The Cheltenham Festival is just five weeks away and one horse looking ready as ever is the superstar Galopin Des Champs who is the current favourite for the Gold Cup.
The Willie Mullins-trained gelding passed his latest test with flying colours as he triumphed in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown on Saturday. He gave a strong showing of himself in Dublin as he powered through after the clearing last fence to beat the likes of Fury Road and Stattler, both of whom were close to the victor up until the final jump. That is where he showed his class and you can see that there is still a lot more to come from the seven-year-old.
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His strong finish to win the race by eight lengths will have only bolstered his chances at securing the Gold Cup at Cheltenham in just a few weeks’ time and after a strong ride by Paul Townend, both jockey and trainer will be feeling confident ahead of the greatest show on turf.
There were always going to be a lot of extra eyes watching Galopin Des Champs in the Irish Gold Cup because it was his first three-mile race over fences, so to win it eight lengths clear shows that there should be no problems on that front for him down in Gloucestershire in March. Following his success across the Irish Sea on Saturday, Galopin Des Champs is now priced at 13/8 with Betfred.
GALOPIN DES CHAMPS wins the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup under @PTownend. 🏆 🐎
#ITVRacing | @LeopardstownRC |@WillieMullinsNH
His rider, Townend, will be looking to reclaim the title for the Cheltenham showpiece after winning it back-to-back in 2019 and 2020 under another Mullins-trained star in Al Boum Photo. Galopin Des Champs’ stablemate, Stattler, also gave a strong performance in the Irish Gold Cup to steal second from 18-1 shot Fury Road to make it a one-two finish for Mullins.
With Townend’s glowing experience in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and fine form of Galopin Des Champs in the build-up to the four-day meeting, this could make for a powerful winning combination. As we gear up for the Gold Cup, apart from Galopin Des Champs and arguably Stattler, none of the bigger stars in the race have shown as much promise as we would have liked. Dan Skelton’s Protektorat gave a decent account of himself in the Cotswold Chase at Festival Trials Day over a week ago but it wasn’t enough for him to win when he was expected to.
Reigning champion A Plus Tard has only featured once since hoisting the Gold Cup last March but got pulled up on her first return to action at Haydock in November, so he has got his work cut out to try and defend his crown against the growing might of Galopin Des Champs.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
