'He has a real good chance' - top trainers on their Coral Cup contenders

Talk about a hospital pass. How hard must it have been to come up with a handicap mark for Sa Majeste? How easy would it be to get it 10lb wrong?

This six-year-old showed just fair form in winning in France at four before moving to Willie Mullins, whose high hopes were clear from the fact he started hot favourite for his Irish debut at Punchestown.

Having raced too keenly and been well beaten that day, he reappeared eight months later and readily won a four-runner race at Limerick that is inordinately tricky to assess.

Do you judge him strictly on a four-and-a-half-length defeat of subsequent Cleeve Hurdle winner Noble Yeats, in which case he is clearly a smart horse worth a rating of 150-odd? Or do you look at the fact there was just five lengths further back to the modest Call Me Lord and put him in the 130s?

BHA hurdles handicapper Andrew Mealor called Sa Majeste "the most difficult horse we've had to assess for a few years" and went down the middle with a mark of 140.

He has been favourite since the weights were published, which suggests Mullins and JP McManus, who know more than most about how to win a Cheltenham handicap, are happy with that.

Yet this is always a competitive race. There has been an average of little more than eight lengths covering the first six home in the last ten years, with winners at 20-1, 28-1, 33-1 and 50-1 since 2018.

Potential winners abound if Sa Majeste turns out not to be a good thing, notably Built By Ballymore who improved markedly to win by 12 lengths on each of his last two starts and could have plenty more to offer for Martin Brassil, who has had the runner-up in this for the last two years.

The ability of those novices to cope with a big field of handicappers has to be taken on trust, whereas those proven to thrive in the hurly-burly include Langer Dan, who won this last year and runs off the same mark after failing to sparkle this term.

Brazil won the Boodles here two years ago, while Doddiethegreat ran a career-best when fourth in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury, finishing a neck behind subsequent Imperial Cup winner Go Dante, and promises to do even better on this step back up in trip.

RP Recommends: how to bet on the Coral Cup

By Tom Park, audience editor

One of the toughest puzzles of the week to solve made even more difficult by the soft conditions. Sky Bet's eight places is well worth taking advantage of here and look out for horses who have gone well on soft ground previously. Langer Dan won this race on soft ground last year and he has an obvious chance off the same mark. Western Fold should like the conditions too.

• RP Recommends: Sky Bet

Dan aiming to make history

This is hard. Beating two dozen rivals to land an ultra-competitive Cheltenham Festival handicap needs ability, courage and a fair amount of luck in running. Doing it twice is so tough that no horse managed it in the Coral Cup, which was first run back in 1993.

Yet if anyone is going to do it, it will probably be Dan Skelton, who has won five handicap hurdles at the meeting since 2016.

And his Langer Dan has been well backed to make history by landing a repeat success in this 2m5f contest.

He was a 9-1 shot when seeing off 25 opponents last season, coming from off the pace to lead in the last half-furlong and holding on by a head.

That festival success was a year late for some punters as he had started red-hot 7-2 favourite for the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle here in 2022, only to be brought down at the second flight.

Although Langer Dan has shown little in four outings this term, he was recently diagnosed as suffering from ulcers and that may explain his modest efforts.

That loss of form means he has slipped back to the handicap mark he won off last year and Skelton is full of hope of another big run.

"Langer Dan is in good form," the trainer said. "In the last three weeks he's improved dramatically. He had ulcers over the winter, we treated him for that and his work has massively improved.

"It's going to be hard to win a second Coral Cup, but we'll give it a go."

Trainer and jockey relishing first British runner

Not many trainers have their first runner in Britain under the bright lights of the Cheltenham Festival but Padraig Butler will do just that when his stable star Da Capo Glory tackles the Coral Cup on Wednesday.

Butler, based near Bandon in County Cork, has saddled six winners under rules in Ireland and Da Capo Glory has proved a tremendous flagbearer in recent seasons.

