BetBright Trial Cotswold Chase (Grade 2)

THISTLECRACK has taken over the jumping scene in the past year with several memorable and scintillating performances. While he is still relatively inexperienced over fences, his display in winning the King George is still fresh in the memory. This looks to be another race that will add to his experience and he ought to be able to handle the opposition that he’s presented with, further justifying his position at the head of the Gold Cup market. He may well get a stern test, though, from two former Hennessey winners in Many Clouds and Smad Place. The former, a 2015 Grand National winner, looked to be in excellent shape when returning to Aintree, jumping with great fluency from the front and much the same display is expected here. Smad Place took this race last year to project himself into the Gold Cup picture and although he came up short there, he did look as though he was on his way back in this year’s Hennessey. 1. Thistlecrack 2. Many Clouds 3. Smad Place