The Coral Cup is one of my favourite betting races of the year and our 20/1 antepost pick TOPOFTHEGAME has pleasingly lined up with close to his ideal soft ground conditions.
He’s nearly halved in the price since being advised and, after a game handicap success at Sandown last month, he’s also gone up 8lb in the handicap to sit among the top weights for this.
That hike in the ratings is fully deserved and he would have been a far more likely winner if he’d not won that race, but if you’re not already on-board I still rate him a good bet at 12/1, so get stuck in each-way.
Advised antepost: 0.5pt each-way Topofthegame @20/1, 14:50 Cheltenham, Wednesday (1,2,3,4, 1/4)
With over 20 runners I’m not sure backing one horse is enough for this race; three will do.
I can’t like Topofthegame’s chances without having full respect for WILLIAM HENRY‘s too – that’s the horse that beat him in the Lanzarote Hurdle.
The two are closely matched but William Henry’s lenient treatment from the handicapper for that success – he only went up 6lb – has him on better terms for this rematch, so you’d have to fancy he’s well handicapped and 8/1 seems perfectly fine with such solid form claims.
0.75pts each-way William Henry @8/1, 14:50 Cheltenham, Wednesday, (1,2,3,4,5, 1/4 with Bet365)
Finally, one place down in the market from Topofthegame is LE BREUIL for Ben Pauling, who has been given glowing reports from his trainer and appears to have a nice profile for this.
Soft ground seems no issue and he’s been campaigned in a way that has protected his mark this season, clearly lacking sharpness first time out before coming up short when attempting to give lumps of weight away to a subsequent winner.
He’s lightly raced and appears to have been laid out for this.
0.75pts each-way Le Breuil @14/1, 14:50 Cheltenham, Wednesday, (1,2,3,4,5, 1/4 with Bet365)
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