The seven-year-old has some strong form, having been placed behind the likes of El Fabiolo and Grangeclare West, and landed a handicap hurdle at Cork in determined fashion in January. He ran with plenty of credit when beaten four lengths into third in the Grade 2 Boyne Hurdle last month.

Da Capo Glory (right) and Darragh Allen on their way to victory at Cork in JanuaryCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Like the trainer, amateur jockey Darragh Allen is having his first crack in Britain and has built up an excellent rapport with Da Capo Glory.

Butler said: "Darragh knows him very well. He's won three races on him and we couldn't look beyond him. Da Capo Glory travelled over well and we're very happy with him. He ran a cracker in the Boyne and the ground shouldn't hinder him too much.

"It's our first runner in Britain and we're really enjoying the experience. We worked and jumped him at home in cheekpieces, so we decided to put them on for the race. Hopefully they'll help him travel throughout the race and we'll be delighted if he finishes in the first third of the field."

What they say

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Maxxum, Beacon Edge, Jigoro and Western Fold
Jigoro is a nice young horse who will appreciate the step up in trip. We think he's improving and he bumped into a good horse last time. Western Fold won well last time but this is obviously a big step up in class. Maxxum stays further and stamina could come into play here, while Beacon Edge has some useful form in the book and you can never discount him.

Nicky Henderson, trainer of Lucky Place and Doddiethegreat
No one thought Doddiethegreat would get in and we were fully expecting to run in the Martin Pipe. He's been progressive and likes soft ground to a degree. He has as good a chance as any. Lucky Place has improved through the season and novices can run well in this. We could have run him in the Gallagher, but this might be easier than taking on Ballyburn.

Harry Fry, trainer of Might I
He goes well fresh, so we've purposefully not run him since December. He didn't take to fences but is now rated 3lb lower than when fourth in last season's Martin Pipe. He's been working well and we've always felt he is capable of having a big day in the sun, so hopefully it's here.

Sa Majeste (left): has the Coral Cup favourite been let in lightly?

Gary Moore, trainer of Mark Of Gold
He goes there in good form, but he went up a lump for winning at Kempton and I felt I had to claim off him to give him any sort of chance. On the plus side, the ground will suit him.

Willie Mullins, trainer of Sa Majeste, Shanbally Kid and Lombron
Sa Majeste beat Noble Yeats at Limerick and that horse went on to win here in January so the form is solid. He has a real good chance. Lombron disappointed in the Moscow Flyer over two miles, so we're stepping him up in trip here to see how he gets on. Shanbally Kid is in nice order but needs a career best to feature.

Nigel Twiston-Davies, trainer of Guard Your Dreams
I think he's very well handicapped. The rain won't bother him and the step up in trip will help him too. He's run well this season and I've nothing but positive vibes about him.

Olly Murphy, trainer of Rambo T
He's gone up in the handicap for winning a nice race at Newbury. He'll be dropped in and ridden to run well and has a small each-way chance.

George Murphy, assistant to John Murphy, trainer of Black Bamboo
He has a lovely racing weight and he ran well at Leopardstown last time. He got shuffled back but stayed on well. He's arrived over in good form so we're hopeful of a nice run in a competitive race. He won a bumper at Limerick in testing conditions, so he's fairly versatile ground-wise.

Read our Wednesday previews:

1.45 Cheltenham: 'It was an easy decision to run Ballyburn here' - this year's talking horse bids to walk the walk 

2.30 Cheltenham: Is stamina a chink in Fact To File's armour or will latest Willie Mullins hotpot justify the hype? 

4.00 Cheltenham: 'He's better than his performance in last season's Arkle' - can Jonbon turn the tables on El Fabiolo in Champion Chase? 

4.50 Cheltenham: 'He jumps and travels like the sort of horse you want for this' - insight and key quotes for the Grand Annual 

5.30 Cheltenham: Can anything break the Irish stranglehold on the Willie Mullins-dominated Champion Bumper? 

Mighty Mullins ready to unleash another merciless battalion on the Cotswolds 

Do you want £1,000+ in free bets for the 2024 Cheltenham Festival? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators that our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing.