Well we are at Day 4 already of the Cheltenham Festival 2009 and it will soon be all over for another 12 months. The main race today and the highlight of the whole meeting is the Totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup worth £475,000 run over 3 miles 2 furlongs. Kauto Star (pictured) will make history if he can regain his crown. After the defeats of Binocular,Voy Por Ustedes and Kasbah Bliss can another “good thing” bite the dust? He clearly looks the best on all form. Denman looked very ring rusty on his return in the Levy Board Chase at Kempton where he was beaten 23 lengths by Madison Du Berlais. In the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury at the end of November Madison Du Berlais had cheekpieces fitted for the first time and showed improved form in beating Air Force One. Big Bucks was right there coming to the last before he unseated his rider. The form of the race now looks solid after Big Bucks win in the World Hurdle on Thursday. Air Force One disappointed in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day where he injured himself. Kauto Star was a majestic winner of this race. Air Force One, Kauto Star and Exotic Dancer have all had breaks since the end of December in which to freshen them up. Tony McCoy has chosen Exotic Dancer ahead of Albertas Run as his ride. Kauto Star should make history but perhaps we might see a new kid on the block run into a place at big odds in Air Force One. He is still only a seven year old and is worth following whatever.
The first race on the card is the JCB Triumph Hurdle worth £120,000 run over 2 miles 1 furlong for 4 year olds only. This looks a very hot contest. It would be nice to see Alan King and Robert Thornton get some compensation for the defeat of Voy Por Ustedes with Walk On. The trainer rates him highly but then the same applies to the trainers of Zaynar, Ebadiyah, Master of Arts and Reve De Sivola, just to name a few! Walk On is a course and distance winner and I hope he can win over the course again.