Saturday saw the 2024 edition of one of the most revered staying handicaps of the season at Newbury. Since bursting onto the jumping scene in 1957, the Coral Gold Cup (formerly known as the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup) has witnessed many greats take flight over the formidable Berkshire obstacles.
Mill House won here in 1963, whilst the greatest of them all, Arkle, bagged back-to-back editions under 12st7lb in 1963 and 1964. Other notable winners included Cheltenham Gold Cup heroes Bregawn (1982), Burrough Hill Lad (1984), and Denman (2007 and 2009). Quite the cast of stars, but who would join them in 2024?
Kandoo Shows Willing Attitude
Thirteen runners set out in pursuit of the £250,000 in total prize money on offer, with the market favouring the Nigel Twiston-Davies frontrunner Broadway Boy in a wide-open heat. Amongst the opposition, Colonel Harry represented the same trainer and owner partnership as 2023 champ Datsalrightgino; Ben Pauling’s Henry’s Friend arrived with an attractive unexposed profile; Horantza d’Airy made the trip over from the powerful Willie Mullins operation, and General En Chef travelled from France for Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm.
There was no shortage of interesting contenders, but in the end, the prize fell to the only runner in the field without the benefit of a recent run. Last sighted finishing third in the Topham Chase over the Grand National fences, the Paul Nicholls-trained Kandoo Kid shrugged off a 232-day absence to hit the front over the second last and forge clear for victory by just shy of two lengths.
This represented a fine training performance by Paul Nicholls, who claimed the Coral Gold Cup for the sixth time in his career. Having landed back-to-back editions as a jockey with Broadheath (1986) and Playschool (1987), Nicholls added three more as a trainer – Strongflow (2003) and the brilliant Denman (2007 and 2009).
Nicholls summed up another perfectly executed plan when stating, “We’ve aimed at this race all season, and I wasn’t going to be tempted to run him,” before going on to reveal that his share of the prize money would be topped up by a handsome return from the bookmakers. “I had a lovely bet at 25/1 about a month ago and I really, really fancied him.”
With Dan Skelton’s two challengers finishing out of the prize money, this was also a significant result in the British Trainer’s Championship race. Following a slow start to the season, Nicholls has now burst through the £900,000 mark to sit less than £200,000 behind his former assistant.
A few more big wins like this and Nicholls will be bang in contention to claim the title for a record-equalling 15th time. In Kandoo Kid, he may have the horse to win the biggest race of all.
Aintree the Long-Term Goal
Kandoo Kid became only the second horse in the past decade to win the Coral Gold Cup on his seasonal return, the other being the Trevor Hemmings-owner Cloudy Glen in 2021.
Having emulated one Hemmings runner, Kandoo Kid may be set the task of following in the hoofprints of another. The wonderful Many Clouds carried the famous yellow and green quarters to success in the 2014 edition of this race before claiming the 2015 Grand National.
Aintree in April appears to be firmly on the agenda for the good-looking grey. Outlining future targets for the eight-year-old, his jubilant trainer stated “I think he’d be a great type for Aintree, he’s been round there once before and was brilliant. He’s got the National written all over him, and that’s what we’ll train him for.” 66/1 before this latest win, Kandoo Kid is now priced around 25/1 for the £1 million event on 5th April 2025.