Cheltenham Gold Cup Favourites
A run down of the Cheltenham Gold Cup favourites for the 2012 race including brief history and vital statistics. A look at the Cheltenham Gold Cup winners of the past and you will see that the race is commonly won by one of the favourites with a starting price of no longer than 15/2. The 2012 is likely to be listed below, so make sure you familiarise yourself with these horses and their riders.
Horse: Long Run
Trainer: Nicky Henderson
Age: 7
Official Rating: 182
Long Run was the overlooked winner of last year's winner of the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup and is a solid favourite to take victory again this year. His form coming into the festival is impressive with a win at the Denman Chase in November.
Horse: Kauto Star
Trainer: Paul Nicholls
Age: 12
Official Rating: 179
Kauto Star's record in the Gold Cup is quite remarkable, with wins in 2007
and 2009 to his name. However the lead up to this year's Cheltenham festival has been torrid to say the least. A big fall in his last outing nearly put him out of the race completely and Nicholls has said he will only run if fully fit. Kauto's chances are fairly slim this time round, but he should never be ruled out completely.
Horse: Burton Port
Trainer: Nicky Henderson
Age: 8
Official Rating: 160
Burton Port is a worthy favourite in the year's Cheltenham Gold Cup, having run well for most of last year. A second place to Long Run at Newbury in November showed this horse does have good stamina, but will have to find those extra yards to beat the competition up that famous Cheltenham hill.
To find out why the favourites do so well in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, visit our Cheltenham Gold Cup trends page to see the qualities usually displayed by winners. There you will be able to see why certain horses always do really well in this race and are almost bred to compete in this blue riband hurdle. To get some insider information on the big race, visit our Cheltenham Gold Cup tips page.