The Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is one of the most interesting races at the Cheltenham Festival because it's one of the busiest races in terms of betting despite not having the biggest prize purse and not closing a day's racing.

The Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup is a three mile one and a half furlong handicap chase that is open to five-year-olds and older. This ensures that every year there is always a strong group of contenders for the race on day three of the festival.

Front Runner for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup

Front runner for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup is a horse called Galant Nuit from France. The seven-year-old Bay Gelding is a 9/1 shot because a 33 per cent place ration.

Galant Nuit is the front runner for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup because the horse has two career victories at Cheltenham and Uttoxeter in similar sorts of races. Ferdy Murphy has trained the horse to stay on well and finish strongly with a good stamina. 

Another front runner for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup is Junior trained by David Pipe. Junior has a lot more career history than the majority of horses in this race and has placed 14 times over jumps from 21 races. Junior is a best price of 10/1.

Leading Contenders for the Challenge Cup

There is a large group of leading contenders for the Challenge Cup that cannot be separated at 12/1. Gordon Elliott's Beautiful Sound has three wins from four races over jumps and seems a great each way bet.

Another of the leading contenders for the Challenge Cup is Aberdale, a seven-year-old Bay Gelding trained by Jonjo O'Neill. Aberdale runs well over long distances and has a career winning percentage of 33.33 per cent.

Quantitativeeasing is arguably the best of the leading contenders for the Challenge Cup. Nicky Henderson's five-year-old has won five races from a career total of nine. This includes two races at Cheltenham and although the horse didn't perform well on either occasion, the experience of Cheltenham could be beneficial.

Best Value Odds for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup 

Some of the best value odds for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup are available with horses on the fringes of leading contenders for the Challenge Cup. Fredo has some of the best value odds for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup at 16/1.

Ian Williams' horse has finished at least third in ten races from 23. There is no reason why Fredo cannot mount a late challenge and perform well to net some betting customers a big return.

The Challenge Cup 2011

The Challenge Cup 2011 is set to be one of the most competitive races in the history of the Cheltenham Festival. There is a group of 10 to 12 horses that are only separated by a few points in the betting for the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup.

The Challenge Cup 2011 could see one of the best finishes for any race at the Cheltenham Festival this year.