Cheltenham Festival concludes on Day 4 after a thrilling opening day to ‘the greatest show on turf’ was followed by more Irish dominance on Day 2 before a British revival sparked by the Skelton brothers yesterday.

The opening two days saw plenty of success for Willie Mullins, who finally hit his historic milestone of a century of victories at the Cheltenham Festival but went winless on St. Patrick’s Thursday. However, he’s trained the favourite of the showpiece race with Galopin Des Champs looking to retain the Gold Cup this afternoon.

Harry Skelton and Paul Townend are vying for the leading jockey title with both sitting on four wins heading into the final day while Rachael Blackmore trails behind on two and could be in contention.

More than 60,000 spectators are expected to flock to Prestbury Park again for the Festival’s conclusion looking to beat the bookmakers, with today’s schedule including the Triumph Hurdle first up at 1.30pm, as well as the County Handicap Hurdle, the Albert Bartless Novices Hurdle, and of course, the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Follow all of our coverage from the 2024 Cheltenham Festival below plus get the best each-way odds and tips for Day 4 here and a full analysis of the best bets in the Gold Cup here:

The Gold Cup will headline Friday’s racing at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, as Galopin Des Champs returns chasing a second successive triumph in the showpiece event.

Trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend, Galopin’s Gold Cup glory would cap another dream week for the Irish duo, who were leading the trainer and jockey standings respectively after the Festival’s first two days having dominated Cheltenham over the past half a dozen years.

The main competition is set to come from Fastorslow, Gerri Colombe, LHomme Presse and Barvemansgame, who finished runner-up last year after Galopin raced to the front with two fences to go before pulling away up the hill to claim a clear victory.

The 2024 edition of the Gold Cup marks the centenary of the race, first won by Red Splash in 1924.

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When is the 2024 Gold Cup?

The race is scheduled for Friday 15 March, with a start time of 3.30pm GMT.

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Runners and riders

Bravemansgame Harry Cobden

Corach Rambler Derek Fox

FastorslowJJ Slevin

Galopin Des Champs Paul Townend

Gentlemansgame Darragh O’Keeffe

Gerri Colombe Jack Kennedy

Hewick Jordan Gainford

Jungle Boogie Rachael Blackmore

L’Homme Presse Charlie Deutsch

MonkfishPatrick Mullins

Nassalam Niall Houlihan

The Real Whacker Sam Twiston-Davies

Gold Cup Day – Friday’s full schedule

13:30 – Triumph Hurdle

14:10 – County Handicap Hurdle

14:50 – Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle

15:30 – Cheltenham Gold Cup

16:10 – Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase

16:50 – Mares’ Steeple Chase

17:30 – Martin Pipe Conditional Jockey’s Handicap Hurdle

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Galopin Des Champs is set to start Friday’s Gold Cup as the favourite to win Cheltenham Festival’s showpiece race.

Trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend, Galopin delivered a storming victory for the Irish duo last year and looks set to cap another glorious week for Mullins and Townend at Cheltenham.

But they face competition from Fastorslow, Gerri Colombe, L’Homme Presse and Barvemansgame, who finished runner-up last year after Galopin raced to the front with two fences to go before pulling away up the hill to claim a clear victory.

The 2024 edition of the Gold Cup marks the centenary of the race, first won by Red Splash in 1924.

Find the latest Cheltenham odds and free bet offers with Independent Sport ready to provide daily coverage from the festival and get our free betting newsletter for the latest Cheltenham odds, offers and tips. Sign up here.

Racing ambassadors Alex Hammond, Oli Bell and Ed Chamberlin spoke to Sky Bet about their Day 3 picks, legendary former jockey Ruby Walsh shared his tips with Paddy Power and racing expert Tony Calvin makes his final day tips with Betfair.

When is the 2024 Gold Cup?

The race is scheduled for Friday 15 March, with a start time of 3.30pm GMT.

Get our free betting newsletter for the latest Cheltenham odds, offers and tips. Sign up here.

