Irish trainers hold strong hand in Cheltenham Gold Cup

Irish-trained runners have won six of the last 10 runnings of the Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup at Cheltenham Racecourse in England. The trend may not change when the famous race is run in the west of England on Friday.

The three leading contenders for the $818,750 Gold Cup at 3 5/16 miles – A Plus Tard, Galvin, and Minella Indo – are based in Ireland.

A Plus Tard, trained by Henry de Bromhead, was second to Minella Indo in the 2021 Gold Cup and was the 3-1 favorite in early betting with British bookmakers as of Wednesday. Galvin was 10-3, while Minella Indo was 9-2.

The Irish team is so deep that Al Boum Photo, who won the Gold Cup in 2019 and 2020 and was third last year, is rated as a 10-1 outsider in a field of 11.

A Plus Tard, an 8-year-old gelding, was beaten a short head by Galvin in the Grade 1 Savills Chase at three miles at Punchestown Racecourse in Ireland on Dec. 28 in his most recent start. A Plus Tard led in the stretch, but could not sustain the advantage.

The timeline for A Plus Tard’s season is similar this winter as last year. A Plus Tard won the Savills Chase in late December 2020 and did not race again until he won the Gold Cup.

Galvin, trained by Gordon Elliott, won a handicap chase at 3 3/4 miles at Cheltenham last March, and has not raced since the Savills Chase.

Minella Indo, also trained by de Bromhead, has had different preparation. After being pulled up in the Grade 1 King George VI Chase at Kempton Park near London on Dec. 26, Minella Indo rebounded to finish second to Conflated in the Grade 1 Irish Gold Cup at 3 1/16 miles on Feb. 5 at Leopardstown. Conflated was entered in a Grade 1 chase at Cheltenham on Thursday.

The best hope among the English stables is Protektorat, a 7-year-old gelding trained by Dan Skelton. Protektorat, who was 7-1 on Wednesday, has not raced since a 25-length win against seven rivals in the Grade 2 Many Clouds Chase at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool on Dec. 4.

The Aintree course was soft that day, and those conditions could be present on Friday at Cheltenham after a day of rain on Wednesday.

Cheltenham has a seven-race program beginning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.