Hennessy Meeting Betting

About the Newbury Hennessy Meeting

The left-handed track is situated just outside the town centre and is only a short train journey from central London, and therefore always attracts a better than average crowd.

Over the sticks their first big meeting of the season is the three day Hennessy Meeting held each year at the start of the jumps season in November. The course is a paradise for the long-striding types being a wide open track, but jumping ability is paramount as the fences are some of the stiffest around.

The highlight race, The Hennessy, is run on the middle day of the meeting (Saturday) and is the first top class staying chase of the season, run over a gruelling 3m 2f. Originally the contest was staged at Cheltenham, but after just three runnings was moved to Newbury in 1960.

'Hennessy Day' is Newbury's biggest and best fixture of the year, attracting record attendances and betting activity, with some of the best older and younger staying steeplechasers in training hammering round two circuits of Newbury's quality track.

In the past the race has been won by some greats including Arkle (twice), Mill House, Burrough Hill Lad and more recently One Man, with Red Rum just failing in 1973 by a short head. Twelve months ago the powerful Denman galloped his rivals into the ground before going onto win the Cheltenham Gold Cup the following year.

Horses that run well often return to compete in the race year after year but no horse in the last 10 runnings has won the Hennessy more than once. Being out of the top draw, horses that run well here always figure high up in the betting for later races that season including the Royal & SunAlliance Chase, Cheltenham Gold Cup, King George VI, and The Grand National.

Betting on the Hennessy Gold Cup

This year's event looks its normal competitive affair with last year’s trainer Paul Nicholls looking to hold a strong hand with his promising Big Buck’s. He’s been talked up as the next big Gold Cup horse to come out of the yard, and being only 5 years-old win, lose or draw here and he’ll still have plenty of time on his hands to live up to that billing.

Other runners towards the top of the betting include Air Force One, Character Building and Oedipe.

Some key race trends, in recent runnings, to look out for when trying to find the winner are:

• Seven out of ten winners have been aged six or seven year-olds
• 8/10 winners have carried 11 stone or less
• 2/10 winners have been ridden by jockey Timmy Murphy
• 3/10 winners were the favourite or joint favourite
• 6/10 won last time out
• 10/10 finished in the top three last time out
• 3/10 winners won or came second last time out in the Badger Ales Trophy Handicap Chase at Wincanton

Hennessy Gold Cup 2008 - Information

• Hennessy Gold Cup 2007 Official Site
• Hennessy Gold Cup History (Wikipedia)