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The third handicap race of the week is the Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle, which is a Class 1 race run over 2m 5f and is another competitive race to get stuck into!
This is one of the races at the Cheltenham Festival where the each-way punters will love to get stuck into. In the last ten years, we've had one winning favourite and eight double-figure priced winners, including a 50/1 winner (tipped up last year). So if there's ever a race to go for an outsider, this is the one. I know plenty of the daily readers are big into their EW punts, so I'll be keeping a close eye on the comments for your fancies.
🏇 Boylesports – Paying 7 places instead of 5 in the Coral Cup. Click here for details
Cheltenham 2:50 – Beacon Edge 12/1 (0.5pt EW) & Grand Roi 40/1 (1pt EW) 7 places
As the Ultima was yesterday on Day 1, this is a total minefield of a race and I can understand how we'll all have different opinions on this, as it is that competitive.
You have some very familiar names in this race, with Langer Dan probably going to be off a short-ish price due to his reputation and people will probably think he is still a well-handicapped animal off a mark of 141. He was well-fancied for the Martin Pipe last year, but was an early casualty when being brought down. He had previously gone well in that race the year before, when only being touched off by Galopin Des Champs, so that's not bad form at all! I'm not a huge fan of his, though he handles the track and will have been laid out for this race, I think there's better value elsewhere.
Benson aims to get the bonus prize money for his connections if he wins this race. He recently won the Morebattle at Kelso, which offers a bonus for the winner if they were to then win a race at the Cheltenham Festival, and connections have felt this is the race to go for. I think he has a live chance in this. He has always been a talented horse on his day, but has had his quirks over the years. I've tipped him up a couple of times this year, and he hasn't won, so it's only right for him to complete the hat-trick of wins. Jokes aside, I think he is a definite EW player. Will love the ground, and will be staying on well, but will it be good enough?
You tend to have horses who run in handicaps like this every year at Cheltenham, so it's no surprise to see Camprond coming for another go at this race. He was quite well fancied for this race 12 months ago when finishing fourth at odds of 10/1. He is running off a 2lb lower mark this time around, so has to be a live chance in this, even though his recent form does stink!
Martin Brassil is a trainer who doesn't go under the radar when it comes to the Cheltenham Festival. His horses tend to be well-backed, and it's hard to miss those silks! His runners are always interesting as they look like they've been laid out for the festival, and though their recent form or time away from the track tends to look iffy, they often run big races. Unfortunately, the odds available for him as much shorter than I'd like if I was to get involved on him.
I think HMS Seahorse deserves a mention, and he was close to being a selection for me in this race. He is trained by Paul Nolan who is a great little trainer based in Waterford of Ireland. Though he doesn't have a great record in recent years when sending his runners to the festival, they do tend to run well and I can see this lad being one of the ones to beat. He has course form when finishing fourth in the Triumph last year, and has recently looked like an improved horse over 2m 4f after his gelding-op. Definite each-way player.
I can't write about every horse in the race, so I'll end this race preview with my two fancies:
Beacon Edge is one of the horses at the top of the weights, carrying 11st 10lbs, but will carry 11st 7lbs on the day due to man of the moment, Michael O'Sullivan taking the ride and taking away 3lbs. This is one of the class horses in the race. He has been kept to Grade 1 races for most of his career, which has seen him run fourth in a Stayers' Hurdle back in 2021 behind Flooring Porter. He has been tried over fences since, which saw him land a Grade 1, but it hasn't entirely gone to plan. I thought his run behind Blazing Khal was a step in the right direction at Navan last time around, with that horse being one of the fancied runners for this year's Stayers' and I thought it was a nice prep run for today's race. People might say this horse is better over further, but I disagree and I think today's trip will be perfect for him. He does stay further, but knowing they'll go a good clip in this, his extra stamina will be a positive. The jockey booking catches the eye also.
My outside pick of this race is GRAND ROI, trained by Gordon Elliott. If you look at this horse's recent form figures you'll think he has no chance, and I can totally understand that, but I get the feeling there is ability with this horse and this race would've been on Gordon's mind for quite some time. He has featured in this race two time before, once when Gordon was banned, and the other was last year when he was pulled up. He went off at odds of 6/1 and 12/1 for those two renewals, and hasn't done anything of note, so why are they trying it again? that is why I think this is a bit of a master plan by Gordon. He has taken a similar route to last year's 50/1 winner, using the Boyne Hurdle Grade 2 at Navan as a prep run. He didn't run great in that race, but neither did the winner last year, but it was a return to form. He travelled nicely for most of the race and it would've put him right for today. Gordon has opted for a 7lb claimer for this race, he had a 5lb claimer win this race for him last year, I might be well off the mark with this, but at 40/1 I'll be having a play.
