Key Points
- A 10/1 ante-post betting tip for the Coral Cup at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival
- My selection runs for the most successful trainer in the race - Nicky Henderson
- A look at historical trends sees Impose Toi fit most of them!
Today I’m going to be looking at the 2025 Coral Cup, which is on Day 2 of this year’s Cheltenham Festival. And on that note, I have landed on Nicky Henderson’s Impose Toi for this race. I think he has an exceptional chance of winning, and in this article I’ll be detailing my case for him to show you why.
If you missed my latest article on Tuesday, with my selection for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, make sure you give that a read. Then on Saturday, I’ll be bringing you some betting tips for the day’s top racing action - keep your eyes peeled for that!
Betting advice
Ante-post – Cheltenham Coral Cup – Wednesday 12th March 2025
- Impose Toi – 1pt Each Way @ 10/1 - bet365 (5 places) - Non-Runner No Bet (NRNB)
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Impose Toi - a serious Coral Cup contender
Impose Toi ticks an awful lot of boxes in my opinion. As a seven-year old he is in the prime of his life for starters. He won a 17-runner Handicap at the 2023 November Meeting at Cheltenham in 2023, which shows he handles big fields, and also the unique track. There are also many subsequent winners that have come out of that race, so his form looks very solid.
He was a neck second to stablemate Luccia in the 2023 Betfair Exchange Trophy, with other smart horses in behind like Altobelli, Hansard, Iberico Lord, and Favoir, so that form reads extremely well now. Luccia was third in the Champion Hurdle, Altobelli has won two Ascot Handicap Hurdles this season and Iberico Lord won the Betfair Hurdle on his next start, to name just a few examples.
Impoise Toi also came third in the Lanzarote Hurdle in January 2024 - another strong, big field Handicap performance. Although he may have looked like a non-stayer that day, he didn’t jump fluently, which didn’t help, but a year on, he is more mature, and smarter besides. Even more interesting is that the horse that came second in the Lanzarote that day was Nemean Lion, who has since notched up four victories - two in Handicaps, plus two Grade 2s - his OR rating has subsequently risen from 140 to 151.
A look at the man who trains Impose Toi
Nicky Henderson is the leading trainer for the Coral Cup, with four wins to date – Spirit River (2010), Whisper (2014), William Henry (2019), and Dame De Compagnie (2020).
In the last 10 renewals, as well as two wins, Nicky has also had numerous horses run into places – Volnay De Thaix (5th in 2015), William Henry (4th in 2018), Craigneiche (2nd in 2021), Bold Endeavour (5th in 2023) and Lucky Place (4th in 2024).
It could not be any clearer that this is a Cheltenham Festival race Nicky Henderson targets.
Impose Toi’s 2024/25 season so far
Impose Toi was due to head back to this year’s renewal of the Lanzarote Hurdle, but sadly it was abandoned due to the weather (an unexpectedly heavy frost). He eventually returned in November to pull off a surprise win at Newbury, where he stayed on strongly over 2m 4.5f carrying 11st 8lb, which eased any stamina concerns.
Realistically, he needed to win that race to guarantee his place in the lineup for this year’s Coral Cup. Considering that was his first run of the season, he is sure to improve plenty for it. It was obviously great to see him winning, but it was just good to see that he was fit and well, so now I think connections can kick on with him.
With Henderson’s record in the race, he knows what it takes to win it and if he was aiming Impose Toi at the Lanzarote before it was abandoned, then this is a very similar type of race and it is a logical replacement target for him.
Impose Toi hits the trends!
In these Cheltenham Festival Handicap races, it is common to see the same statistics hit time and time again, forming reliable trend patterns. And it must be said that Impose Toi fits many of them.
| Coral Cup trends |
Impose Toi stats |
| 8 of the last 10 winners had no more than 9 Hurdle runs |
8 runs over Hurdles |
| 8 of the last 10 winners had not run for at least 32 days |
Last run was in November 2024 |
| 8 of the last 10 winners won Hurdles races between 2m 2f and 2m 6f |
Two Hurdles wins over 2m 5f and 2m 4.5f |
8 of the last 10 winners have been rated between 138 and 149
(the average rating for the last 10 renewals is 144.2) |
Current rating of 141 |
| 8 of the last 10 winners were aged 7 of 8 years |
7-years-old |
13 of the last 15 winners have previous course experience,
with 4 of the last 10 Coral Cup winners recording a win at Cheltenham |
Both course experience and a win here |
9 of the last 12 winners have carried between 10st 7lb and 11st 2lb,
with 8 of the last 10 winners carrying at least 10st 12lb |
Fits both at 11st 1lb |
Can Nicky Henderson secure a fifth Coral Cup victory?
I think Impose Toi is a stand out contender for the 2025 Coral Cup, thanks to his form and connections. Owner JP McManus is a huge force in these Cheltenham Festival races, and Nicky Henderson is the leading trainer for the race, having won it four times already, and also going close in many of the renewals he hasn’t won. Let’s just say that Nicky knows exactly what it takes to win this race.
Impose Toi himself looks tailor made for the Coral Cup, both in terms of his form in the book, and what the trends suggest the winner should look like. At a double figure price, I think he is well worth getting on your side and I would recommend an each way bet on him now, as I think he’ll go off at a single figure on the day.
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