2009 CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP PREVIEW WITH BLUE SQUARE

The 2009 Cheltenham Festival is almost upon us and the odds on Denman and Kauto Star are extremely competitive with popular UK bookmaker Blue Square. Cheltenham betting is expected to be very heavy this year and you'll find some of the best odds on Ante-Post racing on the Cheltenham Gold Cup at Blue Square. Today, we'll be examining the horses that are likely to run in the penultimate race and divide them up into "Contenders" and "Favourites". When compared to many other betting sites, including some of the top UK-based sportsbooks, you'll notice that Blue Square always has marginally better odds. For instance, Air Force One is listed at 33/1 to win at Paddy Power, while Blue Square lists him at 50/1! You can't beat value like that and the only place you'll find Cheltenham odds like that are at Blue Square. FAVOURITESThe two biggest names in jumps racing at the moment are Denman and Kauto Star. These two horses, coming out of the Paul Nicholls system, are the 2008 and 2007 winners, respectively. These two are the out-and-out favourites and haven't been in too much action over the past 12 months, but you get the feeling that they've been training exclusively for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.The excellent records boasted by these two equine athletes mean that you really have to consider them big favourites. Denman is listed at 15/8 outright to win, while Kauto Star is just behind at 5/2. CONTENDERSThe odds fluctuate pretty hard throughout the list of contenders, but you need to keep in mind the quality of horses running in this race and the fact that, really anything can happen in a jumps race. These are the horses you're looking to complete your triactors, trifectas and superfectas. An each way bet on some of the shorter-odds horses probably isn't a bad idea either. In terms of contenders for the 2009 Cheltenham Gold Cup, I'm looking at Neptune Collonges (8/1), Or Noir De Somoza (50/1), War of Attrition (33/1), Barbers Shop (20/1), Exotic Dancer (14/1), Imperial Commander (40/1), Air Force One (50/1) and Snoopy Loopy (66/1).In terms of value, Or Noir De Somoza and Snoopy Loopy are your best bets. Both of these horses have won Grade 1 races and know how to compete against the best. Aside from these horses, I really think Neptune Collonges really does have a chance here, but I'm not 100% whether he can really challenge Kauto Star or Denman if neither of them makes a significant error.