The 2024 Cheltenham Festival is almost here, and the countdown to the prestigious Gold Cup is on — with the highlight of the entire meeting taking centre stage at 15:30 on March 15.
Last year’s winner, Galopin Des Champs, is the favourite in the Cheltenham Gold Cup betting 2024, but it will be a deep field with plenty of talent and ability.
Pundits and punters alike will be doing extensive research before placing a bet on the Gold Cup, looking at things like the market and the form cards.
However, many also find that quotes from the trainers can be incredibly useful when it comes to predicting the Gold Cup winner.
That said, read on as we look at some of the key quotes ahead of the 2024 renewal of the prestigious race.
Galopin Des Champs
Any doubts that surrounded Galopin Des Champs after his lacklustre displays at Punchestown last year have been wiped out with back-to-back wins at Leopardstown and trainer Willie Mullins claims his prized asset is in prime form for another crack at the Gold Cup.
“He’s come out of his race in Leopardstown very well and I’m very happy. It’s going to be a tip-top Gold Cup I think. We’re in great form,” Mullins said.
“I’d wanted him ridden off the pace the two years before as I felt he was too keen and I didn’t want him getting drawn into a battle, but this year I don’t mind.
“He’s bigger and stronger, well certainly stronger but he’s more mature now and definitely up for it [leading].”
Fastorslow
Although Fastorslow couldn’t record a third victory over Galopin Des Champs in the recent Irish Gold Cup, the eight-year-old remains the 4/1 second favourite in the race odds and handler Martin Brassil still has sights set on the Cheltenham showpiece.
“We were very happy with the run [in the Irish Gold Cup] and he hadn’t run since November 26, so you have to be very happy with it,” the trainer said.
“We might have got a flyer (at the last, if Galopin Des Champs had not jinked) but my horse was quick to spot what the other horse did and he just hesitated and got over the fence carefully.
“He was on the back foot then and Galopin Des Champs had him all the way to the line. However, I don’t think there would have been any different result I would say, he had the run of the race dictating it, so in that race, he always had our measure.”
Shishkin
The inconsistency of Shishkin will likely put a lot of bettors off backing him in the Gold Cup, but there was a lot to like about his recent win in the Grade 2 Denman Chase at Newbury and Nicky Henderson is gunning for a first win in the Gold Cup since Bobs Worth’s success in 2013 with the 10-year-old.
“I think we have to [go to the Gold Cup] because there is nowhere else to go,” the veteran trainer said.
“You could wait for Aintree, but no, that’s where we are and that’s what he is.
“I don’t think three and a quarter [miles] is going to frighten him and hopefully we have the starting bug out of head, he was faultless there — even better than he was at Kempton.
“You have to be impressed with Galopin Des Champs, but after that I think there is an opening and the Gold Cup is the Gold Cup — you have to give it a go.”
Gerri Colombe
Once tipped to win the Gold Cup after landing the Grade 1 Champion Chase at Down Royal on reappearance in November, Gerri Colombe was well beaten by Galopin Des Champs when last seen in the Savills Chase.
That lengthy defeat has resulted in the Robcour-owned horse drifting out to 10/1 to win the showpiece in the Cheltenham race odds, and Elliott has conceded that is going to be very hard to spoil Galopin Des Champs’ defence of the Gold Cup.
“Gerri Colombe is in good form. I think Galopin Des Champs has been awesome this year, I don’t know how we’re going to beat him, but I think we’re better than we were in Leopardstown the last day,” the Irish trainer said.
“For me, he didn’t run his race in the Savills. He wouldn’t have been second I don’t think with another 100 yards.
“We’ve always counted him as a bit of a mud lover, but I think the better the ground, the better the chance he’ll have.
“He really stays, he’s not flashy and doesn’t do anything fancy, but he looks great, and we’ve been training him for one day.”
L’homme Presse
After an exciting campaign as a novice in 2021-22, which included a victory in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, L’Homme Presse was set for a crack at the Gold Cup last season.
However, an injury sustained after unseating jockey Charlie Deutsch in the King George VI Chase at Kempton ruled him out for the remainder of the season.
The Venetia Williams-trained horse returned with a bang following 391 days out when beating Protektorat in the Fleur De Lys Chase at Lingfield in January, but he couldn’t follow up when second to Pic D’Orhy in the Ascot Chase last month.
Williams is only looking at the positives, however, claiming: “There’s no way I cannot be delighted with that run at Ascot.
“It was an interim race. When you’ve got a horse at that level, inevitably there are only a handful of races in a year, let alone at the time that we wanted, and he took on Pic D’Orhy.
“I know Pic D’Orhy was a long way behind L’Homme Presse in the Scilly Isles two years ago, but that was a long time ago and at that point Pic D’Orhy wasn’t jumping as well as he is now. That was a completely different race and environment to the Ascot race.”
Speaking about the Gold Cup, she added: “My job is to look after him and get him there in the best shape.
“It’s looking like a seriously competitive Gold Cup. Shishkin has a massive back record and current record as well, and of course Galopin Des Champs is a phenomenal horse. Plus, half of the rest of the field is Irish and it’s a seriously competitive race, but it’s what happens on the day.”
