IMPERIAL COMMANDER FAVOURED FOR CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP REPEAT

Last year’s surprise Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander is well-favoured to pull off a repeat victory in this year’s edition of the world’s top jumps race. It was an epic duel with Denman during the final stretches of that incredible race- which must have seen millions of pounds flushed down the drain when Kauto Star fell.
Kauto Star is actually still looking quite competitive in the Cheltenham Gold Cup antepost market and you can choose from a range of prices across all the various bookmakers with the highest odds available on Imperial Commander being an 11/2 tip at Sportingbet- he’s 7/2 to repeat with Skybet. Kauto Star trades as high as 5/1 with Paddy Power and as low as 4/1 with Ladbrokes.
Weapon’s Amnesty is being listed by Victor Chandler at a very slim 7/1 and clearly they expect plenty of the RSA Chase winner. He was lightly-raced in 2010 but ended the season well. He is expected to be a challenger in most top Grade 1’s this season.
Kauto Star’s stablemate Denman is trading as high as 12/1 for the Gold Cup with Ladbrokes and as low as 7/1 Skybet. There are rumours that he is being pointed towards the Grand National this year so you may want to hold off on any substantial antepost action on Denman.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s What A Friend also had a breakout year in 2009/10 and he trades in a 14/1-12/1 range across various bookmakers. Punchestowns is priced between 16/1 and 12/1. Burton Port is available at around 20/1 with Cooldine similarly-priced.
Other notables include Somersby at 20/1, Neptune Collonges at 20/1, Sizing Europe and Joncol both as high as 25/1- you can back Alberta’s Run at the same price. Carruthers is listed at 40/1, alongside the Nightingale.