A Change of Luck For Mahler Mission
The Coral Gold Cup formerly well know as the Hennessy Gold Cup is one of the races of the season. Denman won it famously carrying top weight while Native River & Bobs worth are other Cheltenham Gold Cup winners to land this presitigious race.
The key is to find a horse that can travel and jump fluently at speed to hold a prominent position. Mahler Mission is a big chasing type that jumped for fun in the National Chase at the Cheltenham Festival until falling two out. The general consensus is that his jockey went for home much too soon at Cheltenham and it’s hard to argue with that. The positive is the horse was the best horse in that race won by Gaillard Du Mesnil who is 156 rated.
Mahler Mission returned with an excellent run at Carlisle in the Colin Parker. He finished second but I though it was a cracking run over two and a half miles which will have set him up nicely for today. Ben Harvey rides this horse well and is great value for his 3lb claim. Thanks to Ahoy Senor running off top weight it is a big plus that Mahler Mission carries 10-7 including his jockeys claim with the good to soft ground fine.
Remastered is a favourite of ours since he agonisingly fell in this race two seasons ago when he looked to be coming to win that race. Last season he won his prep hurdle race at Aintree before coming here and finishing a half length second to Le Milos. Remastered took his form to a new high with victory next time out at Kempton winning a valuable handicap chase carrying top weight of 12-1. The handicapper has had his say and he is up to a rating of 150 today which is deserved in fairness.
He returned at Aintree in their 3m handicap hurdle but with the low sun that race was more like an extended bumper and would not have suited Remastered. Jack Tudor rides again and Remastered is best over stiff fences where he gains lengths with his fluent jumping. I think is massively overpriced with excellent course and distance form in the book. A low weight of 10-9 is a big help and I just think he is a stronger stayer than Midnight River & Monbeg Genius.
Newbury – 2:50
0.5 point each way Mahler Mission 8/1 generally, 6 places.
0.5 point each way Remastered 28/1 Paddy Power & Betfair SB else 25/1 generally, 6 places.
Past Results
Click to see past Big Saturday Race Preview Tips results
The Coral Gold Cup is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Newbury over a distance of about 3 miles and 2 furlongs (3 miles, 1 furlong and 214 yards, or 5,225 metres), and during its running there are twenty-one fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late November or early December.
The event was established in 1957 as the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup, and it was initially staged at Cheltenham. The winner of the inaugural running, Mandarin, was owned by Peggy Hennessy, a member of the family which founded Hennessy, the race's sponsoring company. It was transferred to Newbury in 1960, and it was won by Mandarin for a second time in 1961. The race's second running was won by Taxidermist, ridden by the amateur rider John Lawrence, later Lord Oaksey, who was the breeder and part-owner of the 2011 winner, Carruthers.[1]
The race's association with Hennessy continued until the 60th running, in 2016, and was British racing's longest-running commercial sponsorship at the time. The record was previously held by the Whitbread Gold Cup, which was first run seven months before the "Hennessy", and which was sponsored by Whitbread until 2001.[2] Ladbrokes were announced as the new sponsor in February 2017[3] and the race was run as the Ladbrokes Trophy until 2021. In 2022 Coral replaced Ladbrokes as the title sponsor and the race took its present title.[4]
The race has been won by nine horses that have also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The most recent of these is Native River, the winner of the latter race in 2018.
Many Clouds became the first horse to win both the Hennessy Gold Cup and the Grand National, in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Winners over past 10 years
| Year | Winner | Age | Weight | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Le Milos | 7 | 11-00 | Harry Skelton | Dan Skelton |
| 2021 | Cloudy Glen | 8 | 10-08 | Charlie Deutsch | Venetia Williams |
| 2020 | Cloth Cap | 8 | 10-00 | Tom Scudamore | Jonjo O'Neill |
| 2019 | De Rasher Counter | 7 | 10-10 | Ben Jones | Emma Lavelle |
| 2018 | Sizing Tennessee | 10 | 11-03 | Tom Scudamore | Colin Tizzard |
| 2017 | Total Recall | 8 | 10-08 | Paul Townend | Willie Mullins |
| 2016 | Native River | 6 | 11-01 | Richard Johnson | Colin Tizzard |
| 2015 | Smad Place | 8 | 11-04 | Wayne Hutchinson | Alan King |
| 2014 | Many Clouds | 7 | 11-06 | Leighton Aspell | Oliver Sherwood |
| 2013 | Triolo D'Alene | 6 | 11-01 | Barry Geraghty | Nicky Henderson |
Best of Luck,
Nicky