Will Des Champs be Galopin towards a third consecutive Gold Cup success?
irishracing.com news
Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Galopin Des Champs and Paul Townend win their second Gold Cup
© Photo Healy Racing
National Hunt racing fans always have at least one eye on the Cheltenham Festival and to many the Gold Cup is the pinnacle of the sport.
It’s the ultimate test of speed, stamina and class, making it a very hard race to win and many excellent horses over the years have failed to do so. Galopin Des Champs has no trouble at all however, as the Willie Mullins-trained gelding has won the last two renewals. Aiming to join iconic greats such as Arkle and Best Mate on three wins this year, here we take a look at his chances of pulling off an almighty achievement.
Back on top
Mullins’ nine-year-old will want to be winning it this year as no 10-year-old has managed to claim Gold Cup glory in the last decade. The demands that the race places upon a horse means you don’t want too many miles on the clock.
Related Stories
Galopin takes on nine rivals in hat-trick hunt
Dublin Racing Festival weekend will offer further pointers for Il Est Francais team
File to spearhead McManus Gold run at Leopardstown
Champs chasing Irish Gold Cup hat-trick
5 ante-post favourites who can win at the Cheltenham Festival
Relatively aggressively campaigned for a Gold Cup horse, he reestablished himself as the top dog with a dominant win in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas. Fact To File managed to get the better of him at Punchestown in the John Durkan before that, but Galopin Des Champs is always more vulnerable on his first and last starts of the season.
We should get to see the pair clash in the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival this weekend and the defending champion is surely going to be hard to beat at his beloved Leopardstown once again.
Defeat wouldn’t be too damaging to Galopin Des Champs’ chances at Cheltenham though, as the Gold Cup will be a very different test, one that clearly plays to his strengths.
The competition
Stablemate Fact To File has already beaten him once this season but was firmly put in his place last time out. The 2024 Brown Advisory winner shaped as if the Gold Cup would suit when dominating in the staying novice division and he looks best placed to usurp the king.
Banbridge returned to three miles for the first time since his novice hurdle days in the King George and played his hand very late to pounce and claim victory for Joseph O’Brien. The Gold Cup is a very different story though, and he may run out of petrol in the latter stages at Cheltenham.
Gerri Colombe is a very talented horse in his own right and clearly wasn’t at his best when finishing third in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal in November. If Gordon Elliott can get him back to his best, he could be one for the places but looks vulnerable from a win perspective.
Monty’s Star was runner-up behind Fact To File in the Brown Advisory at Cheltenham last year and has a similar profile to Minella Indo, who won the race for the same connections in 2021. This could be the strongest Gold Cup in a while and perhaps he’s a place candidate.
A quick word for the home team, L’Homme Presse is the only one with any sort of chance and he won the Cotswold Chase last weekend. He emptied out on the run-in last year however, and the same will probably happen again this time around.
Gerri Colombe wins the William Hill Bowl Chase Grade 1 Aintree 11 4 2024
© Photo Healy Racing
Verdict
It could be now or never for Galopin Des Champs, given the poor record of veterans in recent years, and he’s still very much at the top of his game. Victory would be a deserved reward for his aggressive campaigning and he has set the bar very high.