13 last year.
The Triumph Hurdle will whet the appetite for the big one and although this year doesn't look particularly strong, it is a competitive field for spread bettors to get involved in. The last three winners have been in the first few in the market, but there have only been two winning favourites in the past nine years which doesn't augur brilliantly for SP spread sellers. Spectroscope and Made In Japan both won at 20/1 in 2003 and 2004 and Detroit City is the only jolly to win since 2002.
All of the last 10 winners were either first or second in their prep run so spread bettors should only really concentrate on those horses going into the Festival in form. In 2008, Katchit became the first Triumph winner to go on to win the following year's Champion Hurdle since Kribensis in 1988 and Celestial Halo only failed by a neck 12 months ago. Spread bettors will hope they see an equally talented horse this year and those playing the winning distance markets will have to have a strong opinion as this race has produced a variety of finishes over the past decade.
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