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Last year of course Denman pulverised the
opposition with a devastating triumph that broke the
heart of Kauto Star.
This season its Denman’s heart that’s come under
the spotlight after it was found The Tank was
suffering from an irregular heartbeat in the autumn.
He made his much anticipated reappearance at Kempton
in February and was a crushing disappointment as he
slumped to an uninspiring defeat at the hands of
Madison Du Berlais. Is he the same horse? Will he
improve enough to feature in the Gold Cup? Will he
even get to Cheltenham in March?
All these questions will be answered soon
enough but it would be a brave man who lumped on at
5/1.
For the third consecutive year Kauto Star
goes into the Gold Cup at the head of the market and
this national treasure would go down as one of the
all-time greats if he won this year. His fantastic
third King George victory on Boxing Day was a joy to
behold but is he as effective at Prestbury Park? And
what if the ground is testing come Gold Cup day?
Last year he didn’t appear that he handled the
sticky ground so he won’t get things all his way if
the ground is testing. Plenty things to consider but
wouldn’t it be wonderful if he became the first
horse ever to regain the Gold Cup? You can back him
at 2/1 with Sportingbet.
The third piece in the Paul Nicholls jigsaw is
the admirable Neptune Collonges who finished
just behind Kauto Star in third place in last year’s
Gold Cup. Neptune has been campaigned in Ireland
this season and after a disappointing fall in the
Lexus over Christmas he produced a good performance
in the Irish Hennessy at Leopardstown in February
seeing off Notre Pere for a 5 length victory.
With a year to spare over Kauto and Denman this
might just be Neptune’s year if the ground turns out
soft and the general 6/1 available makes real
appeal.
The most interesting player in the Gold Cup
market is Denman’s conqueror Madison du Berlais.
How good is this horse? He came from nowhere to win
the Hennessy in November and then improved further
to win at Kempton to the shock of Denman’s fans. At
odds of 8/1 he divides opinion but one thing is for
sure he has to be respected
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