16:00 Cheltenham – Final Approach to come good at the Festival again
Published:Final Approach has one big statistic to overcome if he is to land the Coral Cup at 16/1, but he is definitely worth an each-way interest given the number of trends that appear to be in his favour.
No horse with an official rating higher than 147 has ever won the Coral Cup, which is a big negative for five of the entrants, including the 149-rated Final Approach and the 8/1 Get Me Out Of Here.
However, it could be this duo that are the main challengers in the closing stages for the second Cheltenham Festival succession.
Last year, Final Approach beat Get Me Out Of Here by a neck in the County Hurdle and a similarly closely fought finish could be on the cards again.
The Coral Cup is not typically a race that provides much in the way of Irish participation, but the runners they do send over a good track record of claiming victory.
Final Approach could not be in better Irish hands than Willie Mullins, while the jockey booking of Ruby Walsh must be considered another plus.
Punters may be put off by his disastrous run in the Betfair Hurdle behind Zarkandar at Newbury last month, but it was suggested that the travelling the horse had done to make the meeting may have taken its toll.
Furthermore, the slow nature of the race would not have played to his strengths either.
Get Me Out Of Here finished second in this race and would have perhaps won had he not been hampered by a faller in front with just two hurdles remaining.
Runners owned by JP McManus have a fine Coral Cup record with two previous victories and this be a positive for both Get Me Out Of Here and Silverhand.
Silverhand is 16/1 and could spring a shock at a big price despite not having been seen on a racecourse since July last year.
