Stan James have opened a handicap market on the Big 2 in the 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup and bet even money that Denman beats arch rival Kauto Star in receipt of a 2 length start. Kauto Star is also even money to give his stablemate 2L and a beating whilst it is 20/1 that Kauto Star beats Denman by 2l.
Kauto Star v Denman clash is on for 2010
Head of PR Charlie McCann:” The head-to-head currently stands at 1-1 and we have introduced a handicap match bet on the decider with 2008 winner Denman evens in receipt of a couple of lengths. Some punters could be attracted by the 20/1 for Kauto Star to beat Denman by a couple of lengths although it should be noted that the distances in the last two Gold Cups have been 7L in favour of Denman in ’08 and 13L in favour of the current Champion last year.”
Gold Cup handicap match bet:
Denman +2Lengths Evens
Dead heat 20/1
Kauto Star Evens
Both horses must line up at Cheltenham on Gold Cup Day or all bets void. Get Your £25 Free Bet from Stan James:
CHELTENHAM Racecourse boss Edward Gillespie says Festival Trials Day tomorrow does not need Denman for it to be a success.
Trainer Paul Nicholls announced yesterday the 2008 Gold Cup hero would miss the Argento Chase and run at Newbury next month instead.
Gillespie, the managing director of Prestbury Park, is confident the one-day meeting will still live up to its billing and provide high-quality racing.
“I never expected Denman to run here and I always thought he was more likely to go to Newbury,” he said.
“That’s why we never made a big thing of it and get too excited because we didn’t want to let people down. “It’s still a wonderful card and the fact Denman won’t be with us won’t actually detract from it.”
Tomorrow’s meeting at Cheltenham is the first at the course since New Year’s Day, when an unexpected record 30,000 crowd led to problems.
Racegoers faced long queues at the bars, racecards ran out, while racing was delayed while the course was inspected amid freezing temperatures.
Gillespie is confident there will be no repeat tomorrow, although frost covers have been deployed.
Gillespie said: “On New Year’s Day it was difficult with the number of people we had, but tomorrow we’ll have 15,000, which is a nice size and we can cope nicely with that.
“No one should be put off coming tomorrow because of the fear of over-crowding.
“It’s a great one-day meeting with a bit of everything and if I were to go racing only one day a year, this would be it.”
