J. P. McManus's 2025 Cheltenham Gold Cup possibles

J. P. McManus has surely never owned such an exciting band of chasers as he does at present, several of whom ran with distinction at Aintree last week.

Synchronised in 2012 is the only Cheltenham Gold Cup winner in the green and gold hoops to date, but McManus has a handful of potential young contenders for next year’s race.

FACT TO FILE (Timeform rating 164p) Trainer: Willie Mullins

Fact To File is already snapping at the heels of Galopin des Champs in the 2025 Gold Cup betting but on current ratings he has to bridge a gap of more than a stone to threaten his stablemate’s bid for a third win. However, having had just seven races in his life, eight if you include the point he won, Fact To File has plenty of scope for further improvement over fences once he graduates out of novice company.

Fact To File was one of the best bumper horses of last season when he finished second in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham but, rather than what would have amounted to little more than a time-killing exercise in novice hurdles this season, Willie Mullins sent him straight over fences. Beaten by the smart American Mike on his chasing debut at Navan, Fact To File has won all three of his starts since, beginning with a facile success in the same beginners chase at Leopardstown which Galopin des Champs had won so impressively two years earlier.

Continuing in that one’s hoofprints, Fact To File followed up over the same course and distance in Grade 1 company at the Dublin Racing Festival. With sole rival and stablemate Gaelic Warrior clearly not himself it was hard to gauge what Fact To File achieved but there were no doubts that both horses showed their true colours next time at the Cheltenham Festival.

A day after Gaelic Warrior won the Arkle with a top-class performance, Fact To File hammered home his Gold Cup potential by comfortably landing the odds against five smart rivals, American Mike included, in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase. In very testing conditions for his try at three miles, Fact To File saw the longer trip out thoroughly after a very fluent round of jumping, a superb leap at the last sealing matters before he drew clear on the flat.

INOTHEWAYURTHINKIN (158p) Gavin Cromwell

A year younger than Fact To File at just six, Inothewayurthinkin, homebred by his owner’s wife Noreen, is another very progressive young chaser. A useful novice over hurdles in his first season of racing, Inothewayurthinkin was brought along gradually over fences at first, over shorter trips, so that he was still looking for a first win over the larger obstacles when taking his chance in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase for amateur riders at the Cheltenham Festival.

Inothewayurthinkin only got into the 0-145 handicap on the upper limit of the ratings band and went on to outclass a big field of inferior rivals under 12-0. He was backed as if defeat was out of the question, down to just 13/8, and won under a supremely confident ride from Derek O’Connor who allowed him plenty of time to warm to the task. Making headway on the bridle when asked to take closer order, Inothewayurthinkin was produced to lead two out and went clear after the last to win by eight lengths with a gap of more than twice that to the third.

He had already shown potential in Grade 1 novice company when third to Gaelic Warrior in the Faugheen Novice Chase at Limerick and was strong in the betting when taking on smart novices again in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree last Friday. Inothewayurthinkin was a clear-cut winner again, having still been last of the six runners two out, but if he is to fulfil any Gold Cup potential, he’s likely to need to jump with more fluency than he’s shown so far. Four lengths back in second was the other McManus runner Iroko, trained by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero. The 2023 Martin Pipe winner showed plenty of improvement on just his third start over fences (rated 154p) and could conceivably advance his own Gold Cup claims next season.

CORBETTS CROSS (164) Emmet Mullins

With those other two candidates in the Mildmay, Corbetts Cross was pitched in against Gold Cup horses in the Bowl Chase at Aintree although just a novice himself. He ran an excellent race, though, especially considering the race was slowly run which found him wanting for speed in the closing stages having been brought to challenge two out. As it was, Corbetts Cross was beaten less than three lengths into third behind Gold Cup runner-up Gerri Colombe and course specialist Ahoy Senor.

A progressive novice over hurdles last season, his first start in the McManus was an inauspicious one as he crashed out through the wing of the last when backed down to favouritism for the Albert Bartlett. This season, however, Corbetts Cross has resumed his progress, this time over fences. He won a well-contested beginners chase at Fairyhouse in December – future Brown Advisory runner-up Monty’s Star was third – and then made amends for his mishap the year before when a striking winner of the National Hunt Novices’ Chase which provided Derek O’Connor with another Festival success in the McManus colours.

It might have been a poor turn-out by Festival standards but Corbetts Cross put up a very smart performance, bursting clear in the straight to come home 17 lengths clear of Embassy Gardens who’d shaded him for favouritism. His subsequent run at Aintree augurs well for his prospects in Grade 1 company next season.

I AM MAXIMUS (167+) Willie Mullins

By winning at Aintree on Saturday by seven and a half lengths from a BHA mark of 159, with 11-6 on his back I Am Maximus put up the best performance seen by a Grand National winner this century. Only Many Clouds, in 2015, has carried more weight to victory since the days of Red Rum. That means that a return to Grade 1 company, and a potential Gold Cup attempt next spring, may well be the priority over a repeat bid back at Aintree.

On his only other start in a handicap, I Am Maximus had made his first outing in the green and gold a winning one when successful in last year’s Irish Grand National having finished a never-nearer fourth as a 28/1-shot in the Brown Advisory at Cheltenham. Gaining his first win over fences late last season meant he was still qualified for novices early this term and he took full advantage in the Drinmore Novice Chase back at Fairyhouse in December when beating Found A Fifty, also a winner on the Grand National card in the Maghull Novices’ over two miles.

I Am Maximus was then set a couple of stiffer tasks taking on stablemate Galopin des Champs at Leopardstown where he finished fourth in the Savills Chase and last of the three who finished in the Irish Gold Cup. However, an emphatic victory with his sights lowered in the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse set him up nicely for his Aintree victory over other fellow high-weights Delta Work, Minella Indo and Galvin, all of whom had been in the first five in a Gold Cup in the past, notably the 2021 winner Minella Indo. A future meeting with Galopin des Champs therefore might not see him beaten quite so far.

JONBON (170) Nicky Henderson

As things stand, a Gold Cup bid might be looking less likely for Jonbon than for the other horses covered here but as the highest-rated of all his owner’s chasers at present, he can hardly be left out of the discussion entirely. At the very least, Jonbon’s win in Friday’s Melling Chase opens the door to longer distances as it was his first start beyond two miles, at least under Rules.

He’d started out winning a point at Dromahane as a four-year-old after which he’d made headlines when bought by McManus for £570,000, a record sum for a pointer. Those who felt Jonbon would never recoup that expenditure have had to eat their words because, 13 wins from 16 starts later, Jonbon’s Melling Chase victory took his total earnings to just shy of £760,000.

Jonbon’s brother Douvan, who achieved a still higher rating of 182, never raced beyond two and a half miles (he won on his only try at that trip), so Jonbon’s stamina for three miles would have to be taken on trust, but a crack at the King George would reveal plenty about whether he’d be worth a Gold Cup entry.

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