Key Points
- Todayās betting tip won last yearās Gold Cup and Iām backing him to retain his crown
- He has been out of form but has thrived at the Cheltenham Festival for the last two years
- J P McManus allowing Fact To File to run in the Ryanair Chase suggests confidence in this horse
On Friday, itās the biggest one of them all, the 2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup! I originally selected Galopin Des Champs for the race, but sadly he will be missing the rest of the season through injury, as Willie Mullins recently announced. As BetMGM were Non Runner No Bet, we got our stake back to have another crack at the race, which is exactly what this article is for.
If youāve only just come across my
free horse racing tips, then welcome! Iām Gav, better known as RacingGav both here and over on X/Twitter. I have been the resident horse racing expert for Betting.co.uk since March 2025, so itās been a full twelve months now and Iām more than happy for you to review
my free tip results up to the end of 2025, which makes very pleasant reading. Once Cheltenham is over, Iāll update you with my 2026 results, but in the meantime, my focus and article capacity is fully Cheltenham orientated!
As well as my work for Betting.co.uk, you may well also be interested to know that I run my own Discord server. The Discord was launched in January 2024 and it is where you can find all of my exclusive content and a great community of like-minded punters. So, if you want more than just my free tips here on Betting.co.uk, make sure you take a look when youāre finished reading this article! Youāll find full details for the Discord at the bottom of this page.
Full focus on the 2026 Cheltenham Festival
Iāve been working hard to bring you antepost tips for as many races as possible at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival. Although weāve had a few changes along the way, with horses being withdrawn or injured, my tips for the following races still stand. And rest assured there will be plenty more coming for whole of the next week.
Betting advice
- Friday 13 March 2026 - The Cheltenham Gold Cup -
Inothewayurthinkin
@ 7/1 -
1pt Win
William Hill hits the spot for my Cheltenham Gold Cup bet!
At the time of writing this article on Saturday evening, Inothewayurthinkin is available at 7/1 with more than one of our bookmaker partners. So highlighting the bookmaker with the
best horse racing odds, isnāt a consideration here. Instead, I have decided to showcase the one with the best new customer sign up offer! If you
bet Ā£10, youāll get Ā£30 of free bets. Don't miss out, those free bets are sure to come in handy during Cheltenham Festival week!
Inothewayurthinkin can bounce back at Cheltenham!
Itās been a worrying season for Inothewayurthinkin but I would not be surprised to see him bounce back to his best in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In this article, Iāll be breaking down my reasoning behind backing him. Therefore, keep reading in order to understand my logic on this one!
Inothewayurthinkin won last yearās Gold Cup and Iām backing him to retain his crown
I donāt believe last yearās edition of the Cheltenham Gold Cup was the strongest of renewals, however, Inothewayurthinkin absolutely blew them away! Whilst it was only a field of nine, two fell and Banbridge was below his best. Itās never easy to win a Gold Cup. Even more so when Galopin Des Champs lined up looking to land his third straight victory, and he was sent off 8/13 favourite to do exactly that.
Inothewayurthinkin did plenty wrong during the race. He jumped right on occasions, he wasnāt fluent at the first fence or four out. However, he made headway after the third last. At that point, Galopin Des Champs was cruising into the lead but Inothewayurthinkin crept up behind him. He pressed Galopin Des Champs at the second last, and was going best of the two.
He was in the lead approaching the last, and pulled away in the style of a very good horse, winning easily by six lengths. He was awarded a RPR of 180 for that performance, and I donāt think that is overblown either. If that version of Inothewayurthinkin turns up at this yearās Cheltenham Festival, heās the one they all have to beat.
The issue with Inothewayurthinkin is his form this season. Fifth in the John Durkan doesnāt sound too bad on paper, but he was beaten by nearly 53 lengths. That said, he was beaten 36 lengths in the race the year prior, so the alarm bells were not fully ringing at that point. However, his two runs at Leopardstown over Christmas, then at the Dublin Racing Festival, did cause concern. He didnāt jump at all well in the Savills Chase at Christmas, and he was beaten by 40 lengths, then in the Irish Gold Cup he was only in eighth place when he fell at the last.
Now whether it is by design, or whether he is just a āspringā horse who enjoys the sun on his back, he has come alive around this time for the last two years. In the 2023/24 season it was more understandable, as they were getting him handicapped for the Kim Muir, which he won, before landing Grade 1 honours at Aintree.
