Paddy Power Gold Cup Tips, Odds & Runners 2025

The Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham is one of the primary handicaps in the early stages of the National Hunt season. GG’s tips, along with the runners and odds for the race, can be found right here.

Paddy Power Gold Cup Odds

Paddy Power Gold Cup Tips

Run every November at Cheltenham’s second meeting of the season, the Paddy Power Gold Cup is a 2m4f handicap chase and is one of the most sought-after prizes early on in the British jumps season. So many big names have used it as a springboard to better races in the future, and this season’s renewal should be no exception.

Here, you will be able to find our tipsters’ selections for the race as it approaches.

Who are the Top Three Favourites to Win this Year’s Paddy Power Gold Cup?

The Paddy Power Gold Cup always attracts a decent field, although 14-15 has been the norm for the previous three seasons.

However, the Paddy Power Gold Cup favourites are what most punters are after, and here are the three currently holding sway in the betting.

Jagwar

A winner over 2m4f on the New Course at the Cheltenham Festival, Jagwar was a huge improver over fences for the Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero team last term. He won four of his five chase starts, culminating in a novice handicap win at Prestbury Park and his Festival success in the Plate.

He is now on a mark of 148, but he won stylishly back in March and is clearly a horse going places in the jumping game. The Paddy Power Gold Cup is run on the speedier Old Course, so he will have to brush up his jumping, but few chasers in either Britain or Ireland are as upwardly mobile as this six-year-old.

Il Ridoto

Last year’s winner Il Ridoto is a course specialist when on song and is likely to have been prepared specifically with this race in mind once again. He ultimately blew away his rivals 12 months ago and has sunk back to a similar rating to that he defied for glory in 2024.

Freddie Gingell can continue to claim 3lb and will almost certainly be utilised again, with Cobden likely to be on one of the Nicholls yard’s big guns. However, still only an eight-year-old, there is likely to be plenty of life left in Il Ridoto just yet with Cheltenham’s Old Course the venue of many of his better days racing.

Vincenzo

A two-time winner over fences last season, Vincenzo rose stealthily through the ratings for Sam Thomas, although he remains on a competitive mark that could also mean he carries little weight in this contest. The seven-year-old carries the Waters colours which Thomas sends out with distinction.

The seven-year-old chased home Kalif Du Berlais among others last term, but won twice in his own right, while he was only caught late on in an extraordinary running of Newbury’s Greatwood Gold Cup over this 2m4f trip. Third that day was Saint Segal, who is now rated 9lb higher, so off a 3lb higher mark here, Vincenzo could well be on the premises for victory.

Paddy Power Gold Cup Racecourse 

One of the main reasons the Paddy Power Gold Cup is so sought after is the fact that it is run every year at Cheltenham. It is at Prestbury Park that the race has been held since its inauguration in 1960, and its debut renewal was claimed by that year’s Champion Chase hero Fortria.

The modern edition of the race is held on the Old Course, which is the track used for the first two days of the Cheltenham Festival. Held over an intermediate distance of 2m4½f, it provides a perfect test for those between divisions, or for those trainers unsure if their charges possess the speed for 2m or the stamina for 3m.

Any horse contesting the race must be aged four or above, and as a handicap, each participant is rated and weighted on their merits. Some brilliant front-running efforts have been captured on camera in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, including in the 2023 edition won by Stage Star, though hold up performers have also excelled in other renewals.

Betting Strategies for the Paddy Power Gold Cup

With bountiful fields ensuring generous prices and each-way terms, the Paddy Power Gold Cup often attracts more betting turnover than the majority of races prior to Christmas. Here is how you can make use of that.

Each Way

Though they narrowly fell short last year, both Notlongtillmay and Il Ridoto would have ensured each-way backers returned in profit in 2023, as they went off at 7/1 and 12/1 respectively. On terms with either ¼ or ⅕ of the odds for a place, they would have made backers a small each-way return should they have placed such a bet on them.

Non Runner No Bet (NRNB)

The Paddy Power Gold Cup’s status as a handicap means some horses towards the top of the weights may pursue open Graded races as an alternative. As a result, backing your chosen runner on ante-post NRNB terms can ensure you lose no money should your horse fail to run.

Without the Favourite

Should the favourite win the Paddy Power Gold Cup, you have the back-up option of your selection finishing second and still being paid out with this market. In effect, this is a higher-paying, though higher risk version, of betting each-way.

Are There Any Specific Paddy Power Gold Cup Betting Offers?

This Cheltenham handicap will be subject to betting offers, notably from the sponsor themselves. These will be available as the declarations approach.

Paddy Power Gold Cup Trends & Historic Data

It can pay to be a classy horse on your way up in the Paddy Power Gold Cup. All of Exotic Dancer, Al Ferof, Taquin Du Seuil and Stage Star have carried more than 11 stone to victory in the last 20 years, with all being genuine Grade 1 contenders at their best.

However, broadly an unexposed or well-handicapped type is best. Since 2005, only five horses have carried a greater weight than 11st to glory, with the likes of future Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander sneaking in below that threshold. In 2024, Il Ridoto even carried less than 10st factoring in Freddie Gingell’s claim.

Age is another factor to take into account. If you consider veterans to be aged 10 or upwards, then avoid that category, as no horse with a double-digit age has won since 1975, though youngsters are not prolific either. Seven-year-olds have the best recent record since the turn of the millennium, winning ten in all.

Last Year’s Paddy Power Gold Cup Odds

Though seemingly the second string among Paul Nicholls’ runners, Il Ridoto won the 2024 renewal at 10/1 under 3lb claimer Freddie Gingell.

Paddy Power Gold Cup Horse Entries & Selections

There are very few boundaries to competing in the Paddy Power Gold Cup. All horses must have competed at least three times over obstacles, but form an age perspective, they need only be four-years-old to be eligible to compete.

Likewise, there is no maximum age cap, although from a punting perspective, no horse aged older than nine has won since 1975. Younger horses usually have more up their sleeve, and some go right to the very top; Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander took this race in 2008, 18 months before he won the big one at the 2010 Festival.

Which Trainers Have Historically Had the Most Success in the Paddy Power Gold Cup?

After enjoying so much success from Pond House for so long, Martin Pipe is the man with the most Paddy Power Gold Cups in his trophy cabinet. He won the race on eight occasions and dominated in the early 21st century, winning five of the first six renewals after 2000. His son David has also sent out a winner, Great Endeavour in 2011.

Pipe only ever racked up a hat-trick in the race, though Fred Rimell once went one better, rolling off four successive Mackeson Gold Cup victories (as the race was then known) between 1968 and 1971. However, Pipe’s haul stands well clear, with Nigel Twiston-Davies’ four wins the most of any current trainer.

Runners & Riders Past Winners