Matty Sutcliffe began his ante-post column for the 2025 Cheltenham Festival last week with a tip for the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, but it is fair to say his second seasonal selection will really catch the eye. He has picked out a 100/1 bet for the Cheltenham Gold Cup below…
Cheltenham Gold Cup – Quai De Bourbon 100/1 1pt EW 3 places
A new staying king was crowned in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last season when Gavin Cromwell’s Inothewayurthinkin bolted up the hill after the last to deny Galopin Des Champs a historic treble in the contest, with the second subsequently bolting up in the Punchestown Gold Cup. While Galopin Des Champs made a few errors that day and didn’t look all that comfortable on the ground, you could argue the same regarding the winner who wasn’t the most fluent himself, but displayed a terrific engine to win cosily and should he sharpen up his jumping this season, it’s tough to see the form being turned around now Galopin Des Champs is nearing that all dreaded double figure age, with the last ten year old winner being Cool Dawn in 1998.
Outside of that pair, the likes of Fact To File, Gaelic Warrior and Majborough will all have multiple options across the festival, and as we manoeuvre further down the market the likes of Lecky Watson, The Jukebox Man and Caldwell Potter will all need to step up a stone or so to stake their claim.
Irish Grand National winner Haiti Couleurs is arguably a touch overpriced at 25/1 as this will be his target and he’s proven both on the course and with stamina, but it’s the third from the Irish Grand National, QUAI DE BOURBON, who get the ante-post nod in the second week of our series at a whopping 100/1.
Now, it is slightly concerning that there’s been very little noise about him in stable tours but on the flip side there’s been nothing to come out of the Closutton woodwork to suggest he’s been met with a setback either, so I’m happy to chance he’s alive and well on the path to finally fulfilling his staying chasing ability this season.
Part of this selection is that he’s reminiscent of how Mullins brought through Galopin Des Champs, albeit Quai De Bourbon looked a tad more promising as a four year old having gone unbeaten on his first two starts for the yard. Admittedly Galopin Des Champs was set two graded tasks, latterly finishing a nine lengths sixth in the Chanelle Pharma Novice at Leopardstown, but he won the Martin Pipe in the manner of a seriously thrown in horse off 142 and Quai De Bourbon lost little in defeat there himself off 140 two seasons ago, beaten only two lengths having travelled notably strong throughout shaping as if needing a trip and a fence.
The comparisons slightly deter given Galopin Des Champs won the Grade One Irish Mirror Novices’ Hurdle at Punchestown next time out, whereas Quai De Bourbon was part of the Ayr consortium to collect further prize money for the British trainers title and he duly obliged by a comfortable six lengths.
Quai De Bourbon made his chase debut in the Rising Stars Beginners Chase at Leopardstown just as Galopin Des Champs did in 2021 and Fact To File did the year prior which signalled the regard he was held in at home and while he failed to justify 8/11 favouritism, he jumped poorly throughout which likely took its toll toward the finish when failing to reel in Dee Capo and Chapeau Du Soleil.
That form was reversed at Gowran Park when fending off Chapeau Du Soleil, and he wasn’t seen again until the Brown Advisory. Like Galopin Des Champs, he failed to complete that contest and was absolutely no certainty to bolt up like his stable companion would have, I thought he travelled well enough throughout to suggest defeat wasn’t out of the question and he just came unstuck after unseating when short of room toward the inside rail.
He was well-backed into 9/2 in the Mildmay at Aintree, a race that’s historically thrown up plenty of Gold Cup contenders/winners not least Inothewayurthinkin, and having once again travelled strongly into contention he was mightily unlucky to be brought down by his stablemate Dancing City. He was going much better than Jordans at the time who rallied well to be beaten a length by the winner so while I may be looking at this through slight tinted lens given I tipped him at 12/1, there’s very little reason why he wouldn’t have got much closer than the eventual second with a clear path.
Quai De Bourbon was then well backed into the 11/2 favourite for the Irish Grand National (again, typically, with my cash on at 10/1) and as per the racing post comments, to say he ‘didn’t jump with fluency’ was an understatement. Despite being shuffled back after a round of influent jumping, he was still able to jump the second last in second behind the eventual winner, who had the perfect round of jumping throughout.
To conclude last season, he displayed a serious engine, class, but fell short through luck and inexperience jumping. If the yard can improve the latter pair this season to back up the former, then he has all the attributes required to make it into a top level staying chaser. We should also note that he’s only a six-year-old, and like many of those 3/4yo’s coming from France with a big frame to fill they need plenty of time to develop into their physique. Part of me does think he could make up into a Grand National candidate, which he has been backed for lately, but they may take that route via the Gold Cup though given the wealth of Grand National horses they already have, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him contest that race as an eight year old next season.
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