Coral Cup Tips: 2024 Betting Preview & Trends

Coral Cup tips vary greatly across the board because a case can always be made for so many of the runners. The best horse racing betting sites went 10/1 the field in their ante-post price lists for the 2022 running of this race before entries were published on February 22. Saint Felicien is now the 7/1 favourite.

Coral Cup Tips

• Back Unexpected Party to win the Coral Cup - 9/1 with 888sport

Coral Cup Runners in Focus

Here's an in-depth look at some of the contenders for the 2022 Coral Cup:

Unexpected Party Tops Coral Cup Tips List

Trainer Dan Skelton wasted no time nominating the Coral Cup as the big-race target for Unexpected Party after the progressive seven-year-old made short work of a competitive field of handicappers at Ascot in January.

An emphatic four-and-a-half length success under Harry Skelton was never going to escape the attention of the handicapper, who reacted by hiking him up 12lb to a mark of 142, but that will at least guarantee that the lightly-raced grey gets into the Coral Cup.

Unexpected Party has already run with great credit over the Coral Cup course and distance having chased home Gowel Road (clear of the rest) in a competitive heat at Cheltenham’s November Meeting. Coral Cup trends followers will also point to the fact that four of the last five winners have been seven years of age.

Gowel Road now finds himself 11lb higher for that Prestbury Park success despite having been beaten on both starts since. However, both subsequent defeats have been back at around the minimum trip and he ran with great credit to get within a length-and-a-quarter of Metier in a valuable handicap hurdle at Lingfield in January.

He won’t mind which way the ground goes and will be well-suited to a step back up in distance, although there are sure to be better-handicapped horses in the race.

Read More: Cheltenham Gold Cup tips, betting preview and trends analysis

Classy Grand Could be Back For More

Coral Cup trends followers will be wary of Grand Roi because he hasn't won beyond two miles but he was only a length-and-a-quarter behind 160-rated stablemate Sire Du Berlais in the Lismullen Hurdle (two-and-a-half miles) in November.

He proved disappointing in the 2021 edition of the Coral Cup but ground conditions would have been quick enough for him that day and it would be an interesting move should Gordon Elliott decide to give him another go in the race.

Camprond no Back Number

Philip Hobbs has won the Coral Cup twice (What’s Up Boys in 2000 and Monkerhostin in 2004) so it's worth keep an eye out for Hobbs-trained contenders when looking to pick a winning horse in this one.

Camprond has had a busy season, but the level of his form went up a notch this winter. An impressive Grade 2 novice winner at Chepstow in October, he is proven around the Old Course at Cheltenham and his latest staying-on fourth is much more creditable than it looks, because the drop back to two miles wouldn’t have been ideal. Back over a trip and on some nice ground, it’s not too difficult to see him running well.

Read More: Get the best Cheltenham offers for the 2022 Festival

Coral Cup Odds

• Odds correct as of 15/03/2022 - For full latest odds head over to 888sport

Coral Cup Trends

• Bad race for favourites: 17 of the last 18 favourites have been beaten, the outlier being 2020 winner Dame De Compagnie.
• Age matters: Since the turn of the century, only three winners have been older than seven years of age.
• Winning form: Every Coral Cup Cheltenham winner this century had won at least twice over hurdles. However, nine of the last 10 had won no more than one jumps race that season.
• On the up: 10 of the last 15 winners were second-season hurdlers.
• Course form counts: 10 of the last 12 winners had at least one previous run at Cheltenham, five of which had won.
• Ratings change: The trend used to be that horses rated 140 or lower would win the Coral Cup but more recently higher-rated horses have struck, so don’t be put off by horses carrying big weights.
• Trip notes: 10 of the last 12 winners had run at least once over two miles and three furlongs.

Coral Cup Cheltenham Winners

Coral Cup Cheltenham Verdict

It’s tricky to be confident with Coral Cup tips but Cheltenham form is crucial and that increases confidence in one or two of the home challengers, most notably UNEXPECTED PARTY.

He has ground to make up on Gowel Road from the November Meeting but his latest Ascot romp suggests he’s a horse firmly on the up and his trainer has made no secret of the fact that the Coral Cup is the big spring target.

Check Out Other Popular Horse Racing Event Offers:

• Grand National Offers
• Punchestown Offers