Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle Betting Preview – Cheltenham Day 2 Tips (2025)

The Coral Cup is the third race on Day 2 of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival and 26 runners have been declared for one of the biggest horse racing betting heats of the season.

We’ve known the early entries for the Coral Cup for some time now but decisions have been made and all eyes will be on Prestbury Park on Wednesday afternoon.

Here, we look at some of the leading players in the Cheltenham odds for this year’s race, with a Coral Cup selection ahead of the 2025 renewal.

The Coral Cup is one of the toughest races to solve at the Cheltenham Festival so it pays to do your research beforehand.

“Old but gold” is certainly an adage you can apply to BALLYADAM who runs at his fifth Cheltenham Festival, after finishing second in the Supreme Novices’, fifth (twice) in the County Hurdle, and second last year in the Coral Cup.

The ten-year-old has showed very little deterioration in his form and is still rated as high as 151. On his only run of this season, he outpointed two Willie Mullins-trained previous winners of the race, odds-on favourite Saint Sam and Sir Gerhard, in the New Year’s Resolution Hurdle, the feature race on Punchestown’s New Year’s Eve card.

Carrying the famous red and white colours of Cheveley Park Stud, it’s easy to envisage the veteran putting in yet another big Festival performance, and he’s the ideal candidate for an each-way flutter.

If Dan Skelton is going to get his hands on the Trainers’ Championship this season, then he needs to be picking up decent prize money in the Festival Handicaps, as well as the Graded races.

His runner Be Aware was narrowly beaten in the Greatwood Hurdle earlier in the season. He finished second on his only start beyond two miles, but connections are sure he will improve for the extra distance. Being a Martaline-gelding, you would like to think that would be the case.

Joseph O’Brien’s Comfort Zone was one of the most promising juveniles of 2022 and ran a cracker behind The Wallpark at the Galway Festival. He was last seen placing third behind fellow entrant Al Gasparo at Leopardstown over Christmas. That duo are both interesting each-way shots and will probably go into many a placepot on the day.

The unexposed Impose Toi could easily be well handicapped off a mark of 141. Nicky Henderson’s seven-year-old impressed at Newbury when the rest of the field were strung out like washing in behind. This trip looks ideal and he will be a popular pick amongst punters, especially those who follow the green and gold hoops blindly at the Cheltenham Festival.

Those of you looking for a massive Coral Cup outsider that will pay for your week may want to chance an each-way flutter on ANNA BUNINA.

It’s not so many seasons back that this mare was chasing home the likes of Gaelic Warrior and Rubaud in Graded events, and was fairing pretty well in that level of company. She wouldn’t be winning out of turn either if she recorded her eleventh career victory on this greatest stage of all.

SELECTIONS: BALLYADAM & ANNA BUNINA (E/W)