Cheltenham Festival 2024 LIVE: Day 4 – Galopin Des Champs, Fastorslow, Corach Rambler all among the runners for the Gold Cup at 3.30pm

Galopin Des Champs hopes to enter an elite club of multiple Gold Cup winners this afternoon, including Arkle, Best Mate, Kauto Star and his stablemate Al Boum Photo, but reaching the heady heights of Golden Miller is still a long way off.

Chestnut is the only horse to have won the race an astonishing five times, in consecutive years between 1932 and 1936, and in 1934 he also became the only horse to win the Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same year. .

His statue now watches over the parade ring at the hippodrome.

With just over an hour to go until we kick off in the Cotswold, why not check out Mail Sport’s tips for all the action on day four?

Racing insider Robin Goodfellow, National Hunt legend Peter Scudamore and more offer their two cents below.

It may be hailed as the crown jewel of the National Hunt, but the prize money on offer to the winner pales in comparison to its rival for the eyes, the Grand National.

Today’s winner will pocket £351,688, duly divided between owner, trainer, staff and jockey, compared to the £561,300 up for grabs at Aintree.

But both grand prizes look shoddy compared to the riches available in Flat racing: Ascot’s Champion Stakes is worth £737,230 to the winner and the Epsom Derby offers the biggest purse on offer in the UK, at £892,160 for the horse first. beyond the mail.

Things aren’t as muddy as the heavy terrain Dessie had to endure 35 years ago, but persistent rain has made the Chase course soft and heavy in places ahead of the day’s main race.

One positive is that the grass is ultra-fresh, having not been touched by boots or hooves since last May, and the Gold Cup is the first Chase of the day.

St Patrick’s Thursday had a cup final feel to it as the legendary players won three of seven races and both owners won at the Festival for the first time.

Below, Mail Sport’s Dominic King looks back on a day for football lovers.

In the 1989 race, Desert Orchid, one of the sport’s most beloved horses, battled through difficult conditions to beat Mudlark Yahoo in the final and establish himself as one of the most successful and popular horses in National Hunt history.

If you’ve never seen his miraculous winning streak, I implore you to watch the clip below.

14:50 – Albert Bartlett’s Novice Hurdle

16:10 – St James’s Place Hunter Chase

5:30 p.m. – Martin Pipe handicap obstacles

We’ll be underway on day four in just over an hour and a half – plenty of time to peruse what our expert Paddy Power tipsters have to say about each of the day’s races.

You can read his full thoughts below.

Talk of a greenwash may yet resurface come nightfall, but after a strong Thursday, a rout that surpassed last year’s has been called off after a stunning turnaround from the British coaches.

That means the standings heading into day four are: Ireland 12-8 Great Britain.

This is largely due to the heroic effort of Dan Skelton’s yard, with brother Harry aboard winners Protektorat, Monmiral, Langer Dan and Gray Dawning.

For those who want to back the hot trainer’s runners today, stay tuned for:

• Faivoir and L’Eau Du Sud in the County Hurdle
• Jay Jay Reilly on Martin Pipe

L’Eau Du Sud has certainly seen its prospects improve after an impressive festival for the patio. Paddy Power He has it as a favorite at 2:10 p.m. on 2/7.

Former festival jockey Lizzie Kelly has been on fire this week and her predictions remain unmissable.

She and Mail Sport’s Marcus Townend share their thoughts on Galopin Des Champs, Triumph Hurdle prospect Kargese and Readin Tommy Wrong in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.

See all his thoughts below.

The resplendent jackpot of the afternoon, in all its splendor, and no less brilliant because of the gloomy gray sky.

A new Gold Cup trophy is released each year, estimated to be worth £10,000 (FYI, that’s what 10 ounces of gold looks like).

The winner of last year’s Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase moves on to the big race 12 months later, but as his trainer Patrick Neville explains, conditions could still prevent the horse from showing his best form.

The conditions there are difficult. We are delighted to be here and it is fantastic to compete in the Gold Cup.

There is only one Gold Cup, so we have to take our opportunity. The conditions are not really in our favor, but you never know.

The Willie Mullins-trained Gold Cup winner is in tremendous form returning to the contest he won last year, having beaten main rival Fastorslow in their last meeting at Leopardstown in February.

Mullins was denied the chance to surpass his 100-race milestone yesterday, but there is no doubt he will add a few more winners to his Festival haul today, and perhaps take home the biggest prize of all.

But then, usually, the heavens will open once again. It has been a flooded week in the Cotswolds and as a result we have been denied some key runners, including Gold Cup prospect Hewick from John Hanlon’s yard.

Shishkin was also withdrawn earlier in the week, due to the mysterious ailment that has decimated Nicky Henderson’s horses at the worst possible time.

The Mail Sport columnist is looking forward to a delightful Gold Cup centenary celebration this afternoon, but before that, a word about yesterday’s impressive British comeback.

Things were looking bad for the hosts on Wednesday night, but after claiming five wins to Ireland’s two on Thursday, a real needle has been injected into the Prestbury Cup.

You can read more from the ITV Racing presenter below.

Rain began to fall once again over Cheltenham towards the second half of yesterday, and throughout the night, there were some biblical looking shots of Cheltenham High Street.

As such, the Soft, Heavy in yesterday’s venues is updated to Heavy on the Hurdle Course and Soft, Heavy in Chase Course venues, as race director Jon Pullin explains below.

First up is our daily Cheltenham breakfast newsletter, bringing you everything you may have missed on a brilliant third day of the festival.

It was a day for football managers, outsiders and Brits striking back on St Patrick’s Thursday… and you can catch up on it all below.

Hello and welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of the big event – it’s Gold Cup Day at Cheltenham, and the feature race takes place in just over five hours at 3.30pm.

We have a host of tempting contenders in the mix, including last year’s winner Galopin Des Champs, last year’s runner-up Bravemansgame and Grand National winner Corach Rambler.

But the situation could prove a curveball for the most coveted trophy in National Hunt racing, after more rain in boggy Prestbury Park overnight.

Cheltenham Friday kicks off at 1.30pm, but before that we’ll be bringing you all the latest Gold Cup news, build-up and information right here.