The most exciting week of the jumps seasons is the Cheltenham Festival, and the most prestigious race of the meeting is the £625,000 Cheltenham Gold Cup (G1) on Friday, March 15. Twelve top chasers line up to traverse 22 fences across a distance of three miles, two and a half furlongs. With such a large and classy field, no wonder it is one of the best horse racing betting of the season!
Top trainer Willie Mullins brings back Galopin Des Champs, the 2023 champion, who looks to be in similarly sharp form for 2024. But, second-place Bravemansgame comes back to avenge his defeat. Other serious foes include Fastorslow, who defeated Galopin Des Champs twice last fall, Corach Rambler, the Grand National winner last year, and L’Homme Presse, on the comeback trail.
Will Galopin Des Champs repeat in jumps racing most prestigious race, or will one of these other foes post a lucrative upset? Keep reading to find out, and to find out the best places to find real Las Vegas odds on the Cheltenham Gold Cup online.
Best Cheltenham Gold Cup Online Betting
With online sportsbooks you can get the excitement and betting value of Las Vegas anywhere you go! You can play the Cheltenham Gold Cup and races all year long from anywhere with an internet connection on your phone, tablet, or computer.
Choosing an online betting site may seem tough at first, but our expert guide is here to help you make the best choice quickly and confidently. Our online betting site guide brings you sportsbooks with real Vegas odds, trusted deposit and cash-out functions, and great user interfaces. Our experts also help you find the best betting site bonuses for your wagering style, including rebates, sign-up and deposit bonuses, and referral incentives.
These are the best betting sites for playing the Cheltenham Gold Cup!
This is the official field for the 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup including draw numbers, trainers, and jockeys:
Bravemansgame (Paul Nicholls/Harry Cobden)
Corach Rambler (Lucinda Russell/Derek Fox)
Fastorslow (Martin Brassil/J. J. Slevin)
Galopin Des Champs (Willie Mullins/Paul Townend)
Gentlemansgame (Mouse Morris/Darragh O’Keeffe)
Gerri Colombe (Gordon Elliott/Jack Kennedy)
Hewick (John Joseph Hanlon/Jordan Gainford)
Jungle Boogie (Henry de Bromhead/Rachael Blackmore)
L’Homme Presse (Venetia Williams/Charlie Deutsch)
Monkfish (Willie Mullins/Patrick Mullins)
Nassalam (Gary Moore/Niall Houlihan)
The Real Whacker (Patrick Neville/Sam Twiston-Davies)
Keep in mind that the odds will change all the way until post time. So, your best bet is to follow your chosen horses at your online sportsbook of choice, and make your bet when you see an overlay. Betting online is the smart way to bet on major races since sportsbooks offer fixed odds, meaning you can lock in the best price at the moment you bet, just like at your favorite Vegas casino!
Now that you have an account for betting the Cheltenham Gold Cup online, it is time to meet the contenders. These are the best horses in the 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup:
Cheltenham Gold Cup Favorites
Galopin des Champs won the Gold Cup in 2023 and comes into the 2024 edition the horse to beat. His last race before Cheltenham’s signature race was an emphatic victory in the Irish Gold Cup (G1), the same thing that happened before his victory last year. He can stay the distance well, he loves Cheltenham, and he is well proven on the soft ground he’ll get this week.
Even though Fastorslow beat Galopin des Champs twice last autumn, those wins happened over shorter distances. Stretching back out for the Irish Gold Cup, Galopin des Champs got the best of him, and that is likely to happen again over even this longer distance. However, he is a consistent and classy horse who has every right to be a factor.
L’Homme Presse has the most upside on the win end of horses who are not the favorite. In short, unlike many others he has not had any recent cracks at Galopin des Champs. He didn’t race at all in 2023, but won the Novices’ Chase (G1) at Cheltenham in 2022 and has come back with a pair of quality efforts in his 2024 return. If he comes back on his best third off the lay, he can surprise.
Bravemansgame, second in this race last year behind Galopin des Champs, has not won since the King George VI (G1) on Boxing Day 2022 but has been consistently good, hitting the board in five starts since, including a close second in the King George VI last year. He is unlikely to find enough to turn the tables, but he is an honest chaser with good soft-track form and stamina, and can get another piece.
Among massive long shots, consider The Real Whacker. Winner of the Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham last year, he looks like a horse for the course. He was second in a Grade 2 local prep in January over good-to-soft ground, and may be better over the more truly soft ground he will get this time. He also remains unexposed over this kind of a trip, giving him upside since he has been solid at distances just shorter than this.
2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup Expert Picks
You have created your account and gotten to know the key contenders for the race. Now is time for the fun part: placing your wagers! These are the best bets for the 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup!
$20 to win – #4 Galopin des Champs
$10 each-way – #9 L’Homme Presse
$1 exacta key – #4 Galopin des Champs with #3 Fastorslow, #9 L’Homme Presse
$0.50 trifecta key – #4 Galopin des Champs with #1 Bravemansgame, #3 Fastorslow, #9 L’Homme Presse, #12 The Real Whacker
$0.20 superfecta key – #4 Galopin des Champs with #1 Bravemansgame, #3 Fastorslow, #9 L’Homme Presse, #12 The Real Whacker
For 10 years, Rowan Ward has been handicapping and betting horses in Chicago. For almost as long, they has also been writing about horse racing. They are aware that the best handicapping approaches for a given race rely on a variety of variables, but they frequently discover that the proverb "the pace makes the race" can yield profitable betting opportunities. Local Chicago races, national stakes races, and two-year-old maiden races with intriguing pedigrees are some of their favorite events to handicap.