However, throughout the 2024/25 season, he was consistently running in Grade 1 company, so there was no need to play games. But despite that, he was seventh, fifth and fourth in his three runs prior to the Gold Cup before improving immensely to win it. Even by those standards, his form this season has been very poor, but it does suggest that Gavin Cromwell can get him right for the big day!
J P McManus allowing Fact To File to run in the Ryanair Chase suggests confidence in Inothewayurthinkin
I could be wrong, but in my opinion, Fact To File heading to the Ryanair Chase shows that J P McManus feels confident about Inothewayurthinkin. I fully appreciate that J P McManus wants winners, and Fact To File certainly has a stronger chance of winning the Ryanair Chase again than he does of winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup. However, Fact To File holds the strongest Staying Chase form in the book this season, and was rightfully at the top of the market for the Cheltenham Gold Cup prior to connections deciding not to supplement him.
I have not spoken with J P McManus or anybody that would know and neither can I read his mind. However, in my opinion, you would not send Fact To File in the Ryanair Chase unless you had other ammunition to fire at the Cheltenham Gold Cup. You would also want that ammunition to have a real chance of winning the race without Fact To File there.
While I respect Spillaneās Tower, who is also owned by J P McManus, I donāt think heās up to winning a competitive Cheltenham Gold Cup. Which leaves Inothewayurthinkin as J Pās big hope for the race. The vibe coming from the Gavin Cromwell yard is that Inothewayurthinkin is turning a corner now, and working well. For me, unless J P McManus was on board with that, Fact To File wouldnāt be running in the Ryanair Chase.
Can Inothewayurthinkin win back to back Cheltenham Gold Cups?
Inothewayurthinkin has a big advantage in that he has been there and done it already. He won the Gold Cup last year, showing that he can handle the 3m 2.5f trip and the demands of the race. The only other horse that could say the same was Galopin Des Champs, but he is now ruled out through injury. Inothewayurthinkin also seems to take his form to another level in the spring, with two wins at the last two Cheltenham Festivals. Which suggests he has the potential to make it three wins in three years. I also believe that J P McManus sending Fact To File to the Ryanair Chase is an indirect show of faith in Inothewayurthinkin for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
In terms of the negatives, Inothewayurthinkin has been woeful this season, and he also fell on his latest start, both of which are concerning. We are also relying on one particularly strong piece of form, which was his performance in last yearās race. Was that just a fluke performance? Or does that form flatter him given the depth of the race and the fact that Galopin Des Champs wasnāt getting any younger? Galopin Des Champs certainly hasnāt been at his best this season, and his decline may well have begun in last yearās Cheltenham Gold Cup.
All facts considered, I think that Inothewayurthinkin is a value play at 7/1. While I have great respect for three ahead of him in the market, they are all literally half his price. It takes a leap of faith to back him, given his form so far this season, but thereās also no correlation between his pre-Cheltenham performances and what he does at the Cheltenham Festival itself. In short, we will either see him at his very best, or heāll be well beaten. Given that he could potentially bomb out, Iāve decided to play a straight win here.
More excellent free bet deals for you!
Directly underneath this you can find the great
betting offers for horse racing
that our bookmaker partners have available currently. Itās well worth taking a look as there are some fantastic deals out there and the free bets and bonuses provided will be very useful with the Cheltenham Festival just around the corner!
Want more RacingGav content? Join my Discord!
While I produce several articles per week for Betting.co.uk, the vast majority of my content is exclusive to members of my Discord server. Itās the only place where you can access all of my betting tips and much more!
The Discord launched back in January 2024 and itās still going now, so I must be doing something right!
February 2026 was a great month for the Discord, with twelve winners on the board at 14/1, 7/4, 10/3, 3/1, 7/4, 11/4, 7/1, 9/4, 9/2, 10/1, 5/1 & 5/1!
Iām sure you are wondering how much all of this will cost you? Well, itās just Ā£14.99 per month - less than 50p per day!
Alternatively, you may prefer a longer-term commitment for savings:
- Quarterly: Ā£34.99 (saves Ā£9.98)
- Bi-Annually: Ā£74.99 (saves Ā£14.95)
- Annually: Ā£149.99 (saves Ā£29.89)
Iām confident that youāll
enjoy the Discord, and Iām also confident that my tips will make a profit, so if you join and donāt make a profit across your first 30 days, Iāll refund your subscription fee!
If you want to know more, my DMs are always open on X ā @RacingGav
The latest sports news with betting.co.uk
The latest sports news with betting.co.uk
The latest sports news with betting.co.uk
The latest sports news with betting.co.uk
