Cheltenham Gold Cup Day is here and the final day of the 2023 Festival has a distinctly each-way feel to it with plenty of favourites that look worth taking on with longer-odds chances.
Scroll down for our Gold Cup day betting tips and the analysis behind our selections.
Cheltenham Friday Betting Tips
1:30 – Lossiemouth to win @ 13/8
2:10 – Milkwood each-way @ 33/1
2:50 – Favori De Champdou each-way @ 11/1
3:30 – Minella Indo each-way @ 16/1
4:10 – Billaway each-way @ 7/1
4:50 – Elimay each-way @ 20/1
5:30 – No Ordinary Joe each-way @ 22/1
Check out the latest horse racing odds at Betzone
1:30 – JCB Triumph Hurdle
Stablemates Bloody Destiny and Lossiemouth have been duelling for favouritism ever since LOSSIEMOUTH was turned over at the Dublin Racing Festival. However, Paul Townend, Willie Mullins’ stable jockey has opted to ride the selection.
That’s a huge vote of confidence for the Susannah and Rich Ricci owned juvenile, who is also the beneficiary of a 6lbs mare’s weight allowance that could prove decisive here.
Our tip: Lossiemouth to win @ 13/8
2:10 – McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle
State Man proved to be miles ahead of the handicapper in last year’s County and Hunters Yarn looks the closest thing to his profile in this year’s line-up. However, he looks short enough to take on with a horse that finished third in the 2021 edition, MILKWOOD.
Neil Mullholland’s gelding was handicapped to the hilt after that season, when he also won the Scottish Champion Hurdle and finished second in the Galway Hurdle, topping out on a mark of 151. He’ll line up here on 141, just 1lb higher than when third in this race two years ago.
Our tip: Milkwood each-way @ 33/1
2:50 – Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
Gordon Elliott has yet to win an Albert Bartlett but that could be about to change thanks to FAVORI DE CHAMPDOU. Cullentra stablemate Three Card Brag may be shorter in the betting but that rival has yet to run over more than 2m3f under rules.
Since returning from a 2021/22 campaign on the sidelines, Favori De Champdou has won three times at around the Albert Bartlett trip already. The last of those was a Grade 2 success which he ground out in just the fashion you want to see from a ‘potato race’ combatant.
Our tip: Favori De Champdou each-way @ 11/1
3:30 – Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase
MINELLA INDO has an incredible Cheltenham Festival record of 1-2-1-2 in the last four Festivals including a win in the 2021 Gold Cup and a second in the 2022 running and is being criminally overlooked for each-way purposes in this year’s main event.
The jockeys contesting the 2023 edition are unlikely to permit the kind of steady pace that allowed A Plus Tard to speed away with the 2022 race and a true staying test is just what Minella Indo requires.
Our tip: Minella Indo each-way @ 16/1
4:10 – St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase
David Christie looks to have this year’s Hunter Chase sewn up with Vaucelet, Ferns Cross and Winged leader all at the top of the betting, but then again Winged Leader looked to have the race sewn up last year before BILLAWAY broke his heart within the shadow of the line.
Willie Mullins chaser may now be 11, but he’s finished 2-2-1 in the last three editions of this race and, having won last time out, there’s no sign of his enthusiasm for the game diminishing.
Our tip: Billaway each-way @ 7/1
4:50 – Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase
Likely favourite Allegorie De Vassy has a fearsome engine but these will be significantly deeper waters than she has so far dipped her hooves in. Impervious and Jeremy’s Flame both have the quality to put her tendency to throw in the odd dodgy jump under scrutiny.
While that trio have leading 2022/23 form claims, last season’s winner ELIMAY looks very interesting for each-way players. She hasn’t got within 15 lengths of the winner in her three starts since that victory, which makes it all the more intriguing that her trainer chooses to run her here.
Our tip: Elimay each-way @ 20/1
5:30 – Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle
Nicky Henderson’s NO ORDINARY JOE has exactly the kind of lightly-raced profile required to win a Festival handicap like this.
Third in the Greatwood Hurdle on the Old Course off 6lbs lower back in November it’s intriguing to think what kind of improvement could be under the bonnet as his canny handler steps him up an additional four furlongs for his first Festival outing.
Our tip: No Ordinary Joe each-way @ 22/1
