2022 Coral Cup Tips - 16/1 and 25/1 tips for this wide-open Cheltenham handicap

Jon Vine

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Last updated: 04 Mar 2022

Jon Vine 04 Mar 2022

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Ante-post tips and odds for the 2022 Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle
This handicap takes place on day two of the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday 16th March 2022
We're backing last year's beaten favourite, Grand Roi at 16/1
We've also backed Guard Your Dreams at 25/1

Expired

Sam Twiston-Davies riding Guard Your Dreams (red/yellow) clear the last to win The Unibet International Hurdle at Cheltenham. (Getty)

The first handicap to be staged on Ladies’ Day at the Cheltenham Festival is the Coral Cup. A capacity field of 26 talented hurdlers will approach the starter’s flag ahead of this thrilling race and this year’s renewal of the Coral Cup is looking incredibly open.

I’ve cast my eye through the betting for the Coral Cup, listed some key recurring ten-year trends and picked out my best betting tips.

2022 Coral Cup Odds

Name	Odds
State Man	6/1
Good Risk At All	7/1
Unexpected Party	8/1
Winter Fog	8/1
Drop The Anchor	8/1
Bar	10/1

2022 Coral Cup Trends

9 of the last 10 winners had run in no more than 9 hurdles races
9 of the last 10 winners had won either 0 or 1 handicap races
9 of the last 10 winners were aged eight or younger

2022 Coral Cup Runners

State Man2022 Coral Cup FavouriteGET 6/1 HERE

The Coral Cup is a devilishly hard race to dissect at the best of times. This year, it seems even more difficult.

Unexposed novice State Man tops the market. He’s also favourite for both the County Hurdle and the Martin Pipe, and I’m sure Willie Mullins would choose either of those races over the Coral Cup. Then we’ve got Good Risk At All, who’ll be running off a ten pound higher mark and needs 40 horses ahead of him in the weights to come out just to get a run.

I can’t see anyone rated lower than 141 making the final cut. If The Bosses Oscar was to run off top-weight, then the entire 26-horse field would be separated by less than a stone – before you factor in any claiming jockey’s allowances.

I haven’t been able to come up with any outstanding candidates. So, I’m going to back two at longer prices and both just so happened to have run in the race 12 months ago.

2022 Coral Cup Tip 1 – Grand Roi

Grand Roi E/W2022 Coral Cup Tip 1GET 16/1 HERE

The beaten favourite in last year’s Coral Cup was GRAND ROI. Gordon Elliott’s hurdler made his handicap debut on the back of a Grade Two win and a fine second under a penalty in Grade Three company, and punters backed Grand Roi into 6/1 favouritism before the off.

A chaotic first attempt at commencement meant the field lined up for a standing start. Jack Kennedy found a nice prominent pitch and I expected Grand Roi to be ridden in his usual prominent style. Yet, as soon as the starter dropped his flag, Kennedy pulled his mount back to the midfield. Grand Roi then steadily lost ground throughout the race and was too far adrift of Heaven Help Us to mount a serious challenge, staying on up Cleeve Hill to finish a 15-length twelfth.

Grand Roi hasn’t run in a handicap since day two of the Cheltenham Festival last year. Elliott’s six-year-old finished third under a penalty in the Lismullen Hurdle on his reappearance, fourth behind Klassical Dream and Flooring Porter in the Grade One at Leopardstown over Christmas, and was last seen placing fourth in the Boyne Hurdle at Navan.

Despite those three highly respectable efforts in top-level hurdles races, Grand Roi will run off the same mark of 149 he was fancied off last year and I’m sure Jack Kennedy will be keen for another crack, having gotten his tactics wrong 12 months ago.

2022 Coral Cup Tip 2 – Guard Your Dreams

Guard Your Dreams2022 Coral Cup Tip 2GET 25/1 HERE

Nigel Twiston-Davies has been having an excellent season and many people fancy his runner, Gowel Road to mount a serious challenge. Gowel Road has reached a rating of 145, thanks to some solid runs in handicaps this season. Yet, his stablemate GUARD YOUR DREAMS will also run off a mark of 145, despite reaching far dizzier heights than his stablemate over the last 12 months.

Guard Your Dreams hated the standing start in last year’s Coral Cup. Sam Twiston-Davies was forced to stoke his mount along after the first, second and third obstacles. Any chance of winning was over from that point, but Guard Your Dreams finished off his race nicely to place seventh, just four lengths adrift of runner-up Craigneiche.

Twiston-Davies’ six-year-old went on to finish third behind My Drogo in the Grade One at Aintree and was pushed up to 145 after beating Coole Cody in a handicap here at Cheltenham on his reappearance in October. Since then, Guard Your Dreams has finished third in the Ascot Hurdle, the Relkeel Hurdle and the National Spirit Hurdle. Sam’s mount has also finished second to Goshen in the Contenders Hurdle and won the International Hurdle here at Cheltenham here in November.

Despite winning a Grade Two and placing in four similar races, Guard Your Dreams hasn’t moved up the handicap. He’s still rated 145. That mark is ten pounds higher than what he entered the Cheltenham Festival with last year, but he’s undoubtedly a ten pounds better horse. 25/1 NRNB seems like excellent value to me.

Verdict

2022 Coral Cup

Grand Roi and Guard Your Dreams are our two against the field in this year's Coral Cup.

Grand Roi

Each-Way

@16/1 - 5 Units

Bet £10 Get £30

with bonus code NEWBONUS

Available to new customers only. Make a qualifying deposit of £5 or more and claim the offer within 30 days of registering your account to qualify for 300% of that amount in Bet Credits, up to a maximum of £30 in Bet Credits. Once released, your Bet Credits will be held in your account balance and are non-withdrawable. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Registration required. Time limits and T&Cs apply.

Bet at bet365

Guard Your Dreams

Each-Way

@25/1 - 5 Units

Bet £5 Get £20

Easy-to-claim offer

18+ New Customers only. Certain deposit methods & bet types excluded. Minimum first £/€5 bet within 14 days of account registration at minimum odds 1/2 to get 4 x £5 free bets. Free bet available to use on selected sportsbook markets only. Free bets valid for 7 days, stake not returned. Restrictions + T&Cs apply.

Bet at Coral