Cheltenham 2018 – Day 4 Preview & Tips

What a Gold Cup it could be this year. It really did lose some of it’s glitz when reigning champion Sizing John was ruled out but BoyleSports ambassador Robbie Power still has a good ride in the race with Our Duke and cases could be made for so many of the runners.

Gold Cup is staying Native
After going through the Gold Cup, I just felt that Might Bite had too many question marks, Our Duke’s jumping might well let him down, Killultagh Vic’s lack of experience is a big concern, Road To Respect vibes seem to be negative about the ground, Definitly Red is punching about his weight, Total Recall may just run too keen for a Gold Cup and Minella Rocco isn’t up to it which left Native River and Edwulf as the two to fancy.

To be honest, after coming to that conclusion I remembered that Native River is still only an eight-year-old and that was another little bonus.

This year Native River looks to have the least questions to answer. We know he has a bit of class, we know he stays well, we know Colin Tizzard’s horses underperformed at this meeting last year but Native River still finished a very respectable third.

We know that his comeback run was very, very impressive when beating Cloudy Dream by 12-lengths last month and we know he is the freshest horse in the line up. 9/2 looks a super price about him.

If Might Bite wins it may well prove that he is one of the best staying chasers in some time because he’s sure to do something far from ideal and you shouldn’t get away with that in the Gold Cup. If he shows a quirk and still wins this race he must have some engine.

The other horse worth mentioning here is Edwulf. He endured a torrid mishap in the four-miler at Cheltenham last year but that is a race getting much better in grade and had he not had oxygen issues and nearly lost his life, Edwulf may have won the four-miler and straight away he’d be a lot shorter for the Gold Cup. Connections have done some job to get him back and he shouldn’t be ruled out at 25/1.

The one thing about backing Native River is that the horse with the best chance of beating him is likely to be SP favourite Might Bite,

and if that happens you’ll get your money back as a free bet with BoyleSports if Native River is second or third and I definitely can’t see him out of the first three.

An Apple a day
A good bet at this year’s Festival looked to be the double on the full sisters, Apple’s Jade and Apple’s Shakira which is around about 5/1 with BoyleSports.

At just 3/1 I looked to try and find an alternative to Apple’s Shakira as she’s beaten little as well as the fact that mares winning the Triumph Hurdle are a rarity, but when you look at Apple’s Shakira she does tick a lot of boxes.

A three-time winner around the course is a perfect start. She’s trained by a man who has never forgotten how to train winners at this meeting and she also has the added bonus of getting a 7lbs mares allowance taking on the lads which leaves her with a perfect racing weight of 10st7lbs.

Recommended Bets:
Apple’s Shakira (3/1) – Triumph Hurdle, 1.30
Native River (9/2) – Gold Cup, 3.00
Edwulf (20/1) E/W – Gold Cup, 3.00

*Prices correct at time of publication