2011 Hennessy Gold Cup Betting Preview

The latest prices are in for the 2011 Hennessy Gold Cup and it goes without saying that this is going to be the marquee match-up on the weekend's National Hunt card.

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As the days and weeks have gone by in the build up to this one we've seen the price on Great Endeavour emerge as one of the biggest potential challengers to the outright betting favourite Aiteen Thirtythree.

A seven-year-old son of Old Vic, Paul Nicholls talented gelding put in a decent enough shift when finishing three lengths behind Somersby in a Kempton Chase at the end of October. Aiteen Thirtythree likely needed the race in that one but continued to firm up his relationship with Ruby Walsh. A 5/4 second favourite on the day he perhaps made a mistake by trying to dictate the pace early on.

Great Endeavour comes out of the David Pipe yard and managed a much more impressive showing on his seasonal debut – capturing a twenty-strong Paddy Power Gold Cup Chase – his first graded score since taking the Byrne Group plate over fences back in 2010.

The field that he was able to topple on the day included Quantitativeeasing, Wishfull Thinking, Calgary Bay, Mon Parrain and Billie Magern. The best you're likely to find on him at the moment is 13/2 and he will likely take money on the day.

Wymott is taking money for this one and he had a blockbuster 2010/11 campaign until being pulled up when it really counted in the RSA Chase at Cheltenham. A winner of six from eleven with three second-place finishes, Wymott deserves respect and should continue his partnership with Jason Maguire.

Planet of Sound is a quality jumper who has tangled with the best despite having some spotty campaigns and remaining relatively lightly-raced for a nine-year-old. He was hitting around 163 last year which is just off his career-high of 166. He's an interesting outside option for this one and could come on nicely with something of a drop in class.

Carruthers looked good in his seasonal debut with Noel Fehily up at Cheltenham back during the open meeting. He finished third to an impressive Galaxy Rock and likely needed the race. Not known for finding the line too often, you can still expect him to go off at a reasonable price and be a solid each-way selection. If he goes to the front and jumps well he could very well be a factor.