Light Shines Bright in Bet365 Gold Cup
It's going to be a historic day at Sandown on the last day of the 2023-2024 Jumps Season.
Willie Mullins looks destined to become the first Irishman to be crowned UK champion trainer since the time of Vincent O'Brien. Dan Skelton & Paul Nicholls have all but conceded that the prize money gap is too much to reel in today.
Another much more important story can happen in today's feature race the bet365 Gold Cup. Betsy, the daughter of trainer Christian & Charlotte Williams is fighting Leukaemia! Kitty's Light gave the whole family hope and something to cheer about when landing the Scottish Grand National last year.
The horse is a family star that shines bright and ran a cracker in the Aintree Grand National. Kitty's Light is reigning bet365 Gold Cup champion and you would be very brave to bet against Kitty's Light and the Williams family winning again this afternoon!
Kitty’s Light is a superstar for his connections and trainer Christian Wiliams family. He ran a cracker in the Aintree Grand National where fifth beaten by a host of Gold Cup standard Irish horses. Sandown is a course that Kitty’s Light excels around over this 3m4.5f trip. He has won this race, almost won this race and finished third in this race over the past three years. The drying spring ground is a major positive even with showers due in the morning. In fact, good to soft ground would be ideal as it would make this race even more of a stamina test which is just what Kitty’s Light enjoys.
Kitty’s Light has won the Scottish National, bet365 Gold Cup & Eider Chase and remains on a mark off which he can win again at 145. Usually, I back two against the field in these 16+ runner handicaps. I’ve gone around the houses with the Willie Mullins trained runners, Sam Brown, Does He Know & Certainly Red. The more I look at this race the more it lacks proper stayers, and, in the end, I am happy to go all in on proven course & distance performer Kitty’s Light.
Sandown 3:35
1 point each way Kitty’s Light 11/2 Skybet 7 places else 11/2 Betway, 6 places.
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Past Results
Click to see past Big Saturday Race Preview Tips results
Best of Luck,
Nicky
The Bet365 Gold Cup is a Grade 3 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Sandown Park over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (3 miles, 4 furlongs and 166 yards, or 5,784 metres), and during its running there are twenty-four fences to be jumped. It is a handicap race, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late April.
History
The event was established in 1957, and it was originally called the Whitbread Gold Cup. It was sponsored by Whitbread Brewers at the instigation of Colonel Bill Whitbread, the company's chairman, who had twice ridden in the Grand National as an amateur jockey. It was the first commercial sponsorship in British sport, and the longest-running until it ended in 2001.
In recent years the race has been sponsored by At the Races (2002–03), Betfred (2004–07) and Bet365 (2008–). The record for the longest-running sponsorship of a British horse race is now held by the Hennessy Gold Cup, which was launched seven months after the "Whitbread" and was sponsored by Hennessy until the 2016 running.
The Bet365 Gold Cup takes place at a meeting which features both jump and flat races and marks the end of the National Hunt racing season in Great Britain. Other events at this meeting include the Celebration Chase, the Gordon Richards Stakes and the Sandown Mile.
Winners over past 10 years
| Year | Winner | Age | Weight | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Kitty's Light | 7 | 10-08 | Jack Tudor | Christian Williams |
| 2022 | Hewick | 7 | 11-04 | Jordan Gainford | John Joseph Hanlon |
| 2021 | Potterman[c] | 8 | 11-09 | Tom Cannon | Alan King |
| no race 2020 [d] | |||||
| 2019 | Talkischeap | 7 | 10-11 | Wayne Hutchinson | Alan King |
| 2018 | Step Back | 8 | 10-00 | Jamie Moore | Mark Bradstock |
| 2017 | Henllan Harri | 9 | 10-00 | Sean Bowen | Peter Bowen |
| 2016 | The Young Master | 7 | 10–12 | Sam Waley-Cohen[a] | Neil Mulholland |
| 2015 | Just A Par | 8 | 10-00 | Sean Bowen | Paul Nicholls |
| 2014 | Hadrian's Approach | 7 | 11-00 | Barry Geraghty | Nicky Henderson |
| 2013 | Quentin Collonges | 9 | 10–12 | Andrew Tinkler | Henry Daly |
Best of Luck,
Nicky