Cheltenham Festival: BetMGM Cup Betting Tips
The first handicap on Wednesday’s Cheltenham Festival Day Two card is the BetMGM Cup – and it’s going to be a thoroughly competitive event with lots of betting angles to consider.
Don’t be put off by those carrying big weights, as all bar two of the last 10 winners have carried in excess of 11st. The stats suggest, though, that it might be worth ruling out veterans as they have a poor record over the last decade.
A maximum field of 24 has been declared, with two reserves on the list, and our expert has selected a couple of strong fancies to follow, including a potentially well handicapped Dan Skelton runner…
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Selection: Kateira @ 7/1
Looking at some of the important recent trends you might want to look past Ballyadam, Colonel Mustard and Dargiannini, as the oldest winner in the last decade was nine-years-old and that doesn’t bode well for the 11-year-olds in the field.
There are four trainers who have won this race on two occasions each over the last 10 years and none of those names will surprise you.
Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott are the Irish trainers on this list, with British handlers Dan Skelton and Nicky Henderson both on there too. All four are represented here and Mullins trains the first two in the market: Storm Heart (5/1 fav) and Kopeck De Mee (7/1).
Jimmy Du Seuil landed the odds for him last year and he has five chances of following up. The lightly raced Kopeck De Mee is the one with the most scope for improvement.
Farren Glory (18/1) is Gordon Elliott’s sole representative, while Nicky Henderson runs Lanzarote winner Iberico Lord (17/2), as well as Lucky Place (18/1).
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Dan Skelton has just the one runner, Kateira (7/1), and she has a similar profile to Langer Dan, who won this race in successive seasons.
Langer Dan caused a controversy when winning this race for the second time in 2024, off the same mark he had won off the previous year.
Skelton put it down to him being a spring horse, as a string of very poor displays throughout the season caused his mark to crash back down. Interestingly, Langer Dan achieved those successes off a mark of 141 and that is the rating currently held by Kateira.
She’s a competitive graded hurdler when at her very best and she began the season by beating the Champion Hurdler by 28 lengths, in a Listed contest for mares.
Connections have clearly been keen to get her mark down this season and she was comfortably beaten in a couple of handicaps at Musselburgh and Ascot. She won a big handicap at Aintree off a mark of 136 back in 2024 and should be very competitive here.
Next Best: Forty Coats @ 12/1
It hasn’t been the greatest of seasons so far for Henry de Bromhead but he’s one of the very best at getting his horses in top form for the Cheltenham Festival.
Stable jockey Darragh O’Keeffe rides the interesting Forty Coats (12/1) here and the seven-year-old appears to have a good each-way chance.
Still a maiden over hurdles, he ran some nice races in defeat last term and the fact that they ran him in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle is probably quite telling.
That race is run over course and distance and he ran a cracker, finishing fourth behind leading Champion Hurdle candidate The New Lion.
While it’s a slight concern that he didn’t manage to win a maiden hurdle in two starts so far this season, that is probably good news for his handicap mark and handicaps can also help.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change
