Cheltenham Race Festival » denman

3:20 Cheltenham Gold Cup Results – 3m 2 1/2f

Cheltenham Races — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:43:37 +0000

It was all about Kauto Star and Denman before this race and now it’s all about the Nigel Twiston-Davies superstar Imperial Commander who absolutely wiped the floor with Denman on the run-in and saw off KS when he fell, the Nicholls party was well and truly upset today… 1. Imperial Commander 7/1 2. Denman 4/1 3. Mon Mome 50/1 Related posts:McCoy Rides Denman In Gold Cup Kauto Star Gold Cup Favourite Cheltenham Gold Cup Stolen Related posts:

Commander Can Take Gold Cup

Cheltenham Races — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:32:59 +0000

If you were to believe the pundits then you’d wonder why any other horses plan to turn up for the Gold Cup today, because for most it’s only all about Kauto Star and Denman but not so says Imperial Commanders jockey Paddy Brennan who has said he “wouldn’t ride anything else” in the Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup today and rather confidently believes that he can topple the big two of Kauto Star and Denman!

The Nigel Twiston-Davies trained horse was successful in last year’s Ryanair Chase but feels the Gold Cup will better suit him this year. Clearly the bookies agree because Imperial Commander is third favourite behind the two superstars.

Speaking on Channel 4′s The Morning Line, Brennan said: “It’ll be very competitive and the track is riding brilliantly – it’s a case of the best horse will win. I think he’ll be a much easier ride in the Gold Cup because he’ll travel. In the Ryanair you’re always in top gear and need everything to go right. Today he’ll give me a great ride because he travels and personally I think he stays.”

And he could be right, despite the power of Kauto Star, Imperial Commander came within a nose of defeating him in the Betfair Chase at Haydock in November and Brennan believes he can come out on top in their clash on Friday.

“It was best feeling I’ve had off a horse in racing because he gave me something and kept quickening and quickening and going away,” Brennan added. “He went to the third last as quick as he’s ever been and going to the fence he had a blow and it lost me four lengths and gave Kauto a chance and I think I lost the race there. Make no mistake, he can match the best and I wouldn’t want to ride anything else today.”

It could be that the Gold Cup isn’t as clear cut as everybody thinks it will be and maybe, just maybe, Imperial Commander will turn up and really upset the Nicholls party this afternoon!

To have a bet on the Gold Cup go to Paddy Power Bookmakers!

Ruby & Kauto V Tony & Denman

Cheltenham Races — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:33:28 +0000

It is generally accepted by all and sundry, and most especially National Hunt jockeys that while a rider might be talented, he can only win certain races if he is on the right horse. A prime example of this is AP McCoy – an outstanding jockey, but one that is yet to win the Grand National and has but once won the Gold Cup, on Mr Mulligan in 1997. In fact just recently Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls was apparently surprised when someone pointed out to him how the human and equine stories correspond when it comes to the upcoming Gold Cup and his two main contenders – Kauto Star and Denman.

While McCoy is set to ride Denman in the Cheltenham Cup, it will be his archrival (but good friend) Ruby Walsh who will be riding Denman’s archrival (but stablemate and ‘pal’ according to Nicholls) Kauto Star. Some feel that McCoy’s iron constitution and ruthless temperament are not enough to suit the needs of such a characteristic chaser as Denman, who needs less coercion and more horsemanship.

Others who have more knowledge of McCoy are embarrassed by the slating that McCoy has received – he is after all officially the best jockey of all time, a status he achieved on 27th of August 2002 when victory on Mighty Montefalco in a three mile hurdle at Uttoxeter gave him his 1,700th winner, passing the three year old record total of Richard Dunwoody. Nicholls, when told how the equine and human stories of the Gold Cup correspond responded that Kauto Star and Denman are ‘the mirror image of the jockeys – but when they are out there, they’re out there to win’. Never has a truer word been spoken, while Walsh and McCoy are friends, that goes completely out the window once the tapes go up.

Whilst the two jockeys have completely differing styles, there has never been any doubt in their trainer’s mind that each of his horses has the perfectly suited accomplice when it comes to the Gold Cup. Walsh has a friendly but artistic laidback style which perfectly reflects Kauto Star’s attitude, while McCoy’s enforcing style totally suits Denman’s different and aggressive character – as Nicholls stated ‘I always thought someone like McCoy was going to suite Denman’.

As Nicholls has said of the riders of his top horses’ ‘Two champion jockeys, two great horses’ and having the champion jockeys of Great Britain and Ireland in the saddles of the two main contenders for one of the biggest events of the racing calendar is somewhat of a beautiful and intriguing juxtaposition – one which is looked forward to by bookies and punters alike.

Nicholls on the other hand, it is imagined, will be looking forward to the event with some trepidation – it is almost unheard of for one yard to house two such celebrities, and he admits that he has quite mixed emotions, stating ‘the saddest thing for me is that one of them is going to get beat’.

