When A Plus Tard and Rachael Blackmore charged 15 lengths clear of Minella Indo, the defending champion, in last year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, most of the 65,000 in attendance would surely have agreed it was one of the more memorable Festival moments of recent times.
But how soon we seem to forget. Twelve months and one race later, A Plus Tard is an 11-2 shot for Friday’s renewal of Cheltenham’s showpiece event. Galopin Des Champs, whose dramatic exit at the last when well clear of the field in last year’s Turners Novice Chase drew the biggest groan of the week from the stands, is a clear favourite to seize A Plus Tard’s crown.
This is a Gold Cup that revolves around a big “if” and it concerns A Plus Tard, not Galopin Des Champs. If Henry de Bromhead’s nine-year-old can reproduce anything close to his winning form in last year’s race, then Galopin Des Champs, Bravemansgame and Noble Yeats will need to improve by some way if they are to stop him completing the double.
His dismal run when favourite for the Betfair Chase in November, the first time in 15 starts over fences he had finished out of the frame, was the result of an infection picked up in transit to Haydock, while a freak knock to a joint immediately before the Savills Chase in December ruled him out of that race.
De Bromhead decided to keep him fresh for the Festival after that minor setback and he reports A Plus Tard has been showing all the right signs on the gallops. It is encouraging, too, that his string has been in excellent form this week, with a winner each afternoon.
Galopin Des Champs is clearly a rising talent, but, like Bravemansgame, he needs to prove himself on the climb to the line. There are no such doubts about A Plus Tard (3.30) and he is an excellent bet at the available odds to become the second dual Gold Cup winner since 2003.
Fakenham 1.00 Weebill 1.40 Mad About Sally 2.20 Nothingtochance 3.00 Le Tueur 3.45 Big Boy Bobby 4.20 Pride Of Hawridge 5.00 Sir Jack Yeats
Doncaster 1.20 Idealdes Villerets 2.00 Big Changes 2.40 Flirtatious Girl 3.15 Son Of The Somme 4.00 Horacio Apple’s 4.40 Couldbeaweapon 5.15 Luckie Seven
Cheltenham 1.30 Blood Destiny 2.10 Filey Bay (nb) 2.50 Letsbeclearboutit 3.30 A Plus Tard (nap) 4.10 Secret Investor 4.50 Impervious 5.30 Iroko
Wolverhampton 4.35 Rivas Rob Roy 5.20 Lilandra 6.00 Miss Sligo 6.30 Jenny Ren 7.00 Open Market 7.30 One Hart 8.00 Dreams Delivered 8.30 Poetic Force
Newcastle 5.05 Rock Chant 5.45 Qaasid 6.15 Carbis Bay 6.45 Spinaround 7.15 Elisheva 7.45 Nelson Gay8.15 Abbey’s Dream
Cheltenham 1.30 A Willie Mullins-trained Triumph winner is a near-certainty, according to the betting at least, as the Festival’s leading trainer fields the only four runners shorter than 33-1. But which one? Lossiemouth is the No 1 on jockey bookings and did exceptionally well to be beaten just two-and-a-half lengths after a nightmare passage at Leopardstown last time. Blood Destiny, though, was still showing signs of inexperience on the way to an 18-length win at Fairyhouse in January and could find enough improvement to overhaul his stable companion.
Cheltenham 2.10 Filey Bay was a well-backed favourite for the Betfair Hurdle in February on his third run for Emmet Mullins and looked the likely winner on the run to the second-last. He could not quite reel in the winner after a mistake, but remains on a very fair mark.
Cheltenham 2.50 A Grade One event, but a poor one for fancied runners with one winner at a single-figure price in the past 10 years and Letsbeclearaboutit could sneak in under the radar at around 14-1. He needed four starts to get off the mark, by 22 lengths eased down, but his winning time was useful, he has progressed with every run and remains open to further improvement.
Cheltenham 4.10 Paul Nicholls broke a sequence of 53 straight losers at the Festival when Stage Star took the opener on Thursday and Secret Investor could give him a quick follow-up, in a race he has won twice in the past decade. He was a Grade Two winner four runs ago in February 2021 and showed he retains much of that ability when finishing 13 lengths clear in his prep race at Kelso last month.
