Cheltenham Festival LIVE: 5:30 result, tips and latest odds after exciting Gold Cup race

14-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls spoke to Betfair about the upcoming Cheltenham Festival and previewed his best picks for the week.

Nicholls has stable star Bravemansgame prepared to compete in the Gold Cup he explained how he feels Bravemansgame will go in Friday’s Gold Cup race saying:

“Bravemansgame is right back on it in his schooling. I know we have got him better than he was in the autumn, which I made a bit of a pig’s ear of for various reasons.

“Last year, he ran a blinding race to finish second in the Gold Cup and I think he has a chance again. It’s between the favourite - Galopin Des Champs - and Fastorslow, Shishkin and Bravemansgame.

“He has a chance of running in this race and being placed again. Whether anyone can beat the favourite, nobody knows, but Bravemansgame looks great. I love this race and would love to win it again.”

The final two races of each day will not be shown on ITV but fans wanting to watch can do so via Racing TV.

Subscriptions for the channel, which shows every race from the festival, are available through Sky and Virgin Media and online through its website and app.

Coverage on Racing TV begins at 12.30pm GMT every day, with coverage ending after the final race.

To mark 100 years of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, here are some key numbers associated with jump racing’s most prestigious contest:

22 - The most runners in a Gold Cup came when Silver Buck won in 1982 and when War Of Attrition prevailed in 2006. This is also the number of fences scheduled to be jumped.

29 - The number of winners trained in Ireland, following five consecutive victories for the Emerald Isle. Just one victor has been trained in France, with The Fellow finally securing a deserved success in 1994.

30 - The longest winning distance was achieved by Arkle, who won by 30 lengths in 1966. Five renewals have been settled by just a short head, with The Fellow losing by the narrowest of margins in both 1991 and 1992.

Joe Tizzard runs is a horse trainer who runs his yard from Milbourne Port in Somerset after taking over from his father a few years ago.

The Tizzards won the Gold Cup in 2018 with Native River but Joe has never had a winner at Cheltenham as a trainer and he is hungry to emulate his father’s success.

“I’m hungry for a Cheltenham winner under my own name and I really do think that can make a season,” he said, “I need to get on the Cheltenham Map. It attracts the big owners and shows that you can do it.

“The Gold Cup is unbelievable. There isn’t a winner like it. They’re our Olympics. There’s nothing quite like it. Trainers get a bit emotional because there’s been a lot of pressure in the build up to get there.”

Ruby Walsh is a retired Irish jockey with a 20-year career of triumphs behind him. He is the third most prolific winner in British and Irish jump racing history – behind only Sir Anthony (AP) McCoy and Richard Johnson – and has made the transition into television as a racing pundit.

He is a 12-time Irish National Hunt champion jockey and was the leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival 11 times, including a streak of five in a row from 2013-2017.

With ability, skill, class, and a joyous personality to boot Walsh knows a thing or two about triumphing at Cheltenham. He won the headline race twice, in 2007 and 2009, claiming the Gold Cup on Kauto Star, who he lovingly describes as ‘a horse of a lifetime’.

Along with Fastorslow, jockey JJ Slevin has a plethora of chances to earn success at this year’s Cheltenham Festival as he is riding Triumph Hurdle hopeful Nurburgring.

To be heading such a showpiece meeting with a handful of chances is not something jockeys take for granted and Slevin is aware of that saying:

“You did dream growing up and then as you get older, you think it’s never going to happen, so I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a while since my last Cheltenham winner, they’re hard to come by and another one would definitely be nice.”

To mark 100 years of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, here are some key numbers associated with jump racing’s most prestigious contest:

8 - The number of multiple Gold Cup winners; Easter Hero (2), Golden Miller (5), Cottage Rake (3), Arkle (3), L’Escargot (2), Best Mate (3), Kauto Star (2) and Al Boum Photo (2). Kauto Star is the only horse to regain the Gold Cup, prevailing in 2007 and 2009, either side of finishing second to Denman.

10 - Arkle was the shortest-priced winner at 1-10 when completing his hat-trick of victories in 1966.

12 - Silver Fame and What A Myth are the oldest horses to have won, prevailing at this age in 1951 and 1969 respectively.

Despite a couple of wins for Fastorslow against the reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup winner in the Punchestown Gold Cup and the John Durkan, Galopin Des Champs comprehensively turned the tables when they clashed again in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown.

Fastorslow jockey JJ Slevin said: “It was a good run (at Leopardstown), hopefully we’ll have a different scenario in the [Cheltenham] Gold Cup and hopefully we can turn the tables on him. It won’t be easy, but we’ll see,

“I got upsides him and made him work and I was hoping he might not pick up, but he did. For a minute, I thought it might be on, but your man found another gear and he’s a very good horse, isn’t he?

“Galopin probably likes a bit softer ground and our lad is versatile enough. I’d say Leopardstown really suits Galopin as well, any track suits him, but he really likes Leopardstown.

“I think a different scenario of the race is probably going to be a big thing, I’d imagine it’ll unfold a good bit different to Leopardstown, with a bigger field and flowing along, with a few more going forward – and we can use his jumping and use his travelling.”

Zara and Mike Tindall stepped out together at day two of the Cheltenham Festival.

The pair, who are regular attendees at the festival, go with Zara being a racecourse committee member, and this year presenting the first race on Tuesday.

Mr Tindall said: “Cheltenham is one of the biggest weeks we look forward to at home. It’s massive for The Green Room [racing hospitality experience]. We’re very lucky to get 400 people in here. We seem to create an atmosphere where they all have a good time.

“That’s all we want to do, show people how good racing is, hopefully have great racing on the track, and then everyone goes away happy.

“There’s a good Royal contingent here. I think everyone is enjoying themselves.”

Asked if Queen Camilla likes a bet on the horses, he said: “I actually don’t know. I know she loves horse racing, especially jump racing. I don’t know if she likes a little dabble on them or not.”

To mark 100 years of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, here are some key numbers associated with jump racing’s most prestigious contest:

5 - Golden Miller is the most successful horse, winning each year between 1932 and 1936. Tom Dreaper has trained the most winners, with Arkle’s treble backed up by Prince Regent and Fort Leney. Also a notable number for Michael Dickinson training the first five finishers in 1983; Bregawn, Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck and Ashley House.

6 - The number of different sponsors the Gold Cup has had; Piper Champagne, Tote, Betfred, Timico, Magners and current backer Boodles. The 2021 edition was run in aid of the charity WellChild.

7 - Dorothy Paget leads the way in owning winners, as she had Roman Hackle and Mont Tremblant following Golden Miller’s dominance.