When looking for an ante-post bet for the December Gold Cup, held at Cheltenham in just under three weeks' time, the obvious start point is the Paddy Power Gold Cup and, sure enough, a couple of those figure highly on our radar for December's event.
We were with TORN AND FRAYED for the Paddy Power, but the Friday night rain was most unwelcome as far as his chance went, as ideally he wants good to soft ground and no worse. However, it didn’t stop him from running a lovely race on his reappearance after the best part of two years away from the track, staying with the leading group until getting a bit tired and falling two out.
He was held at the time but there was more than enough promise to be taken from the run, and another welcome 3lb now means he’s just 2lb higher than when winning a Grade 3 on the New Course back in 2022.
There’s plenty of 25/1 around for the December Gold Cup at present and it’s hard to see him going off any bigger than that, given he could be something of a wise-guy pick come the time if conditions are to his liking.
Easy As That was the other to take the eye from the Paddy Power and although half the price of Torn And Frayed in the ante-post markets, is still of interest.
He was given a hold-up ride by Charlie Deutsch in a race where, as is so often the case at Cheltenham, those ridden more prominently played the major parts in the finish. He disappeared from view as the cameras focused in on the leaders in the latter stages, but was seen staying on late to finish sixth, doing best of those held up off the pace.
The ride he was given rather suggested that a midfield finish was almost what was expected, and he wasn’t given a hard time late on either. A winner over an extended 2m5f last season, he has been given a pretty generous 3lb drop for that effort, which leaves him 5lb above his last winning mark, which was a demolition job of the useful Five Star Getaway at Newcastle earlier in the year.
We’d expect to see him ridden a lot more prominently next time, and make use of his key asset, his excellent jumping technique.
War Lord has been a hard one to love, in many respects, with his last win coming in January 2022 but when you’re taking on the likes of Greanateen and Edwardstone, and in between taking in some pretty tough handicaps, maybe that’s to be expected.
As a novice, he looked like he was going to make up into a classy sort, his fourth to the aforementioned Edwardstone the pinnacle of his novice season, but he never really went on from that and has thrown in a couple of disappointing efforts in both the Paddy Power Handicap on New Year's Day and also the Plate at the Festival, both of which temper a bit of confidence in him.
However, after wind surgery - something Joe Tizzard has been using effectively this calendar year, he looked a bit more like his old self in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter on his reappearance.
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Given plenty to do over a trip that’s clearly too short for him these days, he stayed on with gusto from the last to finish third, and connections appeared delighted with the run afterwards. For all that wasn’t the classiest of affairs this time around, it was still a run that promised more, especially when given more of a test of stamina.
The more rain the better for him, and if the forecast is for rain the week before then he’ll be of more interest to us, as a mark of 144 looks workable if the wind surgery has sorted out whatever was clearly ailing him last season.
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