Bookies took an absolute bashing on day three of the Festival thanks again to Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh but with a good helping hand from Thistlecrack who franked his position as the best staying hurdler around this season and the 1/1 being offered about him was probably as generous as you are going to get at the Cheltenham Festival.
Buying Money
There’s no obvious winner that will be just buying money on the final day of the Festival and it certainly looks to be the hardest day of the week and the Gold Cup is probably one of the most difficult to call in some years.
Cases can be made for so many and there’s no way you could confidently rule out any of the first five in the market in the nine-runner race...
Yet to win at the Cheltenham Festival in two previous attempts, Don Cossack is going to get his preferred trip, his preferred ground and as has already been proved so often this week Gordon Elliott couldn't have his horses in better form this week.
Bryan Cooper will be buoyed by the confidence of getting off the mark on Empire Of Dirt and Don Cossack is picked to fulfil the dream that Elliott always had for him.
Working The House Down
Willie Mullins wasn’t certain but yesterday he thought that it was Djakadam that Vautour was working with that made the Ryanair Chase winner look ordinary and if that is the case, he certainly has to be feared and his price is squeezed all the way down to 3/1 now, while Cue Card goes in search of a £1m bonus for World Hurdle winning trainer Colin Tizzard.
Mullins also suggested yesterday that this was the first time he had managed to get Don Poli fully fit and that is a scary thought so it promises to be a cracker and not a race to have massive bets in but Don Cossack is the pick from this corner.
Collect From The Village
Two other bets to have on day four, before we start looking forward to next years Cheltenham Festival...
Shantou Village was second to Yanworth last time over 2m4f at Cheltenham and steps up to three-miles for this but that doesn’t look like posing a problem and he is preferred over the unbeaten seven-time winner Barters Hill (4/1) and the willie Mullins bunch headed by Long Dog (7/1) and Gangster who is a 6/1 shot.
Blue Hell had Coral Cup winner Diamond King behind him in second last time and while stamina might be a question mark about him, he is probably worth taking a chance on at 8/1 although another horse in this race is Bentelimar who I think will outrun his odds of 33/1.
*Prices correct at time of publication.
Buying Money
There’s no obvious winner that will be just buying money on the final day of the Festival and it certainly looks to be the hardest day of the week and the Gold Cup is probably one of the most difficult to call in some years.
Cases can be made for so many and there’s no way you could confidently rule out any of the first five in the market in the nine-runner race...
but Don Cossack (3/1) just seems to have so much going for him. ""
Yet to win at the Cheltenham Festival in two previous attempts, Don Cossack is going to get his preferred trip, his preferred ground and as has already been proved so often this week Gordon Elliott couldn't have his horses in better form this week.
Bryan Cooper will be buoyed by the confidence of getting off the mark on Empire Of Dirt and Don Cossack is picked to fulfil the dream that Elliott always had for him.
Working The House Down
Willie Mullins wasn’t certain but yesterday he thought that it was Djakadam that Vautour was working with that made the Ryanair Chase winner look ordinary and if that is the case, he certainly has to be feared and his price is squeezed all the way down to 3/1 now, while Cue Card goes in search of a £1m bonus for World Hurdle winning trainer Colin Tizzard.
Mullins also suggested yesterday that this was the first time he had managed to get Don Poli fully fit and that is a scary thought so it promises to be a cracker and not a race to have massive bets in but Don Cossack is the pick from this corner.
Collect From The Village
Two other bets to have on day four, before we start looking forward to next years Cheltenham Festival...
are Shantou Village (4/1) in the Albert Barlett for Neil Mulholland and Blue Hell has to be respected in the County Hurdle. ""
Shantou Village was second to Yanworth last time over 2m4f at Cheltenham and steps up to three-miles for this but that doesn’t look like posing a problem and he is preferred over the unbeaten seven-time winner Barters Hill (4/1) and the willie Mullins bunch headed by Long Dog (7/1) and Gangster who is a 6/1 shot.
Blue Hell had Coral Cup winner Diamond King behind him in second last time and while stamina might be a question mark about him, he is probably worth taking a chance on at 8/1 although another horse in this race is Bentelimar who I think will outrun his odds of 33/1.
*Prices correct at time of publication.