Caspian Caviar Gold Cup Chase Trends 2016

A Grade 3 Handicap Chase contested at Prestbury Park, the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup is open to horses 4 years old or older and has previously been won by horses such as Double Ross, Unioniste, Quantitativeeasing and most recently Village Vic. The race will most likely show us a few horses who are on the Road to the Cheltenham Festival and will return here in March for various races. Read on for our Caspian Caviar Gold Cup tips & preview for what is an exciting renewal of the race and as always follow us on Twitter for the latest news and opinions leading up to Cheltenham’s International meeting.

• FAVOURITES DON’T DO WELL – Since 1996 only one favourite has won the race, that being Poquelin in 2009.
• TOP WEIGHTS STRUGGLE – Since 2002 only one top weight has won the race, that being Poquelin in 2010.
• 6 TO 8 YEAR OLDS DO BEST – Since 1993 no horses aged 9 or older have won the race, and only one horse under the age of 6 has won the race (Unioniste in 2012).
• CHELTENHAM FORM MATTERS – Only two of the previous 12 winners hadn’t previously placed at the Home of Jumps racing.
• FRENCH BRED SUCCESS – 7 out of the last 13 runnings of the race have been won by French Bred horses.
• THE CHAMPION DUO – Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson have both won the race 3 times since 2000, with Nicholls winning in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

Taking into account all the trends and previous races, the pick would be ALOOMOMO, who is a French Bred 6yo with lots of potential. Although he doesn’t have the Cheltenham Form trend, he did well to finish 6th in a Festival race here in March so that isn’t too much of a concern. He isn’t the favourite although fancied in the market and should run very well, although the major concern is the ground, as he won’t run if there isn’t any soft in the description. With the forecast not being too promising rain wise, it may be unlikely that he runs.

OVERVIEW

Cheltenham Racecourse is the Home Of Jumps racing for a reason, with unforgiving fences and the very tricky Cheltenham hill which tests stamina of even the best stayers. Therefore it isn’t a surprise that Cheltenham form really does matter and only two previous winners hadn’t placed previously at Prestbury Park.

Top weights in the race do struggle and that’s not uncommon in big handicap races, however it does make it much more difficult for Taquin Du Seuil who runs off 11st 12lb and is giving a minimum of 3lbs away, however that is only to Village Vic and concedes upwards of 5lbs to the rest of the field.

What will be more of a difficult statistic to overcome for both of those horses is their age, with the last 9 year old to win the race being Fragrant Dawn in 1993. Other horses this affects is Buywise, Module, Tenor Nivernais and Turban.

Nicky Henderson and Paul Nicholls have the joint best record in the race, both winning it 3 times although Nicholls has done best in recent times. Henderson only runs Full Shift who is 20/1 but does fit some of the trends, with Nicholls running the current favourite Bouvreuil, who as a 5yo will be bidding to become only the 2nd horse since 2000 to win the race under the age of 6, although Unioniste who won at the age of 4 was trained by Nicholls. He also runs Frodon who could be interesting judged on his French breeding and previous placing at Cheltenham and Art Mauresque who also has previously won at Cheltenham but needs to step up on previous efforts.

Our Channel 4 racing tips will be live on Friday evening at about 7pm but our Channel 4 racing previews are now available to read. Cheltenham racecourse will host some top class action this weekend and everyone is looking forward to getting stuck in.