Coral Gold Cup Runners & Riders
One of the key marker points ticked off during the early part of the jumps season, the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury is an historic contest. Won by greats of the game such as Arkle and Denman, the 3m2f contest is a handicap, weighting each individual runner on their own merits, and ensuring those greats of the game conceded significant penalties to their opponents all round.
Here are the runners and riders due to participate in the Coral Gold Cup 2024.
Runners and riders to follow
Who are the Top Three Favourites to Win this Year’s Coral Gold Cup?
To run in the Coral Gold Cup, you must be a well-regarded and highly-rated horse, as this handicap is targeted by the biggest names with some of their most talented animals. Here are the three horses leading the way in the fight for supremacy in the 2024 Coral Gold Cup betting.
Iroko
Carrying the colours of JP McManus, whose green and gold silks have remarkably never been carried to success in the Coral Gold Cup, Iroko may have only won one of this three chase starts so far, but has to be considered as a chaser on the up.
He was second in a Grade 1 novice chase at Aintree to conclude his novice season having had injury difficulties earlier on in the campaign. As a former winner of the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle, a race at the Cheltenham Festival won by Galopin Des Champs in 2021, there is a serious chance there is more to come from him, with the handicapper appearing to let him off lightly given his current rating of 152.
Grey Dawning
Racing fans love a grey, especially one who is an exuberant jumper. Grey Dawning fits that mould perfectly and has loads of talent to boot, as was demonstrated when he won the Grade 1 Turners Novices’ Chase at the 2-24 Cheltenham Festival.
He has also put in bold performances in handicaps at Prestbury Park too and should not prove daunted by the step up to 3m here. He has been a tremendous horse to follow since the beginning of last season, and this looks an obvious early stopping point with his mark of 158 potentially there to exploit.
James Du Berlais
Willie Mullins was the last Irish trainer to win this when taking it with Total Recall in 2017. The Closutton master has sent out a placed horse since then, but James Du Berlais could be an obvious type to snare the prize back to ireland.
He has only one chase victory to his name, that coming on debut, but hit the crossbar on many occasions last term, making the frame in three separate Pattern handicaps, including over the Grand National fences. One of those was over 3m, and he may well be up to striking again soon as he gains stamina with age.
Coral Gold Cup Horse Entries & Selections
A horse must have reached his fourth birthday by the time they race in the Coral Gold Cup. They must also have run enough races to have earned a handicap mark.
However, the race is generally the domain of those aged six and upwards given that experience is a key asset in staying chases. No horse younger than six years old has ever been victorious in the race, though equally, only one horse aged over ten has won in its history too.
Which Trainers Have Historically Had the Most Success in the Coral Gold Cup?
Fulke Walwyn, the trainer of Arkle’s original foe Mill House, has claimed the most Coral Gold Cups, although it was the Hennessy Gold Cup at the time, and all the way up until 2016. The contest is still colloquially known under that sponsor’s name given its long history with the race and indeed Mill House was one of his winners. Another of his victors, Mandarin, won two editions a remarkable four years apart.
No other trainer has ever won the Coral Gold Cup on more than three occasions. Among current handlers, Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson have won three renewals each, so could close on Walwyn’s lead if they have a strong contender this season.
Runners & Riders Past Winners
| Year | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Odds |
| 2023 | Datsalrightgino | Jamie Snowden | Gavin Sheehan | 16/1 |
| 2022 | Le Milos | Dan Skelton | Harry Skelton | 9/2F |
| 2021 | Cloudy Glen | Venetia Williams | Charlie Deutsch | 33/1 |
| 2020 | Cloth Cap | Jonjo O’Neill | Tom Scudamore | 9/1 |
| 2019 | De Rasher Counter | Emma Lavelle | Ben Jones | 12/1 |
| 2018 | Sizing Tennessee | Colin Tizzard | Tom Scudamore | 12/1 |
| 2017 | Total Recall | Willie Mullins | Paul Townend | 9/2F |
| 2016 | Native River | Colin Tizzard | Richard Johnson | 7/2F |
| 2015 | Smad Place | Alan King | Wayne Hutchinson | 7/1 |
| 2014 | Many Clouds | Oliver Sherwood | Leighton Aspell | 8/1 |