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15:30 Cheltenham

Friday 17 March 2017

All13:3014:1014:5015:3016:1016:5017:30

Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase (Grade 1)

Off time: 15:30 | Winning time: 6m 36.3s

1^st

Sizing John

711-10

7/1

T: Mrs J HarringtonJ: R M Power

Held up in rear early, closed into mid-division 5th, effort after 4 out, challenged 2 out, soon led, stayed on well flat, ridden out tchd 13/2, 8/1 in a place

2^nd

2 ¾

Minella Rocco

711-10

18/1

T: J & A O'NeillJ: N D Fehily

Held up in rear, outpaced after 3 out, rallied last, soon went 4th, stayed on well flat, went 2nd post, no impression on winner op 16/1 tchd 20/1

3^rd

Native River

711-10

7/2

T: C L TizzardJ: R Johnson

Prominent, led 3rd, headed 7th, led 15th, not fluent 4 out, ridden and headed 2 out, stayed on under pressure flat but no impression on winner, went 2nd towards finish, lost 2nd post op 9/2 tchd 5/1 in a place

4^th

Djakadam

811-10

3/1f

T: W P MullinsJ: Ruby Walsh

Tracked leaders going well, switched right before 16th, close 2nd 18th, led when mistake 2 out, soon headed, no extra and lost 2 places towards finish op 11/4 tchd 10/3, 7/2 in places

5^th

Saphir Du Rheu

811-10

33/1

T: P F NichollsJ: Sam Twiston-Davies

Held up in touch on outside, lost a bit of ground on leaders 6th, closed 13th, 4th 2 out, no impression, stayed on same pace tchd 40/1

6^th

3 ½

More Of That

911-10

14/1

T: J & A O'NeillJ: Aidan Coleman

Held up in rear, struggling after 3 out, effort on outside 2 out, never threatened, stayed on same pace op 12/1

7^th

Bristol De Mai

611-10

16/1

T: N A Twiston-DaviesJ: D A Jacob

Prominent, led 2nd, headed next, stayed handy, hit 3 out, soon ridden, 6th and beaten when blundered last, weakened flat op 22/1 tchd 18/1 and tchd 25/1

8^th

Smad Place

1011-10

50/1

T: A KingJ: Wayne Hutchinson

In touch, ridden and weakened before 2 out

9^th

Champagne West

911-10

14/1

T: H De BromheadJ: D J Mullins

Took keen hold, led until hit 2nd, prominent, led 7th, headed 15th, lost place 3 out, weakened next op 16/1

10^th

Outlander

911-10

10/1

T: G ElliottJ: B J Cooper

Towards rear, not fluent 2nd, pushed briefly 14th, outpaced after next, struggling 4 out, well beaten when hampered 3 out tchd 11/1

Also Ran

Cue Card

1111-10

9/2

T: C L TizzardJ: P J Brennan

Mid-division, not fluent 11th, not clear run and switched right before 16th, niggled along after 4 out, yet to really close when fell 3 out op 5/1 tchd 11/2 in a place

Irish Cavalier

811-10

66/1

T: Miss R CurtisJ: P Townend

Not always fluent, mid-division on inside, lost place 4th, mistake 11th, behind 13th, pulled up before 17th

Tea For Two

811-10

40/1

T: Nick WilliamsJ: Lizzie Kelly

Held up in rear when bad mistake and unseated rider 2nd op 50/1

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Non-Runners

Empire Of Dirt³³

Weight: 11-10| Age: 10

T: G Elliott J: J W Kennedy

Betting Breakdown

Tote Win:£7.80Pl:£2.30, £5.10, £1.80EX:£130.80Trifecta:£584.20Tricast:£521.34SF:£116.96Swingers:£23.30, £5.20, £11.50

Forecasts

Djakadam (3/1), Native River (7/2), Cue Card (9/2), Sizing John (7/1), Outlander (10/1), Empire Of Dirt (10/1), More Of That (14/1), Champagne West (14/1), Bristol De Mai (16/1), Minella Rocco (18/1), Saphir Du Rheu (33/1), Tea For Two (40/1), Smad Place (50/1), Irish Cavalier (66/1)

An open and interesting Gold Cup with none of the runners having a rock solid profile despite there being some likeable types amongst them. Cue Card would be a very popular winner but would have to break a long established age trend to carry off what would be a deserved victory in the race. His trainer probably has more chance with the younger and very tough Native River who bids to give the form of the National Hunt Chase from last year a further boost, if he can find a rhythm in front he will be hard to pass. Djakadam bids to improve on his two seconds in the race but he’s come up short before and it may well be a place is the best that he can hope for again. Both Sizing John and Outlander would be plausible winners but they do have to prove their stamina for what will be their most demanding test yet. This could come a year or two too soon for Bristol De Mai and there are still question marks over the jumping ability of Champagne West. The Jonjo O’Neill stable often comes to life in the spring and he saddles two in this with Minella Rocco and MORE OF THAT. Both have Festival wins to their name but it’s More Of That who is the better fancied of the duo and if he came back to his hurdling best he may just be able to build on the spark he showed last time out to land this famous prize.