Cheltenham Festival and Gold Cup 2010
The biggest (and most prestigious) event of the racing year is about to begin with the upcoming kick-off of the 2010 Cheltenham Festival. From Tuesday 16th to Friday 19th, March 2010, the natural amphitheatre outside of Cheltenham town centre will play host to four days of festivities, jam-packed with over 200,000 attendees eager to watch and bet on twenty-six races.
As per tradition, Cheltenham Festival will begin with the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle, an event that sees Kyber Kim and the Irish-trained Go Native battling it out for a win that entails massive cash rewards for either victor. The following day, 17th March — Saint Patrick’s Day — sees the Festival being overtaken by celebrations of Ireland. Punters can bookend their time at the day’s feature race, The Seasons Holiday Queen Mother Champion Chase (with Master Minded attempting the first-ever hattrick), with trips to the bustling Guinness Village.
Thursday is the annual Ladies Day at Cheltenham Festival. The fashion awards this year provide one of the Festival’s most extravagant prizes yet — a brand new Alfa Romeo Mito for one lucky winner. The day also features a charity race (for Cancer Research UK) and The Ladbrokes World Hurdle wherein favourite, Big Buck, will attempt to win the same crown achieved last year.
The Festival’s final day sees Denman and Kauto Star preparing for their third Cheltenham Gold Cup battle. With the score standing at 1-1, punters are sure to be excited for the conclusion of the Cheltenham Festival and the climatic outcome of Deman and Kauto Star’s rivalry.
Total Coverage of the Cheltenham Festival and Gold Cup
You might tell your better half that Christmas or your anniversary or some other family occasion is your favourite time of year. We know the truth though and after a year of racing it’s the only festival we love to celebrate the Cheltenham Festival and it’s just over a week away.
The big race of the opening day at the Cheltenham Festival is the Smurfitt Kappa Champion Hurdle. The chellengers from Ireland have been cleaning up in this two miler over the last decade but Katchit lead home a British 1-2-3 last year though he’s an outside shot this time round for a repeat though Binocular should mark another one up for Britain. The JP McManus owned horse will be making a first run of the year and it is expected to win this race impressively.
Wednesday at the Cheltenham Festival gets an extra race for the first ever time and the best of the seven is the Queen Mother Champion Chase. Master Minded’s win in this one last year was so impressive that no one really expects anything other than the same again this year. Nothing’s guaranteed at Cheltenham and if there’s going to be an upset, who could it be?
Ladies Day at the Cheltenham Festival is when we make all our fillies and whips puns but it also has two cracking races in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle and the Ryanair Chase. There’s no Inglis Drever this time round so Kasbah Bliss leads the betting to replace the three time winner. Voy Per Ustedes is a big favourite after winning in Ascot though there are many who believe an upset is on the cards and suggest you cast your eye a little further down the betting.
Denman and Kauto Star will be going at it again in the showpiece Cheltenham Gold Cup on the Friday, which just happens to be the thirteenth. One of them is going to be unlucky but could both. Neptune Collonges trailed them both in last year’s race and could improve upon that third placed finish and while a horse like Exotic Dancer could upset the odds it’s looking likely that Paul Nicholls will be celebrating another Gold Cup success. Will Denman make it a double though?
