NEWS – Freebetting Horse Racing Betting
Boylesports Gold Cup
Originally run as the Massey Ferguson Gold Cup in 1963, the Boylesports Gold Cup is a Grade 3 handicap chase open to 4-year olds and upwards and run over 2 miles 5 furlongs at Prestbury Park, Cheltenham. This year’s renewal is due off at 2.25 p.m. on Saturday, 12th December. The Boylesports Gold Cup is often contested by horses that previously ran in the Paddy Power Gold Cup (formerly the Mackeson Gold Cup) a month earlier, but only three horses, Senor El Betrutti in 1997, Pegwell Bay in 1998 and Exotic Dancer in 2006, have managed to win both races in the same season; in fact, Exotic Dancer also went on to finish runner-up in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the 2006/07 season. Jonjo O’Neill and Nicky Henderson are the trainers with the best recent records in the Boylesports Gold Cup, with 2 winners each in the last 10 runnings, the race having been abandoned in 2001 due to frost and last year due to waterlogging. The last 10 winners of the race were all aged between 6 and 8 years.
This year’s Boylesports Gold Cup looks as competitive as ever, with 32 horses standing their ground at the 5-day declaration stage. At the time of writing, the current favourite is Atouchbetweencara (5/1 generally), who was trained last season by Venetia Williams, but is now in the care of Vale of Glamorgan trainer Tim Vaughan. Atouchbetweencara has been absent since trouncing 9 rivals in the Grade 2 ESN Silver Trophy Chase over course and distance back in April and has risen 19lbs in the handicap for that 24-length win, but Tim Vaughan told At The Races, “I rode him myself on our grass gallops and he is in very, very good order. I’m delighted with him actually.”
The horse that leaps off the page, in terms of apparent value for money, however, is Mount Oscar (16/1 with Bet 365, Sporting Bet, Victor Chandler and William Hill), trained in Dorset by Colin Tizzard and due to be ridden by son, Joe. Admittedly, Mount Oscar is 10 years old and only two 10-year olds have won the Boylesports Gold Cup in its history, but, despite his age, Mount Oscar has raced only 19 times in his career, only 8 times over fences and appears to still be improving. He has won both his races so far this season, jumping well to win a lowly beginners’ chase over at Fontwell on his reappearance and following up, off a handicap mark of 133, in the Class 2 Sportingbet.com Handicap Chase at Newbury two weeks later. He is up to a handicap mark of 144 here, but he appears to be going the right way over fences and with the forecast “soft” ground not a problem he looks good value against some perhaps more obvious rivals.
In fact, despite the trend towards younger winners, there is another 10-year-old in the field with an apparently outstanding chance, if he can overcome an absence of 77 days. The horse in question is Phillip Hobbs’ lightly-raced From Dawn To Dusk (16/1 with Bet 365, Sky Bet, Totesport, Boylesports, Betfred, Sporting Bet, Victor Chandler, Paddy Power, Coral and William Hill), who has been restricted to just three runs since October 2007, but nevertheless won a Class 2 handicap hurdle at Cheltenham last season and finished an excellent third in the Listed Blue Square Handicap Chase at Market Rasen on his seasonal reappearance back in September. He, too, is 5lbs higher in the handicap here but with a return to a slightly shorter trip likely to suit he looks another serious contender at a nice price.
There are, of course, plenty of alternatives for more “cautious” punters befitting a race worth £150,000 in prize money. The Paul Nicholls trained Poquelin (6/1 with Bet 365, Sky Bet, Boylesports, Betfred, Sporting Bet, Victor Chandler, Paddy Power, Stan James, Ladbrokes and William Hill) is likely to be popular after coming from the next county to finish second in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, as is the David Pipe trained Seven Is My Number (a standout 8/1 with Sky Bet, but as short as 5/1 elsewhere), on the back of 4 wins from 5 starts, including in listed company, so far this season. Mount Oscar and Dawn To Dusk are my recommendations against the field, however and to paraphrase the words of Mark “The Couch” Winstanley, if that forecast clicks, you may never hear from me again!
