Cheltenham: Haiti Couleurs is bet365's "biggest ante-post loser"

Rebecca Curtis' stable star added the Welsh Grand National to his CV over Christmas and the impression it created has attracted serious support for the feature race at the Cheltenham Festival.

bet365's Pat Cooney said: "The move for Haiti Couleurs continues each day, and he is now our biggest ante-post loser in what looks a wide-open Cheltenham Gold Cup.""He was a well backed winner of the Welsh Grand National under Sean Bowen who will maintain the partnership in March."It’s not often that Sean Bowen rides a horse priced at double figures, so it's no surprise our current 14/1 is proving popular."Given the weight of money, I’d have Haiti Couleurs to be a single figure price on Gold Cup day."

A Cheltenham Festival winner in 2025, the nine-year-old has already proved his effectiveness at the venue when landing the rebranded National Hunt Chase last March.Whilst that victory came on the Old Course, the same cannot be said for the handicap chase that he won at the December Meeting three months prior where he looked at complete ease on the New Course; the very same track undertaken in the Gold Cup.Stamina will be no issue either.As well as the aforementioned Welsh Grand National success, Haiti Couleurs ended last season by winning the Irish equivalent by three-and-three-quarter lengths.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup picture has changed dramatically since the beginning of the season, with new contenders emerging month on month, and the Grade 1 events over Christmas did nothing but muddy the waters with a view to the second Friday in March.You could throw a blanket over The Jukebox Man (7-1), Banbridge (33-1), Gaelic Warrior (7-1) and Jango Baie (7-1) at the finish of what was a cracker of a King George.The Jukebox Man took the spoils but the slow tempo that the race was ran at threw up more questions than answers with regard to their Gold Cup credentials.Over in Ireland it was Affordale Fury who tossed his hat into the ring.He was the subject of plenty of support on the day and downed both the reigning Gold Cup champion Inothewayurthinkin and two-time winner Galopin Des Champs.There is a suspicion that race fitness played a huge part in the end result of the race but at just eight years old, there could be more to come from the winner.