I have selected my 3 horses for the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is only 2 months away now!
Galopin Des Champs is currently 13/8 favourite for the race and I think he will be the winner this year. He ticks every box for me when you are looking for the winner and he seems to have matured a lot over the summer, shown in his performance at Punchestown where he settled much better which will help when he tries the Gold Cup trip as he was a little keen and enthusiastic in his novice chase campaign. He is still a young horse and has age on his side and there is very little to criticise about him and I think he will show his superstar potential in March.
Protektorat at 9/1 looks to have a very good each way chances this year. I think he is the most likely to finish 2nd to the favourite. His victory in the Betfair Chase at Haydock this season was electric and I think the Skeltons have got him down to a tee now and know what he needs for him to perform at his very best. He is 100% best fresh and I like that they haven’t raced him since Haydock and are going straight to Cheltenham. He finished 3rd last year and being a year older now will help him see out the trip even better and as an 8-year-old this will be his best opportunity in the race. He seems to have very solid credentials as he boasts a very good record around Cheltenham which can’t be said for all of his rivals.
Conflated is my 3rd selection for the race at 14/1. He think he is very overpriced if you are looking to take on Galopin Des Champs. He has done very little wrong over the previous 2 seasons and his performance at Leopardstown was very professional and quite eye-catching I thought. He jumped very well and this took the race apart and he did it very easily in the end. He is likely to go straight to Cheltenham now and he has been competing with the very best in his previous starts and his form looks very solid. He would have finished 2nd in the Ryanair last year and that emphasises his class and shows he deserves to take his chance in this race.
When looking at their rivals, I can pick holes in quite a few of them. Noble Yeats I think will find himself positionally disadvantaged and will give himself too much to do turning in. Stattler should have won for me at Tramore last time out and although a good run he doesn’t have the same level of form as his rivals. Minella Indo is too old for me now and will get beat by an unexposed type. Bravemansgame will have left everything at Kempton and will struggle to repeat that performance here. Hewick’s breeding will catch him out here even though he is progressed a lot. Finally, last year’s winner A Plus Tard’s season has been very interrupted and he will struggle to repeat that with no prep run I think so I couldn’t have him.
So, I fancy Galopin Des Champs to win followed by Protektorat and Conflated who both look very good each way bets in a competitive field. I think the favourite has the superstar potential and he looms the perfect racehorse to me now and I’ve been a big supporter of his for while now. Hopefully he gets his compensation for last year and wins the biggest race of them all!
