Cheltenham Gold Cup preview: Mouse Morris backs Gentlemansgame's stamina

Sat in front of me is Mouse Morris, a doyen of the Irish training ranks and a handler synonymous with the Cheltenham Festival.

As a jockey he won back-to-back Champion Chases on Skymas before stepping out of the saddle and into another hot-seat. Buck House won him a Supreme and Champion Chase, Trapper John a Stayers’ Hurdle. Fota Island landed a big gamble in the Grand Annual, First Lieutenant came out on top in what is now the Baring Bingham, and of course War Of Attrition took the 2006 Gold Cup.

And that was why – as we discussed Gentlemansgame’s bid for glory in this year’s Boodles-backed renewal, that I asked what similarities he saw between the two? Class, jumping technique, physical resemblance. Anything nice and neat to put into the headline would do nicely.

“None at all, no,” was the reply.

Not that Mouse wasn’t engaged. There just aren’t any!

“This one probably lacks a bit of toe, but he stays forever and jumps well,” he added.

It hasn’t been plain sailing to Cheltenham for the powerful grey, his huge build meaning the odd bump in the road has become something of a regular occurrence. But right now, just four weeks out, he’s exactly where the trainer wants him.

“He obviously had that little hiccup over Christmas, but he did a nice piece of work up the Curragh on Saturday so we’re on track anyhow – as long as we don’t have any more hiccups, mind.

“He got a stone bruise at Christmas that went right up his foot. It went very deep. They’re usually just on the heel but his wasn’t.”

But if the wheels stay on, there’ll be no hard-luck stories or ready-made excuses from this team.

“He’ll be as fit as a fiddle, don’t worry about that, but experience is the problem," Morris pondered. "He’s only had three runs over fences. He’ll go away schooling somewhere in the next two weeks."

A man like this will always have his own road to Cheltenham – and Gentlemansgame, on and off the track, is following it.

"He went to Tramore Beach last week. All the Cheltenham horses go there – it’s a bit of a tradition. They always go down the beach, I've been doing it for years. War Of Attrition went down there, everything went down there. It’s great for them, giving them a change helps them a bit at this time of year. It gives them something different,” Morris said.

"He wouldn’t run between Christmas and March anyway either. Most of mine hadn’t run from Christmas to Cheltenham, none of the winners I think."

And Gentlemansgame has already had one successful British raid this season, lowering the colours of Bravemansgame in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby. It didn’t surprise those closest to him.

“I hate saying it now, but I was very hopeful he'd win,” the trainer smiles. “He’d run a good race at Gowran over two-and-a-half behind one of Willie’s (Easy Game) who’d won about 15 times. I couldn’t go to the north because the other fella, Gerri Colombe, was going there. It was a nice alternative."

Darragh O’Keefe will again ride but won’t be overburdened with any tactical instructions: “I don’t think he’ll be fast enough for any! He’ll be doing his best work at the end,” Morris says.

And with that our time with him is nearly up. But not before asking Mouse what it would mean to win a second Gold Cup, to have another moment in the Cheltenham sun in the autumn of a wonderful career.

“I don’t mind it,” he beams, aware that good horses such as this one are very hard to find in the modern game.

"I never had many more than 35, ever. I’ve 30 now. It's not very different but they’re not the same quality, unfortunately, but you can’t compete. That’s where you are."

It’s why so many owners and trainers must cherish the ones that make it to them - their golden shot. And Gentlemansgame is in very good hands for his.

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