There are certain horse races that all jockeys dream of winning, and the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival is undoubtedly one of them. Run over a distance of three miles, two furlongs and 70 yards, the Gold Cup is a major test of the credentials of both horse and jockey.

For most riders, winning the Gold Cup just once represents something of a dream, but there is an elite group of jockeys who have won the famous race on more than one occasion. With the 2020 race fast approaching, and as those who place a Gold Cup bet on Cheltenham Festival try and determine who might win, we look at five jockeys who have enjoyed multiple victories in the famous Cheltenham showpiece.

Tommy Carberry

You have to go all the way back to the 1970s for Tommy Carberry’s Gold Cup triumphs. Riding the famous L’Escargot, Carberry won the race two years running in 1970 and 1971. The horse, trained by Richard R. Guest, was a 33/1 outsider going into the 1970 edition, but Carberry produced a fine performance to get the win.

Not content with just two Gold Cup triumphs, the Irish jockey would go on to win it once again in 1975, this time on Ten Up, completing a hat-trick of victories in the famous race.

Tony McCoy

One of the most recognisable names in horse racing, Anthony Peter ‘Tony’ McCoy is another who has enjoyed Gold Cup glory more than once. His first success came in 1997, riding the 20/1 shot Mr Mulligan to victory, but he would have to wait 15 years to double his Gold Cup titles. In 2012, he guided Synchronised to a first-place finish, to the delight of racing fans across Britain and Ireland.

McCoy is a much-loved figure in the sport, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in 2010, becoming the first jockey to get their hands on the famous sporting prize – after winning the Grand National on Don’t Push It..

Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson is widely regarded as the finest jockey in jump racing at the moment and has won the Champion Jockey title four years running. His first taste of glory in the Gold Cup came in 2000 on Looks Like Trouble, but like McCoy, Johnson would have to wait a long time for his second triumph. It came 18 years after he won the race for the first time, as he guided the Colin Tizzard-trained Native River to victory in 2018.

Sadly, Native River has been ruled out of the 2020 race, and so won’t have the chance to emulate the great Kauto Star by reclaiming the Gold Cup.

Jim Culloty

Jim Culloty is one of only three jockeys to have won the Gold Cup on three successive occasions, as he steered Best Mate to victory in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The Henriette Knight-trained horse was 7/1 to win the race in 2002, and was the odds-on favourite by the time the 2004 race came around – proof of the dominance Best Mate and Culloty showed in those years.

Culloty achieved the rare feat of winning both the Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same year in 2002, before retiring in 2005 as one of the Gold Cup’s most successful riders.

Ruby Walsh

Another famous name in horse racing, Ruby Walsh won the Gold Cup in 2007 and 2009, riding the much loved Kauto Star. Clive D. Smith’s horse was the favourite ahead of both races, proof of Walsh’s reputation and expert performances in the saddle on both occasions.

Kauto Star is the only horse to have regained the Gold Cup. Having lost the title to stablemate Denman in 2008, Walsh and Kauto Star came back stronger to win it back a year later, etching their names in Gold Cup folklore.

It’s not hard to see the appeal of online sports betting. After all, not only is it convenient and simple, but it also presents us with the opportunity to make some real money, too.

Despite the accessibility as well as the potentially lucrative nature of the activity, however, it’s crucial not to impulsively place wagers. After all, it’s easy to get a lot of things wrong and kill your profit potential before you’ve even begun to understand it. So to ensure that this doesn’t happen, here are some top tips for beginners that you should keep in mind when it comes to online sports betting.

1. Set realistic goals and objectives

Contrary to popular belief, winning in online sports betting isn’t difficult. In actuality, anyone who is even remotely knowledgeable on the chosen sport has a decent chance of making a few good wagers and accurate predictions. However, achieving the desired outcome with enough consistency to generate higher profits is where the challenge lies. And one way that this can be accomplished is by setting realistic goals and objectives for your online sports betting. After all, unreasonably high expectations are likely to lead you to disappointment as well as frustration. Which, in turn, will force you to make more mistakes and prevent you from getting the winnings that you want.

