Thistlecack's
Bumpy Road to the 2018 Cheltenham Festival
The
Cheltenham Festival might still be a few months away. But this doesn’t stop
racing enthusiasts and punters from forecasting next year’s big event. Now,
Thistlecrack makes his way to the headlines after a series of fortunate events
that brings him closer to competing in the 2018 Cheltenham.
This
is the case despite the seemingly disappointing year this Thoroughbred horse
had. 2017 proved to be a disaster for him after sustaining an injury. This led
to him missing a number of races for the National Hunt. Fortunately, the
9-year-old is reported to be on his road to recovery.
Because
of this, it’s pretty likely that we’ll see him again in next year’s Cheltenham
Gold Cup. Thistlecrack sustained a torn tendon which led to his absence in this
year’s Cheltenham. But after just a few months, Joe Tizzard referred to his
horse’s status to be perfect.
Now,
everything is clear for the gelding as he’s expected to compete in the upcoming
Kempton’s King George this coming Boxing Day. Not only is this a form of
preparation, but this will also be a means to gauge the horse’s condition.
Reports
also have it that Thistlecrack is one of the favorites in the upcoming races,
together with Sizing John. The only thing that stops him from getting maximum
hype is the few sponsors. This might be due to the past injury he sustained.
Despite
this, there are still a lot of punters expecting to see Thistlecrack back in
the racing game. This is thanks to the 8 wins over 11 starts he had. But
because his last hurdle race was way back in April of 2016, he should first go
through a series of conditioning or preparatory races. This coming Boxing Day's
tournament is a pretty good answer to this need.
It’s
also worth considering that Thistlecrack had a few jumping errors during the
Chepstow race last October of 2016. But this wasn’t much of a problem as it’s
currently undergoing a serious training campaign. The gelding was also foot
perfect during the King George event.
Now
that the Cheltenham Gold Cup proves to be the perfect avenue for Thistlecrack
to regain his lost glory, it’s safe to say that you can get your Cheltenham 2018 betting offers at
Freebets.co.uk as
early as now.
Why?
It’s because the odds speak for the high victory chances of Thistlecrack. He
currently has a strong 12/1 betting odds, the same as other high-caliber horses
like Finians Oscar and Penhill.
Though
the odds aren’t perfect for him, it’s still a close call to the 6/1 and 10/1
odds of Nichols Canyon and Faugheen. And it’s not really much of a problem as
Thistlecrack’s doing far better than more popular horses like Apples Jade and
Supasundae. The two horses currently have 14/1 and 16/1 odds.
With
this being said, there’s no doubt that Thistlecrack is going to do a pretty
good job in the 2018 Cheltenham. It’s just a matter of time he proves his
pundits wrong.