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Cheltenham Day Four: The Gold Cup pointers and trends by Timeform

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What is the profile of the average Gold Cup winner? Timeform explain what you should be looking for in a winner...

As the ultimate prize in the sport, it's not unreasonable to expect results in the Cheltenham Gold Cup to go pretty much to form. However, 13 of the 30 top-three finishers since 1997 have started at 20/1 or bigger, including three at 40/1 and one at 66/1.

The tally also includes two winners, Mr Mulligan, at 20/1 in 1997, and Cool Dawn, a 25/1-chance when successful the following year. Cool Dawn is unusual among winners of the Gold Cup in the last decade or so, in that he contested only handicaps en route to Cheltenham and ran poorly in his prep race.

Eight of the 14 winners since 1993 had been successful on their previous outing - Jodami (1993) and Imperial Call (1996) had won the Irish Hennessy, Master Oats (1995) and Looks Like Trouble (2000) the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham, Best Mate (2003) and Kicking King (2005) the King George VI Chase, Best Mate (2004) the Ericsson and Kauto Star (2007) the AON Chase at Newbury.

Indeed, the only other in this period who'd seemed to run poorly prior to winning at Cheltenham was See More Business, though his third in the Cotswold Chase proved better form than it appeared at the time and blinkers clearly did the trick in revitalising him. Plenty of Gold Cup winners haven't proved the most durable - the Irish-trained pair Kicking King and War of Attrition were unable to defend their crowns in recent years due to injury - but Best Mate managed to return to Cheltenham three years on the trot, in the process ending a 32 year period since the last multiple Gold Cup winner (L'Escargot).

The Fellow (runner-up twice and fourth before winning) and See More Business (third at 40/1 in 2002) are other winners who regularly ran well in the race, whilst Dorans Pride, Strong Promise, Florida Pearl, Harbour Pilot and Sir Rembrandt have all been placed twice since 1997.

Unlike the Queen Mother Champion Chase, in which winners of the previous season's Arkle have a good record, Royal & SunAlliance Chase winners seldom succeed in the Gold Cup. Looks Like Trouble and Garrison Savannah are the only exceptions since Master Smudge was awarded the 1980 Gold Cup on technical grounds, although Forgive'N Forget and Mr Mulligan were both runner-up in the novice race 12 months before their Gold Cup wins.

As for the age of winners, seven-, eight- and nine-year-olds dominate. There was a run of three ten-year-olds in five years up to 1992 but only Cool Dawn has succeeded at that age since.

What A Myth in 1969 was the last twelve-year-old winner, Mandarin in 1962 the last aged 11. No six-year-old has won since Mill House, in 1963, though The Fellow was beaten just a short head at that age.

The Gold Cup isn't an easy race in which to make all, though Cool Dawn just about did.