Cheltenham Gold Cup 2013 - Friday, 15th March
Morning Line and RTE Racing Presenter Tom Lee offers his tips and opinions for Cheltenham and other top racing events. Read Toms Tips
The final day of the Cheltenham Festival continues the theme of the week and that is great racing action, the big race of the day is of course the Gold Cup itself but there is also plenty more great races to enjoy. The first race of the day is the excellent JCB Triumph Hurdle which is a race for those younger horses who may go into the Champion Hurdle picture in the future as the likes of Katchit and Zaynar have showed in recent years. In general we have had some reasonably short priced winners of this race; indeed we have not had a double price winner since Made In Japan in 2004.
The second race on Day 4 at the Festival is the County Handicap Hurdle and it is usually minefield for punters, in 2009 we had a 50/1 winner in Silver Jaro while last season we saw Thousand Stars score at a price of 20/1. It is a tough handicap but can offer huge rewards to the shrewd punters so it is well worth having a close look at on Friday. The Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle is the ideal race for the juvenile hurdlers who are looking for that extra trip of three miles, many of these will move into chasing in future years as proven by recent winners Weapons Amnesty and Black Jack Ketchum.
Next up is the big race of the entire week as well as the day with the 2012 Cheltenham Gold Cup taking centre stage, it is the blue ribbon event in racing as the 3 mile chasers go head-to-head. This year we will see all the big names in the field as Long Run aims to defend the crown he won last year, but he will face his old foe in Kauto Star who is not ready to retire just yet. This year could be even more exciting though the likes of Grands Crus and What A Friend entering the picture and ready to take on their older rivals.
The Hunter Chasers then have their big moment in the Foxhunter Chase which is their Gold Cup, it is a race steeped in history and rightfully holds its place in the Festival after the big race. The Conditional jockeys race is the next one on the card as the young jockeys get their chance to show their talent on the big stage, the betting can be tough on these races but nevertheless there can be some nice types involved as the last two years has shown. The final race of the entire Cheltenham Festival is the exciting Grand Annual as both punters and bookmakers fight it out one last time, the quality fot he field is not great but it is always a competitive race that connections are eager to win.
The Gold Cup takes place on the final day of the 2013 Cheltenham Festival and is the feature race on Friday.
Even with a superb racecard for each of the four days, each has its own feature race. The first of these is the Champion Hurdle odds which is usually the fourth race on the Tuesday.
Following quickly after Cheltenham, comes the most popular race of the season. Aintree plays host to the forty Grand National Runners in what is always an exciting race.
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