2. Take the time to learn the basics

Online sports betting may be simple, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s without its fair share of challenges. As such, it makes sense to take the time to learn the basics first before betting on Liverpool or your favorite teams. While it may not be the most exciting part of sports betting, but it will allow you to avoid errors and mistakes that you might have made otherwise. More importantly, you may even learn a few effective strategies too, and as a result, save yourself money and get more opportunities to earn a profit.

3. Set a firm budget

One of the reasons why online sports betting – not unlike any other form of gambling – can get a bad rap is the fact that it can be more than just a little challenging to keep ourselves from spending more than we need to. As such, it’s crucial to set a firm budget before playing. In this way, you’ll be able to manage your finances much better and avoid taking too many losses as well.

4. Always keep a record of all of your wagers

Keeping a record of your wagers is essential for two reasons. Firstly, it will allow you to keep track of exactly how much you’ve spent so far and help you avoid breaking your budget in the process. Secondly, it can shed some light into any mistakes that you’ve made. And allow you to improve as a result. And this can make all the difference between profiting and taking financial losses.

It’s easy to see why many look upon online sports betting as the future of all gambling. After all, it offers a higher degree of comfort and convenience without compromising on the quality of the experience. And with these top tips, you’ll be able to keep both your level of enjoyment as well as your savings high.

As the UK prepares itself for the annual Cheltenham Festival Races coming up on March 10th, the stakes are getting high again as fans, supporters, neutrals, and plain lovers of the sport gear up for another exciting horse racing event.

Aside from the fun and excitement, there is always the other side that involves predicting or correctly picking out the winners from the losers. Whether you are engaged in the latter for the sheer fun of it, or you are trying to catch a huge paycheck, there are a few tips to help to make the correct predictions. This article will help you understand how to pick a winner from a loser.

Tip One: Form Guide

Form guide is an important indicator of who the winners and losers will be. And this is based purely on the performance of the horse. You need to know which horse or horses has been performing better over the previous five races. You also need to know which horse or horses have been improving the time considerably. Note that form guide is not always about long term history. You are only concerned with the current form of the horse. And to get the right picture, only pick out a horse’s performance in its previous five races only. The race cards and guides will be very useful in giving such information.

Tip Two: Betting Odds

Betting odds are also very useful indicators. The odds are adjusted by the bookmakers, and money is placed on each horse. Horses that come with shorter prices are generally more fancied or more probable to win as compared with horses with bigger prices.

Tip Three: Horse Condition

The condition of a horse is also another indicator when it comes to knowing a winning horse from a losing one. You need to have a good eye or some experience in knowing whether a horse is in good condition or not by simply observing it. Pay attention to the horse’s appearance and find out if it is calm or moving with ease.

Tip Four: Ground Condition

There are different types of ground conditions – soft, yielding, good, good to firm, firm, and heavy. Some horses have a better performance on some ground conditions than others. Consider the current condition and look out for the horse that performs better on such grounds.

Tip Five: Race Distance

The distance of the race also has to be considered. For example, if the current race is about 10 furlongs, then look for the horse that has performed better in previous races with the same distance.

Tip Six: Horse Weight

The weight that a horse carries is another indicator. The handicap system is put in place to make horses that excelled in a previous race to gain more weight and, thus, put them in a handicap and make it more difficult for them to win the next race.

Tip Seven: Trainers and Jockey

It goes without saying that these two play important roles in deciding the winners and losers of a race.

It is important to note, however, that none of the above tips offer any assurances of the performance of a horse in a race. They are only guides to consider when picking out your favourite horse.

Sources

• https://www.gobet.com.au/blog/5-tips-for-picking-a-winning-horse/ Go Bet
• https://www.wikihow.com/Win-at-Horse-Racing Wiki How
• https://www.runhorse.com/how_to_pick_winners.htm Run Horse