Which one are you going to put a bet on? The friendly or the aggressive? The horse who has won the race once or the horse who has already won it twice? The one being ridden by Ruby or Tony?? The one with the best odds? Exciting stuff!

Place your Cheltenham Gold Cup bet on with Paddy Power Bookmakers now!

Friday 19th March Race Guide

Cheltenham Races — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:27:55 +0000

Day four, and the last day for the 2010 Cheltenham Festival and things are really heating up…

It’s Cheltenham Gold Cup Day and one of the biggest battles in racing history is going to take place at 3.20 when Kauto Star and Denman go head to head in a bid to make horse racing history. Can Kauto Star win for the third time with Ruby Walsh or can Denman pip him to the post for the second time with Tony McCoy on board. One thing’s for sure, with both superstars coming from the Paul Nicholls stable today, there’s going to be one very happy man if they come in first and second place!

All of the horses running today are listed below and all of the odds have been supplied by Paddy Power Bookmakers but just remember that the odds on the Gold Cup are changing so fast and furiously that you’ve got to grab favourable odds very quickly – in fact Kauto Star is currently odds on…

The first race of the day is the JCB Triumph Hurdle which will attract a lot of attention but make no mistake, today is ALL about the CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP at 3.20pm!!!!

The Cheltenham Festival has six races scheduled for today which are as follows:

1.30 JCB Triumph Hurdle 2m 1f

2.05 Vincent O’Brien County Handicap Hurdle 2m 1f

2.40 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle 3m

3.20 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase 3m 2 1/2f

4.00 Christie’s Foxhunter Steeple Chase 3m 2 1/2f

4.40 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle 2m 4 1/2f

5.15 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Steeple Chase 2m 1/2f

McCoy Rides Denman In Gold Cup

Cheltenham Races — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:03:37 +0000

There are few horses that Tony McCoy has not had the pleasure and privilege of riding on great occasions and one had eluded him up to now but it’s finally gone McCoy’s way as Paul Nicholls has announced that he will be riding Denman for the first time when he runs in the Aon Chase at Newbury on February 13th.

And it doesn’t stop there because it has also been confirmed that AP will also saddle up for the clash of the year when Denman takes on Kauto Star at this years Gold Cup on Friday 19th March at the Cheltenham Festival. One of the most anticipated races and showdowns of the year, the Gold Cup will no doubt attract one of the biggest audiences ever so the pressure will really be on McCoy to pull out his A game especially as Ruby Walsh has bagged the Kauto Star ride!

In Racing Post, Nicholls wrote: “I asked Ruby [Walsh] whether he wanted to ride Kauto or Denman at Cheltenham and said to think about it for 48 hours. He came back to me late on Thursday night, and once I knew his decision I acted on the basis of what he told me and we have sorted the whole thing out.

“Ruby said he would obviously have liked to have ridden Denman in the Aon, but he understood the situation and said he couldn’t get off Kauto, the horse on whom he’s won two Gold Cups, four King Georges and a host of other Grade 1s. He also appreciated it would be a huge advantage for AP [McCoy] to ride Denman in a race before the Gold Cup.”

McCoy & Denman Vs Ruby & Kauto Star

Cheltenham Races — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:21:23 +0000

It’s still a little early to be tipping possible winners at Cheltenham. However, I can’t see many pundits looking further than Denman and Kauto Star in the Gold Cup.

The first duel in 2008 between the relentless galloping of Denman, unbeaten in eight starts, and the lightning-fast finish of Kauto Star had been billed as the most exciting Gold Cup clash since Arkle beat Mill House in 1964. There is no reason to think that 2010 will be any less exciting, the added bonus for racing fans is that Denman is likely to have Tony McCoy on board whilst Ruby Walsh will saddle up on Kauto.

McCoy & Denman are the perfect match, no doubt they will bring the best out of each other, but will it be enough to get past Ruby & Kauto? If you’re interested in some ante-post action then Timeform reckon Kauto Stars odds of winning the Gold Cup are much shorter than the 2.4 he’s currently trading at on Betfair.

Cheltenham Gold Cup Runners and Odds

Cheltenham Races — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:00:53 +0000

The Cheltenham Gold Cup is probably the most prestigious horse race in the world and winning it sends you straight into the history books so it’s no wonder that trainers and owners put so much time and effort into training their horses for it.

The race itself is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of 3 miles and 2½ furlongs and has twenty-two fences to be jumped.

The Gold Cup is at present the most valuable non-handicap chase in Britain, and in 2009 it offered a total prize fund of £475,000 which must have made Paul Nicholls a happy man as Kauto Star, the French 10 year old, became the first horse to regain the Gold Cup and is odds on favourite to take it again for the the third time in 2010 but an upset could be on the cards in the form of Denman…watch this space…

3.20 totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup Steeple Chase 3m 2 1/2f