Hennessy Gold Cup Early Betting Preview Part 1

The Grade 1 2013 Hennessy Gold Cup is set to run this weekend at Leopardstown and there isn’t going to be a particularly large field contesting this race but there is certainly going to be some talent on display. This is likely the last appearance for all of the entrants in the mix prior to the Cheltenham Festival and you can expect some ramifications here depending on which races these ones wind up pointing towards. Plenty of opportunities are still out there for festival glory. 

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As it currently stands, the ante post book has both Flemenstar and Sir Des Champs deadlocked at slim 5/4 price tags. Flemenstar lines up for Peter Casey’s yard and he comes in off off a tough beat in late December to Tidal Bay in the Grade 1 Lexus Chase. He didn’t lose by much on the day, just three quarters of a length in third, and he has beaten many of these contenders before - as is typically the case with top-level Irish chasers. 

He received a 173 rating based on his last effort and should do well as he moves forward off his first loss in well over a year. You have to like the spacing between his races and he had other options than just this one - it indicates the strength of the hand Casey has to play here. 

Sir Des Champs came in behind Flemenstar in his past two attempts - a fourth place run in the aforementioned Lexus and a second place finish in the Grade 1 John Durkan. Flemenstar has had his number and he’s going to need to move forward in this race and 

he tends to run better when he travels up front - look for him to attempt to race closer to the pace this time. 

He is some way off of things with a 166 rating considering there is no break in price between him and the more in-form Flemenstar. Willy Mullins knows how to win this race though, and that seems to be the reason why the price is so short. 

Bog Warrior enters the race with a rising amount of fanfare having taken three races on the bounce since falling in his seasonal debut at Down Royal. He captured a Grade 2 event at Gowran Park in the Galmoy Hurdle. He switches over to fences here again and he will be in better form that he demonstrated last year. He was able to capture a novice chase at Naas by an eleven length margin around this time.