The Cheltenham Festival is officially set to get underway on Tuesday, 12 March, at 13:30 with the Supreme Novices Hurdle. The pinnacle of this year’s four-day event is the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup at 15:30 on Friday 15.

Last year’s winner, Galopin des Champs, is also the odds-on favourite this year, but can any other runners from the field, such as Fastorslow or Corach Rambler, upset the favourite and win? Let’s dive straight in to find out.

Can Galopin des Champs win the Gold Cup for a second year?

The quickest, easiest, and most reliable way to find out if Galopin des Champs can win back-to-back Cheltenham Gold Cups is to closely examine the latest odds from today’s most trusted UK online bookmakers to see what they think.

The globally renowned William Hill online bookmaker, for example, currently has Galopin des Champs priced as the odds-on favourite to win the Gold Cup outright at around 5/4. You can find several other William Hill Cheltenham offers and competitive odds for all 28 Cheltenham Festival races.

Can Corach Rambler or Fastorslow beat Galopin des Champs?

To better understand which of the 15 horses that are expected to run in the Gold Cup will come out on top this year, the best thing to do would be to compare the latest odds, which, don’t forget, are subject to change at any time.

Here are the latest odds for ten of the horses with more favourable odds:

1. Horse name: Galopin des Champs (odds-on favourite to win the Gold Cup outright). Fractional odds: 5/4. Implied probability rate (IPR): 44.40%
2. Horse name: Fastorslow (second odds-on favourite to win the Gold Cup outright). Fractional odds: 4/1. Implied probability rate (IPR): 20.00%
3. Horse name: Shishkin (third odds-on favourite to win the Gold Cup outright). Fractional odds: 6/1. Implied probability rate (IPR): 14.30%
4. Horse name: Greri Colombe. Fractional odds: 9/1. Implied probability rate (IPR): 10.00%
5. Horse name: Bravemansgame. Fractional odds: 14/1. Implied probability rate (IPR): 6.70%
6. Horse name: L’homme Presse. Fractional odds: 14/1. Implied probability rate (IPR): 6.70%
7. Horse name: Gentlemansgame. Fractional odds: 16/1. Implied probability rate (IPR): 5.90%
8. Horse name: Hewick. Fractional odds: 16/1. Implied probability rate (IPR): 5.90%
9. Horse name: Corach Rambler. Fractional odds: 20/1. Implied probability rate (IPR): 4.80%
10. Horse name: Monkfish. Fractional odds: 25/1. Implied probability rate (IPR): 3.80%

Although a fairly safe bet would be for the odds-on favourite, Galopin des Champs, to win the Gold Cup, don’t forget that no bets are guaranteed to return a profit, even when betting on the favourites.

In other words, Fastorslow and Corach Rambler could end up winning this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup. We will just have to wait and see what happens. Outsiders with long odds have been known to upset the odds and win major races in the past.

For example, in 2013, Aurora’s Encore (66/1) won the Grand National. In 2008, Mon Mone (100/1) also won the Grand National, and in 1985, The Last Suspect (50/1) won the same iconic UK horse race at Aintree, proving that it’s not always the favourites that win.