Gold Cup Day – Friday’s full schedule

13:30 – Triumph Hurdle

Alex Hammond: “The first race on the final day of the festival is the Triumph Hurdle and Sky Bet are offering money back as cash if you lose. No Sir Gino here and that’s been the big story throughout the week, the Nicky Henderson horses that aren’t running. But we’ve got Sir Gino by proxy here in Salvator Mundi who’s the horse who’s finished closest to Sir Gino in his career. He’s owned by the same people as Sir Gino and is now with Willie Mullins and I hope he can run a big race in the Triumph.”

Ruby Walsh adds: “Willie Mullins has plenty of runners including Majborough, Storm Heart, Kargese and Bunting. There isn’t much between them all so I’ll take Bunting at a bigger each-way price.”

14:10 – County Hurdle

Tony Calvin has a couple of options here: “Absurde has been my lean for the County Hurdle at 14:10 ever since I did my prep for the Preview in Dublin last week – providing he got decent ground on the day.

“But surely, last year’s winner Faivoir has a big chance at these weights, just 2lb higher than winning last season and 4lb well-in here for his Imperial Cup second on Saturday (he obviously should have won, as his jockey admitted afterwards), but the obvious doubt for him is the quick turnaround.”

Walsh adds: “Zenta is Willie Mullins’ best chance but I’m with Leau Du Sud. Dan Skelton told me he really fancies him, as he did with Unexpected Party who bolted up on Wednesday, so I’ll side with him!”

14:50 – Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle

Oli Bell: “In the Albert Bartlett, Sky Bet are paying five places instead of three and the horse I like is trained by Harry Fry – one on the board hopefully for the Brits. Gidleigh Park is a progressive stayer, got a good form to his name and I think there is plenty left under the bonnet. With the extra places on offer, I’m going with the Brits in the Albert Bartlett with Gidleigh Park – good luck.”

Walsh says: “I’m with Readin Tommy Wrong. He’s the classiest horse in this race but keep an eye on Dancing City, who finished second behind Ballyburn and ahead of Slade Steel at Punchestown last year.”

15:30 – Cheltenham Gold Cup

Alex Hammond: “Gold Cup time and Sky Bet are paying four places rather than three. That makes me even more keen on L’Homme Presse, Venetia Williams’ horse has done well this season, returning from injury. He won at Lingfield, he run a solid race at Ascot in conditions that weren’t playing to his strengths. The team weren’t in great form then, but they’re in better form now so for me L’Homme Presse in the Gold Cup.”

Calvin says: “The Gold Cup at 15:30 looks a great race but it doesn’t make it an attractive betting medium. I’d rather be with Galopin Des Champs than against him at around evens, but that is probably his right price, in truth.

“The absence of Shishkin is a big positive for him, as the Henderson horse and Fastorslow were his most dangerous form rivals, and I sense he will take a lot of whacking.

“Fastorslow at 7.2 on the exchange is probably the bet to be had if there is one.”

Walsh: “I’ve been with Galopin Des Champs for a long time and I like everything about him. He was very good last year and he’s the best horse in here. Fastorslow will most likely chase him home. Corach Rambler or Gerri Colombe will likely be third.

16:10 – Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase

Ed Chamberlin: “We’re hoping to create some magic on Gold Cup day in the Hunters’ Chase. Sky Bet are paying four places on the Hunters’ Chase, and I see no reason why Premier Magic can’t produce some Hunters’ Chase magic again!”

Walsh adds: “I’d be lying if I said I had a really strong fancy in this but I’ll side with Its On The Line for Emmet Mullins. He’s won his last three and he’ll relish the stamina test.”

16:50 – Mares’ Steeple Chase

Oli Bell: “In the Mares’ Chase I’m all aboard the J.P. McManus hotpot, Dinoblue. She’s a short price but I think she’s going to take a world of beating and send me off from Cheltenham this year with a winner to my name. It’s been a tough with for the Brits and I think it’s going to get even harder in the Mares’ Chase because Dinoblue is a rock-solid favourite and will be hard to beat.”

Walsh is also keen on Dinoblue: “Allegorie De Vassy has improved considerably but Dinoblue is the standout. She’s got rock solid form and she’ll be hard to beat.”

