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Cheltenham race in focus: Coral Cup

Wayne Bailey looks for more Irish contenders at Cheltenham, with Cesarewitch winner catching his eye in one of the biggest races of the second day

It's a race that sees even the most seasoned punters getting sweaty palms and uneasy at the thoughts of trying to find a winner. This is a race that I'm not afraid to take on however, and research goes a long way.

I must admit, my enthusiasm for the Coral Cup has a little tale behind it. Let me set the scene...

The date: St. Patrick's Day, 1999
The place: A bar in Dublin
The bet: £10 on KHAYRAWANI to win the Coral Cup at 16/1

Yours truly, a fresh-faced rookie punter placed a bet on the 1999 Coral Cup, unaware of its reputation as a difficult handicap. Buoyed by the success of Istabraq, I fancied an Irish horse to win and duly put down £10 with a bookie (It's hard to believe now, but Betfair was still over a year away). It was £10, I might add, that was hard earned in my part-time job stacking supermarket shelves.

The barman turned up the TV, the local barflies sneered at my rookie bet, and we all settled down to watch the race. Not only did an Irish horse win (mine), they filled the second, third, fourth and fifth places too! I made a mental note to research this race further, and celebrated Saint Paddy's day in style.

Nine years have passed, and this race still intrigues me. I like to think I'm no longer the lucky novice that landed £160 that day - however I'm still acutely aware of the Irish presence in this race, partly due to that successful day. In fact, in the past 13 years, this race has gone to the Irish on one in three occasions - despite the English having a far greater number of runners each year.

We're still slightly unsure of the final line-up, but even at this early stage we can consider a few important facts in our winner finding expedition:

Recent form
Horses that won last time out have a great record in this race, and have won four out of the past five renewals. Last time out winners that are likely to make the final cut are: Lough Derg, Catch Me, Pigeon Island, Kicks For Free, The Tother One, Hold Em and Astarador. Horses that are lightly raced in the season (no-more than three races) perform best.

Irish influence
As mentioned, the Irish horses should always be noted here, but particularly those trained by Tony Martin and Edward O' Grady. O'Grady has three entered: Shazand, Catch Me and Kasimali, while Martin has four: Leg Spinner, Drumconvis, Psycho and Robin Du Bois.

Age
Only one five-year-old has won in the past ten years, so it's worth avoiding those. Just some of the five-year-olds Included this year are Pigeon Island, Liberate, Warne's Way, The Package, County Zen, and Junior.

Weight
Horses Carrying eleven stone or more are facing a tough task and don't fare well historically. There are two horses carrying that burden in 2008 - Lough Derg and Catch me.

So whom does that leave? In my book, there are two horses standing out; indecently, both are from Tony Martin's stable:

Leg Spinner - Won the Cesarewitch back in October in style - that race was on the flat, but he's running of a low hurdle mark here all considered. He's Irish trained, which is a plus and he's also lightly raced - a very strong contender.

Psycho - Hopefully Martin's other gelding can make the final cut. He fell last time out in a race he looked like winning, and made it look easy when taking the spoils in his previous race. Again, the fact that he's Irish trained is a positive, and he hasn't been overworked this season.

Verdict: There'll be a big field and plenty of big prices, so it's worth backing both in the win and place markets.

• Back Leg Spinner in the win and place market
• Back Psycho in the win and place market

* There's only a few days to go so get those opinions in. There's no point in telling us about your winners after the festival! Put your head on the block now, and post your fancies.