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.
Steve AndersenMar 17, 2023
Galopin Des Champs was not the best jumper in Friday’s Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup in England - until it mattered the most.
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Ever since Cigar shipped for the inaugural Dubai World Cup in 1996, the race has strongly been flavored by American participation. Deluxe Meydan Racecourse, which replaced the old Nad Al Sheba course, opened in 2010 with a synthetic surface, but after American participation waned during the early Meydan years, dirt replaced synthetic. American horses have won four of the seven World Cups on Meydan dirt. But the dynamic has shifted again.
Cylinder has won consecutive Group 2 stakes this year for 2-year-olds and will be favored to win the world’s richest race for juveniles on Friday evening – the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia.
Declan Schuster's Hong Kong Analysis for Sha Tin's Hong Kong Derby card on Sunday, March 19, 2023
The 9-year-old Envoi Allen and 11-year-old Sire Du Berlais have been an annual presence at the National Hunt Festival each March at Cheltenham Racecourse in England since the late 2010s. On Thursday, they recorded upset wins in consecutive Grade 1 races at the prestigious meeting.
Brave Emperor fought off two rivals in the final sixteenth to win for the fifth time in his seventh start in the $72,600 Road to the Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes at Kempton Park near London on Wednesday.
Had Burrandana finished first or second in a seven-furlong handicap at Albury Racecourse in Australia on Feb. 25, he would have qualified for a $330,500 stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse. Burrandana has one more chance to qualify for that lucrative final when he starts in a field of 16 in a trial race at Goulburn Racecourse on Thursday evening.
The last time Galopin Des Champs raced at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, the gelding fell at the final fence while holding a 12-length lead in a Grade 1 steeplechase for novices last March. He was the odds-on favorite. Galopin Des Champs has not made a mistake since, winning three Grade 1 races in Ireland since last April. The 7-year-old's improved manners have made him the horse to beat in a return trip to England for Friday's Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Kayobi had a sparkling conclusion to his 2022 season in Australia, winning his final three starts from mid-June to mid-October. Kayobi will start as a slight favorite in the $100,000 Midway Provincial Championship qualifier at Gosford Racecourse on Wednesday evening.
Shishkin will start as an odds-on favorite in the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase at about 2 1/2 miles at Cheltenham Racecourse on Thursday, the third day of the four-day Cheltenham festival.