17:30 – Martin Pipe Conditional Jockey’s Handicap Hurdle

Alex Hammond: “The final race of the whole festival is the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle and Sky Bet are paying six places rather than four. I’m going to have a go with Ocastle des Mottes, who has his second start for Willie Mullins here. His first start for the stable came in the Betfair hurdle at Newbury, which is an ultra-competitive race just like this one, but it’s over a shorter trip. I think the step-up in trip will suit this horse, he got a little bit jazzed up before Newbury because he had to be reshod, but I’m hoping that everything goes smoothly, and we can get a good run from Ocastle des Mottes.”

Walsh likes Ocastle des Mottes, but has another fancy too: “Willie Mullins has Quai De Bourbon at the top of the market and he could be ahead of the handicapper. Ocastle Des Mottes makes appeal to me as he will show improvement from stepping up in trip.

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Gold price down by Rs 400 per tola today

Saigon Jewelry Company gold bar price rose 0.61% to VND81.6 million ($3,298.97) per tael Friday morning.

The price of gold in Mumbai is ₹ 6061 per gram for 22 karat gold and ₹ 6612 per gram for 24 karat gold.

The price of gold in India today is ₹ 6,061 per gram for 22 karat gold and ₹ 6,612 per gram for 24 karat gold

Check Gold Price In Your City Today On 15th March 2024

Gold Price Today In Mumbai

The price of gold in Mumbai is ₹ 6061 per gram for 22 karat gold and ₹ 6612 per gram for 24 karat gold.

Gold Price Today In Kolkata

The gold price today in Kolkata is ₹ 6061 per gram for 22 karat gold and ₹ 6612 per gram for 24 karat gold.

Gold Price Today In Chennai

The Gold price today in Chennai is ₹ 6136 per gram for 22 karat gold and ₹ 6694 per gram for 24 karat gold.

Gold Price Today In Delhi

The gold price today in Delhi is ₹ 6076 per gram for 22 karat gold and ₹ 6627 per gram for 24 karat gold.

Gold Price Today In Thane

The gold price today in Thane is ₹ 6061 per gram for 22 karat gold and ₹ 6612 per gram for 24 karat gold.

Gold Price Today In Surat

The gold price today in Surat is ₹ 6066 per gram for 22 karat gold and ₹ 6617 per gram for 24 karat gold.

Gold Price Today In Pune

The gold price today in Pune is ₹ 6061 per gram for 22 karat gold and ₹ 6612 per gram for 24 karat gold.

Gold Price Today In Nagpur 

The gold price today in Nagpur is ₹ 6061 per gram for 22 karat gold and ₹ 6612 per gram for 24 karat gold.

Spot gold fell 0.5% to $2,171.59 per ounce as of 1207 GMT, trading below a record high of $2,194.99 it hit on Friday. U.S. gold futures also dipped 0.5% to $2,177.50.

Spot platinum fell 0.5% to $928.50 per ounce, palladium lost 0.9% to $1,021.75, while silver was little changed at $24.41.

Today’s world gold price is listed on Kitco at 2,175 USD/ounce, up 17 USD/ounce compared to early yesterday morning. World gold prices rebounded due to the weakening of the USD as investors still hope that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates in June despite high inflation in the US.

Meanwhile, escalating geopolitical tensions cause safe-haven demand for gold bars to remain. World gold prices rebounded due to the weakening of the USD as investors still hope that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates in June despite high inflation in the US. Meanwhile, escalating geopolitical tensions cause safe-haven demand for gold bars to remain.

Currently, there will be 2 scenarios for bullish gold speculators. If the Fed cuts interest rates, gold will skyrocket. If the interest rate cut scenario does not take place, concerns about inflation could also push gold higher.

As of March 13, market indicators based on signals from the CME Fedwatch tool showed that there was a 64.7% chance that the Fed would lower interest rates at its meeting on June 12 with a cut of 25 to 50 points. percent, slightly lower than the 68.7% recorded on March 6.

The possibility that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged at the March 21 meeting is up to 99%, while the possibility of not reducing interest rates at the May meeting is 89.6%.

In the second half of the year, the Fed is forecast to enter a cycle of interest rate cuts and precious metals will be strongly supported. Gold is forecast to reach 2,200-2,400 USD/ounce in 2024.

