Cheltenham Festival day four tips and predictions: Prepare for a thrilling finish on Gold Cup day

Just like that, it’s the fourth and final day of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. 

It’s been another rollercoaster year of emotions, with followers enjoying fearless displays while bettors celebrate winners at attractive odds.

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Who will be the big winners and losers on Gold Cup day in Gloucestershire? Whether you’re at the racecourse, at home or at work, keep reading for our expert preview and predictions.

Day four state of play

Cheltenham 2025 may have registered the smallest crowd since 1993 with less than 42,000 at the track on Wednesday. But those in attendance and the millions more following racing live on television encountered another classic renewal. 

Will Gold Cup day live up to the hype?

If the main event is to prove the most exciting race of the week, it must trump a dramatic Champion Hurdle that ended with a 25-1 winner.

Golden Ace was priced like winning wasn’t an option in midweek, but anything is possible at the festival, and the Champion Hurdle served as a reminder. 

Odds-on favourite Constitution Hill was the best backed horse of the Cheltenham Festival week and has all the class in the world. But he crashed out early in the big race, leaving the others to battle it out. Golden Ace showed courage and determination to win by almost ten lengths.

After watching a week of shocks, do you oppose the betting on Friday?

Gold Cup stats and trends

There’s no sure-fire way to predict the winner of the Gold Cup or any race at this year’s festival. But there are things you can do as a bettor to enhance your chances of landing a profit from the action.

A popular approach used by winning bettors is to trust the trends in the big fixtures. But what can we learn from past results?

The trends show it pays to follow the betting in the Gold Cup, and respect the market, as the starting price favourite has won this race in each of the previous three years. 

A Plus Tard did the business in 2022, before Galopin Des Champs won 12 months later and defended the title last term.

Who will go off as favourite on race day, and will they make it four wins on the bounce for the trading teams? The odds support Galopin Des Champs to make it a treble.

Another point to remember when narrowing down the Gold Cup field is that jockey Paul Townend has ridden three of the last five champions. 

To make things interesting, Henry De Bromhead has trained two of the four most recent champions. There’s lots to consider.

FIRST’s top tips: 

3:20 Triumph Hurdle: Hello Neighbour @ 5/1 (Ladbrokes)

2:00 County Handicap Hurdle: Mclaury @ 11/2 (Ladbrokes)

2:40 Mares’ Chase: Brides Hill @ 11/2 (Ladbrokes)

3:20 Novices Hurdle: Jet Blue @ 15/2 (Ladbrokes)

4:00 Gold Cup: Galopin Des Champs @ 4/7 (Ladbrokes) 

4:40 Open Hunters Chase: Angels Dawn @ 10/3 (Ladbrokes)

5:20 Handicap Hurdle: Kopeck De Mee @ 5/2 (Ladbrokes) 

Extra tips:

Corbetts Cross merits each way attention at the 16/1 currently available at Ladbrokes in the feature race. 

A strong and confident chaser with winning experience at the festival. Corbetts Cross will run better than the price suggests.

Odds correct at the time of writing.