As the jumps racing season prepares to kick into full gear, all eyes turn to the prestigious Cheltenham November Meeting—the traditional curtain raiser and a key fixture in the National Hunt calendar.
One of the highlights of the two-day event is the Gold Cup Handicap Chase, inaugurated in 1960 and raced over roughly two miles and four furlongs.
Contested on the Old Course at Prestbury Park, 16 fences and some top-class opposition need to be successfully navigated by the winner.
With the race coming so early in the season, there isn’t much form to go off beforehand—making it hard to pick a horse in the Cheltenham Meeting odds.
Regardless, read on as we take a look at the early favourites for the valuable Premier Gold Cup Handicap Chase.
Crebilly – 6/1
Crebilly was last seen finishing around midfield in the Freebooter Handicap Chase at the Aintree Grand National Meeting in April, and while that was a disappointing showing as he weakened over an extended distance, it does not accurately reflect his ability.
His best form came in the middle of the 2023-24 National Hunt campaign when he won a small-field Novices’ Chase at Exeter in February before finishing runner-up to the Harry Redknapp-owned Shakem Up’arry at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
The seven-year-old, now trained by Jonjo and AJ O’Neill, fell at the second last when challenging Ginny’s Destiny in a Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase, particularly over course and distance at this meeting 12 months ago, and tends to go very well after a break.
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Ginny’s Destiny – 8/1
That leads us nicely to Ginny’s Destiny. He came on leaps and bounds under the expert guidance of multiple-time Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls when switching to his Ditcheat yard from Tom Lacey last October.
The eight-year-old was seventh on debut at Cheltenham when arguably needing the run after 260 days off the track, but went on to have a fantastic season—winning three times in a row at Prestbury Park.
Upped in class for Grade 1 contests at the major Spring meetings, Ginny’s Destiny was runner-up to Grey Dawning and Il Etait Temps at the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree. But she’s a course specialist here and a drop in grade for this contest should suit.
In Excelsis Deo – 10/1
In Excelsis Deo has won just two of his 10 starts over fences for Harry Fry, and he was last seen being pulled up in the Grade 3 Galway Plate over the summer after not jumping well and making numerous bad mistakes.
However, his best form has come at Prestbury Park—including the most recent win on his penultimate start, justifying his favourite status in the horse racing odds in the Grade 2 Silver Trophy Handicap Chase at Cheltenham in April.
The six-year-old also placed in his first two starts of last season here, finishing third on his seasonal reappearance in October before going one better in the Quintessentially Handicap Chase in mid-December.
Both of those outings were arguably not at his optimum distance, and a return to two miles and four-and-a-half furlongs, like in the Silver Trophy, could be right up his street.
