Gold Cup day tips for the Cheltenham Festival

Mar 12, 2026 - 18:00

The Cheltenham Festival enters its fourth and final day on Friday, another superb seven-race card scheduled from the Prestbury Park venue.

The Gold Cup, one of three Grade 1s on the afternoon, is the obvious highlight, but there’s quality and quantity throughout, maximum fields of 24 declared for three of the races.

Our expert, Colm Doyle, has a trio of selections on the card including one in the feature race, one in the opener, and another in the finale.

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Cheltenham Festival day four picks

1.20 Cheltenham – Selma De Vary @ 7/2
4.00 Cheltenham – The Jukebox Man @ 7/2
5.20 Cheltenham – East India Express @ 8/1

1.20 Cheltenham – Selma De Vary

Long-time ante-post favourite for the Triumph Hurdle Narciso Has was sadly ruled out of the race after meeting a setback, but Willie Mullins may still take the prize home with Selma De Vary, who shaped with significant encouragement behind her stablemate in a Grade 1 at the Dublin Racing Festival last month.

The four-year-old filly, a winner over hurdles at Auteuil in November, made the switch to Mullins subsequently and was rather dropped in at the deep end on her stable debut, but she acquitted herself extremely well and briefly touched odds-on in-running, prior to bungling the last.

Her owner, Rich Ricci, was sure she’d tighten up for the run and that, combined with her sex allowance, might well give her the edge.

2.20 Cheltenham – The Jukebox Man

A case can be made for a fair few of this year’s Gold Cup field but there’s an argument to say that an unbeaten (over fences) King George winner would normally be an outright favourite for the Blue Riband event.

The Jukebox Man has catapulted through the ranks in fine style over fences, beating Iroko with plenty in hand at Haydock in November before a game effort to see off the likes of Banbridge, Gaelic Warrior and Jango Baie in the King George a month later.

With just four starts over fences under his belt, there’s surely more to come from this lightly-raced chaser who has also been shaping like a step up in trip could yield further improvement.

He’s proven himself on all sorts of ground and we know he handles Cheltenham (albeit the hurdle track) given that he was only just touched off after an aggressive ride in the Albert Bartlett two years ago.

Any further improvement would surely make him hard to beat and his main rival who heads the betting (Gaelic Warrior), had a tough enough race at the Dublin Racing Festival.

5.20 Cheltenham – East India Express

It’s been another fine Cheltenham Festival for legendary trainer Nicky Henderson and he might well end the week as it started, courtesy of East India Express in the concluding Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle – a race won last year by outstanding mare, Wodhooh, a Grade 1 winner here on Thursday.

The selection thrives on good ground and arrives here on the back of an eye-catching second at the Winter Millions Festival at Windsor in January, the seven-year-old rallying strongly to be beaten just neck behind Listentoyourheart and nicely clear of a subsequent Doncaster winner and Olly Murphy’s re-opposing Act Of Authority.

He’s up 4lb for that, but still retains potential and Freddie Gordon, who is 3-8 aboard the gelding, retains the ride.

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