Nyetimber December Gold Cup: Harry Fry hopeful over In Excelsis Deo

The six-year-old finished fifth in the Trusatrader Plate at the Festival in March and signed off last campaign by winning the Matt Hampson Foundation Silver Plate at Prestbury Park in April.

He reappeared in the Paddy Power Gold Cup last month but unseated his rider at the fourth last.

Speaking on Thursday’s Nick Luck Daily Podcast the trainer said: “He had no luck in running at the Festival in the Plate and this is a big prize and I’m hoping he pulls it all together because he has the ability to win one of these for sure.

“We actually got dropped a pound after the last day which isn’t always the case after you’ve failed to complete so I thought that was a help definitely and he’s on what we think is a competitive mark. If he can put in a clear round he should be there when it matters most.”

Stablemate Gidleigh Park is set to return to action in January after recovering from the irregular heartbeat he was found to be suffering from when pulling up on his chase debut at Kempton last month.

“He actually reset within 24 hours so didn’t need any treatment and he’s been absolutely fine since. We’ve just been quietly going up through the gears and carefully monitoring him closely. He schooled on Thursday morning with a view to hopefully getting him back out on the track early in the New Year,” Fry added.

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