JP McManus's Cheltenham Festival winner Meetmebythesea is reported to be on course for his first major target of the season - the Paddy Power Gold Cup Handicap Chase.
Meetmebythesea scored under Ben Jones at 9/1 in the Grade 2 Jack Richards Novices' Limited Handicap Chase when last seen in March and trainer Ben Pauling is delighted with his progress over the summer months.
Speaking in an exclusive Stable Tour on the sportinglife.com website, Pauling stated the Paddy Power Gold Cup was very much plan-A for the six-year-old gelding, who is 4/1 favourite with the sponsors ahead of his return to Prestbury Park on Saturday November 14.
“There wouldn’t be many more exciting youngsters in training than this lad. He is still going the right way," said the trainer.
“He was ready to put his best foot forward at Cheltenham last season and, from the stands, there wasn’t a moment of worry.
“We did look at the Manifesto at Aintree, but we thought we would leave his mark for the Paddy Power, but the horses in behind him finished first and second in that race so we ended up getting a five pound hike for standing in his box.
"He will start off in the Paddy Power. As much we will have him ready to do his best, he is a big horse that will improve for the run. If he can be competitive, or win the Paddy Power, then it will open up a lot of other options going forward."
Those future options will be determined depending on how the son of Watar fares on seasonal debut, but Pauling feels he has major potential and could still prove to be well handicapped from a revised BHA rating of 151.
"He is not slow at all so I don’t think he needs to rush towards three miles," said Pauling. "It will be a case of getting the Paddy Power done and then chatting to JP’s team to see where we go.
"I do firmly believe that he can make the progression into being an open graded horse when he gets older."
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