The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the figure piece in the Cheltenham crown as always. The prize money per race averages out to £137,000 while the Festivals main event the totesport Gold Cup, is worth a staggering £450,000. All eyes, as always, will be locked on this wonderful climax to the festival with last year's winner Kauto Star and stable rival Denman poised to do battle once more. The Paul Nicholls-tracined pair make up 42 entries for the big race which also includes the 2005 winner Kicking King.
'The totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup is the blue riband race of the National Hunt season and it is a privilege to be associated with it' says Paul Petre, totesport spokesman. "Racing has to battle alot of difficult press but hopefully everyone in the industry will unite to get behind this fantastic spectacle. We can't wait and have a whole host of activity planned'
Of course, the Gold Cup is just one part of the Festival Jigsaw with the Champions Hurdle, the Queen Mother's Champions Chase and the World Hurdle adding further prestige ahead of the big event. The support of the Irish also plays a big part as thousands of racing fans travel over for their racing fix. The annual pilgrimage is a small price to pay to have involvement in the history of racing. Last year's card saw five Irish trained successes while in 2006 the Irish lifted the rooftops with an amazing 10 winners.
So with just days to go until the Novices' Hurdle at 2pm on March 11th, the anticipation is already building. The races finish as quickly as they startand the period of time between race days seems to disappear in the haze of merriment and frenzied betting activity. As always though it's a case of cherishing the moment where the Cheltenham Festival is concerned, then it'll soon be time to turn attention to the 2009 Festival. |