Resistance: 2184 – 2192 – 2200 – 2210

Support: 2166 – 2157 – 2147 – 2137

Breakout: 2178 waiting for BUY test point

Breakout: 2172 waiting for SELL test point

• The precious metals gold and silver are favorite stores of value for doomsday preppers, along with food and water.
• Costco added silver coins for sale as the retail warehouse giant saw sales of gold bars top $100 million in the first fiscal quarter.
• “Lots of people are more confident that a massive disaster is impending than that American prosperity will continue,” said John Hay, the editor of “Apocalypse in American Literature and Culture.”

Among the cans of tuna and flashlights in doomsday preppers‘ closets, there is an increasingly popular staple — gold bars.

The recent rise in value of the yellow metal is not just another chapter of favorable economic conditions for the asset, experts say.

People’s interest in gold — and silver, too — reflect deep anxieties about our society and its future.

“People are looking for permanence in a crumbling world,” said Timothy Morton, a philosopher and ecologist.

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To that point: Costco last year began selling 1 ounce gold bars for around $1,900; they sold out within hours. The retail warehousing giant sold more than $100 million of the precious metal in its first fiscal quarter, it said, and has now added silver coins to its shelves, too. Experts say its target audience for these products likely include at least some of the same people who’d consider buying its $6,000 doomsday prep kit, which comes with 600 cans of food.

“Lots of people are more confident that a massive disaster is impending than that American prosperity will continue,” said John Hay, the editor of “Apocalypse in American Literature and Culture” and an associate professor at the University of Nevada.

“Tangible goods and products can feel more secure than promises and assurances,” Hay said.

Indeed, one of the chief doomsday fears is that the global economy will collapse, rendering all conventional assets, from government bonds to real estate, worthless, said James Berger, a senior lecturer at Yale University who teaches courses on apocalyptic literature and film.

Gold tends to gain value when people lose faith in banks and money, as it did in the Great Recession. Earlier this month, the gold contract for April settled at $2,126.30 per ounce, the highest level since the contract’s creation in 1974.

Even financial advisors and investment experts can sound dire when talking about gold.

William Bernstein, author of “The Four Pillars of Investing,” mostly dismissed the metal as a serious investment, pointing out that it has risen around just 1% a year, on average, over the past century.

Still, Bernstein said in a recent interview with CNBC, that a small allocation to the metal was useful insurance against “an economic catastrophe.”

Gold, nostalgia and the end of the world…

At the heart of people’s apocalyptic fantasies is nostalgia, Berger said.

Many preppers feel “deeply disturbed by the complexity and ambiguity of modern life,” he said.

“Gold represents a traditional, pre-industrial, pre-modern-finance form of wealth and exchange,” Berger said, adding that its “simplicity, solidity and ancient tradition” appealed to people’s desire for a vanished cultural stability.

Hay, who grew up in the Rust Belt, said he’s well aware of the feeling that “the prosperous days belong to the past.”

“In the United States, people are very worried about decline — that the future will be worse than the present,” Hay said.

More than 70% Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to a NBC News poll at the end of 2023.

“The turn toward gold is like the turn toward authoritarian leaders, toward the ideal of someone who knows what is true and right and who has the courage to return a nation to its former truth and greatness,” Berger said.

“Make America gold again!” he joked, referring to former President Donald Trump’s nostalgic campaign slogan.

Trump has called for returning to the gold standard and, at least at one point, owned up to $200,000 of the metal, reports found.

…and climate change denial?

To be sure, fears over the world’s future are hardly baseless.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently warned of nuclear conflict and “the destruction of civilization” if other countries sent ground troops into Ukraine, where war rages along with in Gaza. Experts are concerned that Trump would try to pull the U.S. out of NATO if he was reelected, which could raise security risks across the globe.

And then there’s climate change.

“People have always been afraid of the end of the world, but what makes this special is that the Earth could in fact return to weather we haven’t seen since the Triassic period,” said Morton, the philosopher and author of the upcoming book, “Hell, In Search of a Christian Ecology.”

Morton describes global warming as a “hyperobject,” an idea that is too big for us to understand, and he believes that the purchases of precious metals feed into denial about climate change.

“Unlike stocks and paper money, we dig them right out of the earth, so they symbolize the way the planet has seemed to us, for thousands of years — that it is for humans to extract value from.”

With the risks of global warming only rising, he said, “people are holding on to these symbols for dear life.”