Cheltenham Festival betting

Cheltenham will rename its least expensive enclosure "The Best Mate" from the start of next season as a tribute to the triple winner of the totesport Cheltenham Betting Gold Cup. Brewers Courage had previously sponsored this enclosure under the titles of Fosters and Courage. The £3.5 million redevelopment of the enclosure was opened last week, featuring the Dawn Run and Desert Orchid Grandstands with the capacity increased to 12,500.

Cheltenham's Managing Director, Edward Gillespie, announced the Racecourse Board's decision today: "We feel it is wholly appropriate to commemorate Best Mate's achievement with the renaming of this popular enclosure directly opposite the main stands. Customers are more than welcome to check out  Betfair's  for all the latest news on the 2008 Festival.

"Make no mistake, this third Gold Cup win is equivalent for our sport of England winning the World Cup would be for football. We no longer have to look back to 1966 when Arkle won for the third time. Jump racing is enjoying a golden age and contenders for greatness will in future be compared with Best Mate."

Jim Lewis, owner of Best Mate, expressed his delight at the decision: "A truly wonderful tribute to a very public horse.

Cheltenham Festival Free Bets

a) Its probably best not to pin your hopes on one piece of form, as a two year old, some 2 years ago when trying to find the winner of the Wokingham ?

b) When discussing the going needs of a particular horse its more important to look at what the parents offspring have favoured, rather than what going the parents themselves favoured ?

c) Its probably best to assume the (very good) trainer knows a tad more about his horses than you do and the fact that the horse has been almost exclusively campaigned on softish going, venturing abroard in his search, would seem to suggest that he indeed does require softish conditions ??

The form was to highlight it can run well on good to firm, any of its group runs is good enough to win the Wokingham, there's probably only 2 runs that don't - so pick any of them to pin hopes on. Paul Nicholls tried to run on soft thinking it wouldn't like good - when you've got 300 horses in training and are very busy and rich - you don't sit at computer looking into minute detail of all your horses - Ted Durcan said it after 1 run and since then that's it - but it doesn't mean he's right .


First of all, most 2 year olds will go on fast ground ONCE but if they don't like it then they will not produce the same level of performance again on it (basic beginners punting)

The very fact that the horse hasn't been asked to race on ground faster than good (good once at the Curragh, good/soft or slower other times) in 12 subsequent runs since Ascot seems to suggest you are wrong about him.

It doesn't matter one jot what his parents liked, or for that matter what his siblings like ,the only thing that matters is what THIS horse likes. Have you not considered that the horse may have a physical reason why he is kept away from fast ground? It doesn't have to have anything to do with his breeding, he may for example have brittle feet ?.

Anyway, with a massive negative regarding the going, no knowledge of the draw, worries that he's not a proper 6f horse added to the fact that he's also fully exposed ,i would think he would be easy to pass over at this stage.