Cheltenham Gold Cup Tips

Friday is the culmination of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival and the feature race on the day is the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the biggest reward in National Hunt racing.


A field of 11 will line up to try and claim the prize and a place in history. The lack of two-time winner Galopin Des Champs implies just in 2015's winner Inothewayurthinkin can prevent a new name being carved into the story of dives racing.


Racing Post tipster Keith Melrose has 2 bets for the big race, and fancies the Gold Cup to be won by a British horse for the very first time since 2018.


Cheltenham Gold Cup Betting Tips


16:00 Cheltenham - Haiti Couleurs @ 13/2
16:00 Cheltenham - Grey Dawning @ 12/1


16:00 Cheltenham - Haiti Couleurs @ 13/2


The last British winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Native River, had run in the National Hunt Chase as an amateur and won the Welsh Grand National the following season. Haiti Couleurs is a natural successor to that horse, a strong galloper and improver who can reach the top of the sport on Friday.


After winning the National Hunt Chase at last year's Festival, Haiti Couleurs went to Ireland where he won the Irish Grand National. He then raised the double when winning at Chepstow in December.


Since then, he has won the Denman Chase, another race Native River took en path to winning his Gold Cup.


Given we are learning numerous lessons from Native River, we require to take the warnings also. He twice did not go fast enough in a Gold Cup and completed in the minor cash as an outcome.


It was under a strong ride from Richard Johnson that he dominated in 2018 and Sean Bowen will definitely be continuing aboard Haiti Couleurs. That would take a few of the less doughty stayers into unidentified area. That undoubtedly includes our second option, so perhaps see the staking plan as covering the most bases.


16:00 Cheltenham - Grey Dawning @ 12/1


I believed this was an uncommon case of a horse progressing value after it was beaten. Grey Dawning last ran in the Cotswold Chase here in January, where he was given a peaceful ride and was simply slipping into things when belting two out.


Harry Skelton immediately chose that was enough, and let him get home in his own time. It suggested connections of this horse have found out lessons from last season, when he entered the spring without enough in the tank to do himself justice.


Before Cheltenham, Grey Dawning had actually won the Betfair Chase in persuading style, suggesting he was ready to step up to Gold Cup standard. At the time, there was still a big and looming threat from . As the season has used on, a lot of those horses have actually beaten each other or fallen off track for this race.


With the Irish challenge not as strong as it might have been, the door is open for a British winner. The Jukebox Man and Jango Baie are both obvious competitors after their popular surfaces in the King George, but the possibilities of Haiti Couleurs and Grey Dawning are being ignored.


Tipster's Recent Winners


Keith Melrose was on Kap Vert when that horse won at Taunton on Monday and has been on the premises at Cheltenham this week, with each-way collections in his favoured handicap chases on Jagwar, Leave Of Absence and Zurich.


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