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Nine key questions as entries for the 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup are revealed

Last Updated: Thu 21 Dec 2023

Will Santini wear blinkers in the Magners-sponsored showpiece and what is Willie Mullins' B Team like? Andy Stephens attempts to answer these teasers and many more

You’ve got to be in it to win it. And connections of 41 horses have grasped that idea by paying an initial £585 to enter their horses for the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup on March 19.

There’s something for everyone among those engaged. Al Boum Photo is seeking to become a rare triple winner; Native River is after his crown back; the first seven home last year could all meet again and so could the first four in the RSA, while Magic Of Light may bid to become the first mare to win since Dawn Run in 1986. Oh, and Yorkhill’s also in there after being given away by his owner.

No fewer than a dozen of those in contention have at least one Festival win to their name and it isn’t all about Mullins, Elliott, Nicholls and Henderson as 18 different trainers have possible representatives.

Plenty of water is still to flow under the bridge over the next ten weeks but here are nine key questions.

1 Al Boum Photo has won the past two – why look further?

Watch analysis of how Al Boum Photo retained his crown last year

There’s inevitably lots of talk about him emulating the past three triple winners, Cottage Rake (1948-50), Arkle (1964-66) and Best Mate (2002-04), with plenty of folk seeming to have overlooked that Golden Miller won the race five times in the 1930s, albeit when it was more of a trial for the Grand National.

Al Boum Photo is still only nine, has been sparingly raced (much as Best Mate was), is in excellent hands and clearly sets the bar high for any younger pretenders.

His now annual reappearance win at Tramore on New Year’s Day divided opinion and Willie Mullins himself seemed to go through a range of emotions in the 48 hours that followed. He initially suggested his star might need another run but subsequently seems to have gone cool on the idea.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I fancy he will stick to Plan A and again send him to Cheltenham without a second outing.

There are no evident chinks in the ante-post favourite, who is a general 7-2, but he had to pull out all the stops to prevail in a blanket finish last year and we don’t know whether that latest battle has left a mark.

My general view is that Gold Cup winners – or those who come close to winning - usually have to leave a little of themselves on Cheltenham’s uphill finish. Long Run, Coneygree, Don Cossack and Sizing John are all recent example of winners who were never quite the same again.

2 Just how good is last year’s form?

Bristol De Mai is the only Gold Cup also-ran to have since won (Focusonracing)

It’s a little wobbly, isn’t it?

The seven horses who chased Al Boum Photo have since between them run 13 times, and none have won. Six of those reverses have been at odds ranging between 11-10 and 3-1.

In fact, the only horses who completed in last year’s race to have subsequently won have been Al Boum Photo himself – against inferior opposition in Grade Three company – and ninth-placed Bristol De Mai, who landed a third Betfair Chase back at his beloved Haydock Park.

The stat is skewed a little by Aintree and Punchestown not taking place last spring, but the race has yet to be franked and remember a length and a half separated the first four home.

3 What’s the Willie Mullins B-Team like?

The master trainer has the strongest hand, at least numerically, with six other entries to juggle in Acapella Bourgeois, Allaho (40-1), Burrows Saint, Castlebawn West (50-1), Kemboy (25-1) and Melon (28-1).

Of those, Allaho (Ryanair) and Burrows Saint (Grand National) seem far from certain to line up, while Acapella Bourgeois would surely only be making up the numbers.

Castlebawn West upped his game when landing the Paddy Power Chase last time, off a mark of 148, but he jumped poorly before unseating his rider in the RSA last year and will probably need to improve another stone.

Kemboy and Melon are classy customers but the former has never produced his best at Cheltenham (fourth has been his best finish at four Festivals) while the latter, a four-time Festival runner-up, must prove his stamina and somehow remains without a Grade One win after 15 attempts. The Ryanair Chase would be a better fit for him.

So, in summary, Al Boum Photo is the obvious ace in the Mullins pack.

4 Will we see Santini in blinkers?

It must be a possibility.

Nicky Henderson equipped him with first-time cheekpieces in the Gold Cup last year, when he ran a personal best to be beaten a neck, and has retained them this term. They’ve helped, although to my eye he still looked awkward when beaten on his return at Aintree.

Santini, a best-priced 11-1, has all the attributes needed to win a Gold Cup, bar a mind that sometimes seems to drift elsewhere.

He reminds me of See More Business, who won the 1999 Gold Cup after being transformed by blinkers. Aged nine at the time, like Santini, See More Business was in danger of losing his way and in his book, Lucky Break, published about a decade ago, trainer Paul Nicholls revealed that the horse was "pulling wool over my eyes".

Nicholls apparently had a devil of a job convincing owners Paul Barber and John Keighley to go along with his idea of using blinkers but positive workouts with them at home, when he was a 33-1 chance in the betting, convinced him that they had to go on.

“Although John was totally against using blinkers I took the law into my own hands and declared them anyway,” Nicholls wrote. “Running the horse without them would have been a waste of time. Using blinkers for the first time, I felt, could well be our trump card. If he improved as much on the course as he’d done at home, then we were definitely in with a shout.”

The rest is history: See More Business waltzed home. They say you should have no regrets in life, and I fancy Santini's connections will alway be left wondering "what if" if they don't roll the dice.

