In the first installment of Andrew Asquith's antepost column, he takes a look at the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury later this month.
Antepost View: Coral Gold Cup
1pt e.w. Cruz Control in Coral Gold Cup at 25/1 (William Hill, 888sport, Ladbrokes, Coral 1/4 1,2,3,4)
For decades, the Coral Gold Cup – more famously known to many as the Hennessey – has been one of the most prestigious handicaps in the National Hunt racing calendar.
However, last year’s renewal featured only 13 runners, while the top weight had the lowest BHA rating since 2006. Grey Dawning and Protektorat head the weights at the time of writing, officially rated 166 and 165, respectively, but the former is set to make his return in the Betfair Chase the week prior, while the latter was a non-runner in the Charlie Hall recently, and may head back to the Paddy Power Gold Cup, despite looking like he needs three miles now.
From what recent renewals have told us, you need a horse rated in the 140s, or even high 130s, to have a winning chance, a far cry from the days of Denman being successful from marks of 161 and 174, while Bobs Worth was rated 160 when taking the crown in 2012.
Vying for favouritism is Myretown, who landed a monster gamble when beating The Changing Man by 11 lengths in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival when last seen, given a no-nonsense ride and bounding clear on the run-in.
He is reportedly being aimed at this for his seasonal reappearance, but he will be 14lb worse off at the weights with The Changing Man, who made a very encouraging return to action at Ascot recently. There’s no denying that Myretown is open to further improvement with just five starts over fences (three of those wins) under his belt, but his price tells us that.
Resplendent Grey is the other and he proved at least as good as ever when defeating Grade 1-winning novice Handstands at Carlisle on his return. He is probably worth marking up even further for that success, given the race wasn’t run at a true gallop, and he showed a superior change of gear markedly down in trip considering he had won over three and a half miles on his final start last season. He’s clearly a horse on the up and will relish the step back up in trip, but a career-high mark of 153 will make life more difficult.
As I’ve been pondering over the entries the one I keep coming back to is CRUZ CONTROL, who wasn’t right at the start of last season, but he signed of in grand style when winning the Freebooter Handicap Chase at Aintree for the second year running.
He had a fruitful novice campaign over fences in 2023/24, winning three times, but it was only in his last four runs of that campaign that he went beyond two and a half miles, shaping much better than the bare result in the Eider before winning two of his last three starts over three miles.
Clearly, he didn’t have the ideal preparation last season, making his return over hurdles and then never going a jot and uncharacteristically let down by his jumping when pulled up in the Rowland Meyrick at Wetherby.
Tom Lacey laid off him after that and duly got him back to firing on all cylinders for Aintree, where he proved better than ever ridden more patiently than usual in a well-run race, idling a little going down to the last but drawing away nicely on the run-in to score by five lengths from favourite Imperial Saint, who also lost his unbeaten record at the track in the process.
I think a 4lb rise for that success is quite lenient, and I like how all of his best form has come at flat, left-handed tracks with long straights, just like Newbury. If you ignore last season, his record when fresh isn’t bad, either, making a winning return over hurdles in 2023, and beaten only by now very smart chaser Matata on his return in 2024 over an inadequate two miles.
This will likely be the most competitive environment he’s been in, but these are the sort of races connections are entitled to look at now, and I still feel we haven’t seen the best of him, still relatively unexposed as a staying chaser after all.
It looked to me as though Cruz Control had plenty more to offer if needed at Aintree and, in my opinion, there is scope for him to develop into a 150s horse this season. A strong traveller who is an assured jumper, he has the right attributes to go well in a Coral Gold Cup.
Published 1520 GMT on 09/11/25
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