It is possible to beat the 9-year-old gelding Galopin Des Champs, who will be heavily favored to win Friday’s Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup for steeplechasers for the third consecutive year at Cheltenham Racecourse in western England. Galopin Des Champs has lost eight times in his 22-race career – just not very often at Cheltenham. In four career starts since March 2021 on the undulating course, Galopin Des Champs has won three times and fell once. Trained in Ireland by Willie Mullins, Galopin Des Champs won the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup by seven lengths and last year’s running by 3 1/2 lengths. Should he succeed as expected as an odds-on favorite in Friday’s race at 3 5/16 miles, Galopin Des Champs would become the fifth horse to win the race at least three times, and first since Best Mate from 2002 to 2004. The race was first run under current conditions in 1924. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. There has been a near-miss since Best Mate. The Mullins-trained Al Boum Photo won the Gold Cup in 2019 and 2020, but was third in 2021 and sixth in 2022. In the build-up to Friday’s $836,200 Gold Cup, Galopin Des Champs finished third in his first start of the season in November - at the too-short distance of 2 7/16 miles – and has won his last two starts in Grade 1 races at Leopardstown Racecourse at 3 1/16 miles – the Savills Chase on Dec. 28 and the Irish Gold Cup on Feb. 1. Galopin Des Champs won the same two races before the Gold Cup in the 2023-2024 season, and won the Irish Gold Cup in 2023 in his final start before his first Gold Cup win. This year’s Gold Cup drew only nine runners, the smallest field since nine started in 2016. Galopin Des Champs, who will be ridden by regular rider Paul Townend, is expected to take his customary position near the front of the field. The Gold Cup distance will be a test for Banbridge, a three-time Grade 1 winner in the last two years for trainer Joseph O’Brien. Banbridge, who tends to run from off the pace, has not raced since an encouraging win in the Grade 1 King George VI Chase at three miles at Kempton Park near London on Dec. 26. Banbridge was 5-1 behind 8-15 Galopin Des Champs as of Wednesday. The only other runner with single-digit odds was 15-2 Inothewayurthinkin, who was fifth in the Savills Chase and fourth in the Irish Gold Cup behind Galopin Des Champs. Last March, Inothewayurthinkin won a handicap chase for amateur riders at 3 1/4 miles at Cheltenham. Friday’s seven-race program is the fourth and final day of the Cheltenham festival. First post time is 9:20 a.m. Eastern or 6:20 a.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com. In the day’s first race, East India Dock, unbeaten in three starts over hurdles, will be favored to win the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle at 2 1/8 miles against 17 rivals. The $193,200 Triumph Hurdle is one of the most widely-anticipated races at Cheltenham. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.