Galopin des Champs wins back-to-back Gold Cups to grow to be true Cheltenham nice | EUROtoday

It is a wierd actuality of the Cheltenham Festival that one can spend months pouring over potential angles just for it to really feel just like the precise occasion flies previous within the blink of an eye fixed.

Well, it’s that point once more. We are on the house straight for the 2024 competition, with simply seven races left to get pleasure from earlier than the re-load for 2025 begins.

However, we do have the small matter of the Cheltenham Gold Cup to cope with this afternoon because the assembly reaches its superb crescendo at 3.30.

Last yr’s winner Galopin Des Champs has been well-backed this morning and is now the ten/11 odds-on favorite for Willie Mullins and Paul Townend, having opened this morning a shade of odds-against.

“My owner and I are on the same wavelength,” stated Mullins. “We say no matter whatever happens this year, we have one Galopin Des Champs Gold Cup on the mantelpiece already. Winning this year would be a bonus.”

Mullins added: “He was very good in the two Leopardstown races this winter but El Fabiolo in the Champion Chase showed that anything can happen.”

Mullins’ reached the astonishing whole of 100 profession competition winners on Wednesday when James De Vaux took the Champion Bumper underneath the coach’s son, Patrick.

However he drew a clean on Thursday, with not a single of his runners ending inside the primary three in any of the seven races. Does that signify an actual downturn in type or ought to we anticipate a reprisal this afternoon? You’d be courageous to depend on the previous.

Gordon Elliott bought his first winner of the week yesterday when Teahupoo took the Stayers’ Hurdle and he’ll be hoping for a similar end result from Gold Cup hope Gerri Colombe, who additionally runs within the colors of Robcour racing.