5 Have any of last year’s novices got what it takes?

Watch a full replay of last year's RSA Chase, in which Champ overhauled Minella Indo in the closing stages

Collectively, they were a decent bunch.

Champ, Minella Indo and Allaho served up an RSA Chase finish that will long live in the memory, while Samcro and Melon fought out a thrilling Marsh Chase. In addition, Imperial Aura impressed in the novices’ handicap chase and has continued to thrive, although the Ryanair Chase seems to be his objective.

Second and third-season chasers have dominated the Gold Cup for the past two decades and looking beyond them is not for me.

To further illustrate that point, since 2000 the only horses to have won a Gold Cup after more than a dozen previous chase starts have been the mighty Kauto Star (when he won for a second time in 2009) and Don Cossack.

Best Mate was having only his 13th race over the larger obstacles when completing his hat-trick in 2004, while Al Boum Photo has still only had 12 races over fences.

The obvious pair are Champ and Minella Indo. The former’s absence this season is a niggle, as is his jumping, but he’s clearly got a stack of ability and is totally unexposed stepping up in distance. Keep in mind, too, that the past three renewals of the Gold Cup have been won by horses who had run just once that campaign.

I’ve been a fan of Minella Indo for a long while and, to my mind, he was something of an unlucky loser in the RSA, having landed the Albert Bartlett 12 months earlier. And all the signs are that the RSA form is rock-solid - Aye Right (fifth) and Castlebawn West (unseated two out when well held) were beaten out of sight but have been among those to frank the form.

Minella Indo himself began this season in flawless fashion with wins at Wexford and Navan but, frustratingly, fell early on in the Savills Chase – depriving us of the chance to measure him against his elders.

He’s usually a sound jumper and has a great blend of speed and stamina. Rachael Blackmore riding a Gold Cup winner a few months after Bryony Frost’s King George VI Chase triumph on Frodon? It has to be a possibility.

6 Any surprise entries or unexpected absentees?

We are going to have to wait until 2022 to see Envoi Allen in the Gold Cup (Focusonracing)

There are no novices, such as Envoi Allen or Monkfish, and no real old-timers such as Faugheen. In addition, another year has slipped by without any French involvement.

Pretty much all the other names you would expect feature among the 41, with Ireland having 17 possible challengers.

The next forfeit stage is on February 9, when the poker game ramps up a little and you have to pay a further £1,170 to stay at the table or fold.

7 How many more clues are we going to get?

You would think the Paddy Power Cotswold Chase, at Cheltenham on January 30, would be a big pointer but the last horse to do the double was Looks Like Trouble in 2000.

Having said that, Santini beat Bristol De Mai in last year’s running before going down by a neck in the main event.

Champ is scheduled to make his return in the race this year, with Santini pencilled in for the Denman Chase at Newbury on February 13, although I suppose Nicky Henderson, who trains both, could swap them around.

Native River, Bristol De Mai, Lake View Lad, The Conditional and Saint Calvados are other intended Cotswold runners. It is shaping up into a cracking renewal.

Coneygree and Native River won the Denman Chase en-route to Gold Cup glory, as did Denman and Kauto Star, before the race was renamed in honour of the former.

The Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown a week before the Denman Chase seems certain to be highly informative, plus keep an eye on the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles on January 24. Formerly known as the Kinloch Brae, Don Cossack and Sizing John used it as a stepping stone to glory in the Cotswolds.

Watch a full replay of last year's Cotswold Chase

8 Who are horses trading at big prices worth a second look?

Several firms offer 40-1 against Native River, which is quite insulting given the 2018 winner was not disgraced when fourth the following year (also third in 2017) and has done little wrong in three outings since.

He shaped as if retaining plenty of ability when third on his return in the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree last month and is likely to give it another good shot.

The downside is that, aged 11, history is heavily against him. The last winner aged older than 10 was What A Myth in 1969.

Frodon reserves his best for Cheltenham and won the King George VI Chase on merit, making 16-1 worth a second look. But I just cannot see him quite getting home, or being quite good enough to beat a range of different rivals.

The entry of Royal Pagaille, owned by Rich Ricci and trained by Venetia Williams, catches the eye. He’s only seven and has looked a different animal this season, winning easily off a mark of 140 over 3m at Kempton Park last time.

He’s obviously got a long way to go before even getting close to Gold Cup standard, but at least is a young staying chaser on the up. Ricci’s only other possible runner in the race is his Grand National hope, Burrows Saint.

9 And, finally, you've got a free £5 bet, who would you put it on?

Minella Indo ticks plenty of boxes and is a 10-1 chance (Focusonracing)

There’s not much value in backing Al Boum Photo at this stage, even if you think he is going to win. I can’t see him being much shorter than 7-2 on the day unless Mullins does run him again beforehand and he bolts up.

There have been only two winners returned at double-figure odds since 2000, so it does not often pay to go for the outlandish.

If I knew Santini was going to be equipped with blinkers, then he would carry my money at 11-1.

But there's no indication yet that he will and so my punt, at this stage, would be Minella Indo at 10-1.

He ticks all the boxes and is set to run in the Irish Gold Cup next month, where he will have an excellent chance of enhancing his claims.

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