Horse Racing

Mourad – Meet The Coral Cup Favourite

Five-year-old Mullins-trained Mourad was named as the favourite for the Cheltenham Festival’s Coral Cup. While his odds were stacked at 16-1 on Wednesday morning, most bookmakers listed him between 9-1 and 7-1 at the end of the day. To understand this dramatic change of course, it is important to take a look at the contender’s past performances.
While Mourad has not won an extraordinary number of races – out of fifteen lifetime starts he has one three – his performances have been extraordinarily consistent. Since May 2009 Mourad has never finished lower than second place, which speaks of great ability and determination. The chestnut gelding most recently ran to victory in the Go Racing In Kildare Hurdle at Punchestown on 20th January this year, under the direction of jockey Ruby Walsh.
His last race before Cheltenham, the Ladbrokes.com Boyne Hurdle at Navan on 14th February, saw the same practised team of Mourad and Walsh achieve a valiant second place to Morris-trained War Of Attrition, ridden by Davy Russel. However, the soft going has be widely blamed for Mourad’s narrow loss.
As Mourad has proven over and over throughout his career – and as bookmakers are now beginning to realise as the Coral Cup draws near – he is one of the most consistent contenders who will take to the track at Cheltenham on Wednesday.