The biggest shocks in November Gold Cup history

Cheltenham’s November Meeting is the first big weekend of the jumps season, and its centrepiece is the Gold Cup, a handicap chase run since 1960. In horse racing, handicaps are built to give every runner a chance, and this one has produced some of the longest-priced winners at Cheltenham.

Senor El Betrutti, 1997

Senor El Betrutti is one of only two winners of the race to return 33/1. Jamie Osborne rode him for Susan Nock in a field of nine and beat Challenger Du Luc, the 100/30 runner-up for Martin Pipe and AP McCoy. The 15/8 favourite, Sparky Gayle, finished fourth.

The result was no one-off. Four weeks later, Senor El Betrutti came back to Cheltenham on 13 December, won again at 9/1 and beat Challenger Du Luc a second time, by two and a half lengths.

Chatham, 1970

The other 33/1 winner came in the middle of the longest winning run any trainer has put together in the race. Fred Rimell won four in a row from 1968 to 1971, with Jupiter Boy, Gay Trip, Chatham and Gay Trip again. Gay Trip went on to win the Grand National in April 1970, seven months before Chatham gave the yard its third straight win at 33/1.

Splash Of Ginge, 2017

No winner has returned a bigger price since. Splash Of Ginge started at 25/1 in a field of 17, and Tom Bellamy drove him home by a neck from Starchitect, a 10/1 chance. Kylemore Lough, the 4/1 favourite, was pulled up. It was Nigel Twiston-Davies’ fourth win in the race.

Little Josh, 2010

Twiston-Davies had already caused one upset seven years earlier. Little Josh won at 20/1 in 2010, ridden by the trainer’s son, Sam, and beat Dancing Tornado, another 20/1 shot, by two and three-quarter lengths in a field of 18. Two years before, the stable’s Imperial Commander had won the race at 13/2, and he went on to land the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March 2010.

The beaten favourite made it a bigger shock. Long Run started at 2/1 and finished third, and in March 2011 he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup itself.

Exotic Dancer and Cyfor Malta, the 16/1 winners

Cyfor Malta won at 16/1 in 2002, four years after his first win in the race. Barry Geraghty rode him for Martin Pipe, and he beat Poliantas, a 25/1 chance, by seven lengths in a field of 15. Chicuelo, the 2/1 favourite, failed to finish. No other horse has won the race twice with such a long gap between victories.

Exotic Dancer returned the same price in 2006. AP McCoy rode him for Jonjo O’Neill and beat Vodka Bleu, the 4/1 favourite, by three lengths in a field of 16. Exotic Dancer went on to finish second to Kauto Star in the Cheltenham Gold Cup the following March.

Grands Crus, 2012

Not every shock needs a big-priced winner. Grands Crus started the 7/4 favourite in 2012, the shortest price for a favourite in the race since at least 2000, and was pulled up. Al Ferof won at 8/1 for Paul Nicholls and Ruby Walsh, three lengths clear of Walkon in a field of 18.

Only six favourites won the race in the 24 runnings from 2000 to 2023, so a beaten favourite is the rule rather than the exception in one of the biggest handicaps in British horse racing.