Cheltenham hero Tiger Roll will face fifteen rivals in Wednesday afternoon's Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase and but he won't have things Easy...
The main hope for the French and also the biggest threat to Tiger Roll’s title according to the market is the David Cottin-trained Easysland, a general second favourite at 3-1 for what looks set to be one of the most intriguing races of the week.
The six-year-old son of Yorton Farm stallion Gentlewave, Easysland is being touted as ‘the new kid on the block’ having won his last six starts and has already proved successful over course and distance when talking the December meeting’s Cross Country in impressive style, having always been close to the pace before stretching clear of stablemate Amazing Comedy in a gruelling race. Not only did that victory ensure that Easysland’s 29-year-old trainer David Cottin won the coveted Crystal Cup (a series of European Cross Country races) but it also attracted the attention of leading owner JP McManus, who subsequently purchased the gelding privately and has kept him in training with Cottin.
Cottin, former French champion jockey believes that Easysland has an excellent chance of adding to his Cheltenham tally this week after having a seemingly perfect preparation,
"Easysland is going to Cheltenham in brilliant form, he hasn’t needed much work since Pau and had a canter on the grass on Saturday morning which I was delighted with, since then it has just been a case of freshening him up," said the up and coming trainer.
"He will head over the day before, like we did in December and I think he should run a big race, he is looking excellent in himself. Obviously Tiger Roll has to be massively respected but we have a lot in our favour also. He is my best cross country horse and the ground should be no problem, he is evolving into a real champion even though he is only six-years-old," he added.
Easysland is currently the only McManus-owned horse trained in France thus showing a great vote of confidence in Cottin’s training ability from the high-profile owner who will bid for a seventh winner of the race.
"To have a horse in the famous McManus silks in the yard is not only great for me but also for my team, it’s a huge boost for the yard. Its also quite poignant as I had my last ever winner as a jockey in these colours, Demopolis at Auteuil in 2017," said Cottin from his training base in Lamorlaye.
Easysland will once again be partnered by top French jockey Jonathan Plouganou, a duo that have been successful five times in this discipline, having most recently scored in the Grand Cross de Pau on February 2.
De Giles and Clayeux taking aim at the Tiger for third time
Jockey Felix de Giles will be hoping it can be a case of third time lucky as he once again gets on-board the veteran Urgent de Gregaine as the 12-year-old takes on Tiger Roll once again in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase.
Trained in Vaumas by top trainer Emmanuel Clayeux, Urgent de Gregaine was beaten only two-lengths in the 2018 renewal before going on to finish third in this race last year, ridden both times by de Giles.
The English-born rider, who is now based in France, feels that despite being amongst the oldest in the field Urgent de Gregaine can run another solid race and considers him to be one of Tiger Roll’s principal dangers, an opinion equally reflected by bookmakers as the horse is 12-1 third favourite.
"He seems to be in great form at home, he always seems to come to life at this time of year. He got close to Tiger Roll two years ago and hopefully we can have a repeat of that, he has to have a great chance," said the rider.
Although disappointing in a couple of starts over the winter in Pau Urgent de Gregaine has become a regular feature in these races at Cheltenham since landing a 50/1 surprise in January 2017 and his form figures at the course read 13232.
De Giles tasted festival success when scoring in the 2009 ‘Martin Pipe’ aboard the Nicky Henderson trained Andytown and the rider, who finished fourth in the French jockeys championship last season says it would bring him an enormous amount of pleasure if Urgent de Gregaine manages to seal a first festival success for Emmanuel Clayeux, who has been a huge supporter of the jockey.
"Urgent ran below par a couple of times over the winter, but I think he just copes better with Cheltenham better than with a French style cross country. If we did win it would mean an awful lot, not only for me but also for the yard and everyone. A French-trained winner would be great, yes it will be hard to beat Tiger Roll and some of the other but we (Clayeux) are sending three good horses over and that gives us every chance," said de Giles.
The two other Clayeux runners come in the shape of Diesel d’Allier and Arlequin d’Allier, of whom the former was a winner over this course before suffering a fall in the Grand Cross de Pau and the latter will be debuting in this discipline.
De Giles has also partnered both of the above to success in the past and although he has chosen to ride Urgent de Gregaine the jockey is sure that they can both play their parts in the contest.
"Diesel was great when he won around Cheltenham in November, it was a handicap that day so this will obviously be more difficult, but he will love the ground. Arlequin is having his first run around here, but he jumps excellently and showed a lot of class when winning that big handicap a few weeks ago in Pau," said the jockey.
Diesel d’Allier will be ridden by Charlie Deutsch, who partnered the gelding to success in November while Arlequin d’Allier will be assisted by crack Irish amateur Derek O’Connor.