To win a Cheltenham Gold Cup a horse needs to be at its prime. Staying chasers tend to reach their prime between seven and nine years old. Ten of the last eleven winners were aged between 7-9 years; with Denman, aged seven when winning last year. Those at the top of the market also do well, it is obvious that a horse thought to be good enough the race will have proven form and thus will have a shorter price. Eight of the last eleven winners were priced at 15/2 or shorter. Denman was 9/4 in 2008.

It is interesting to learn that Cheltenham Gold winners do not necessarily have to be hugely experienced. A trainer will always know whether or not he has a potential Gold Cup winner on his hands and therefore it stands to reason that he would not necessarily want to risk him by running him too often. For instance ten out of the last ten winners had raced only between 6-13 times over fences before landing the cup. Denman had raced only eight times over fences.

Prestbury Park, the Cheltenham Festival course is a unique trial for all horses and many find running there for the first time find the course and the gold cup atmosphere daunting. This is exacerbated if the race has a large field running. It is therefore sensible to look for a horse with either big race experience or indeed a horse with previous solid Cheltenham form. This is a well know trend for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Eight out of the last eleven winners had either won or been second at Cheltenham before. Denman for instance had won the Sun Alliance Chase in 2006.