Galopin Des Champs surges to win Cheltenham Gold Cup
Galopin Des Champs was not the best jumper in Friday’s Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup in England - until it mattered the most.
After the gelding made a few jumping mistakes early in the race at 3 5/16 miles, and again three fences from the finish, Galopin Des Champs was perfect over the final two fences en route to a popular win in the $752,500 Gold Cup at Cheltenham Racecourse, 100 miles west of London.
Ridden by an appreciative Paul Townend, Galopin Des Champs closed from eighth to take the lead at the 22nd and final fence before pulling clear to win as the favorite. Galopin Des Champs paid $4.40 in American pools and won by seven lengths over 5-1 Bravermansgame, the third choice in a field of 13.
The Gold Cup encompasses two laps on Cheltenham’s undulating course, which has a stern uphill finish.
“I suppose he got me out of trouble, to be honest,” Townend told the press. “The first circuit didn’t go smoothly. I got in a nice rhythm on the second circuit and he showed a lot of class to come from where he did.”
Galopin Des Champs was in contention five furlongs from the finish when the field began a downhill descent. The sloppy jump at the third-to-last finish aside, Galopin Des Champs had advanced to second two fences from the finish.
“From where I was, I was always going to be the last coming on to the scene,” Townend said of Galopin Des Champs’s closing style. “I was happy to see them come off the bridle one-by-one in front of me. Luckily, we met the last [fence] on a good stride and he went away and galloped away through the line.”
Bravermansgame, the winner of the Grade 1 King George VI Chase at Kempton Park in December, finished 6 1/2 lengths in front of 21-1 Conflated. Of the 13 runners, seven finished.
Hewick, the 2022 Eclipse Award winner as the American champion steeplechaser, fell two fences from the finish when fading from contention. Hewick, who inherited the lead on the second circuit after Ahoy Senor fell, was on his feet shortly after his fall. Hewick is based in Ireland with trainer Shark Hanlon.
Galopin Des Champs, who races for Audrey Turley, gave Townend and trainer Willie Mullins their third victories in the Gold Cup, Britain’s leading weight-for-age steeplechase. They teamed to win consecutive runnings in 2019 and 2020 with Al Boum Photo.
Irish-trained runners have won the last five runnings of the Gold Cup.
The last two winners of the Gold Cup – Minella Indo and Al Plus Tard – were part of Friday’s field, but did not finish. Minella Indo was pulled up midway through the race, while A Plus Tard was pulled up three fences from the finish.
Galopin Des Champs, a 7-year-old French-bred by the Sholokhov stallion Timos, has won 9 of 13 starts. The Cheltenham Gold Cup was his fourth consecutive Grade 1 win and third appearance at the Cheltenham festival, the sport’s leading week of races. The four-day meeting concluded on Friday.
Galopin Des Champs won a handicap hurdle for apprentice jockeys at Cheltenham in 2021, and fell last year while holding a comfortable lead in a novices’ chase. Galopin Des Champs has not lost since.
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