Just watched the Gold Cup from last week

It was fantastic to see the old boys get the recognition they deserved for putting in excellent performances

However with most of the post-race talk was about the second and third, Long Run didn't quite get enough plaudits that he was due for putting in a fantastic performance.

Great race though agreed

Reviewed the main Festival races today and will be fascinating when Long Run takes on the younger set who will have the legs for a finish.  .... excellent horse but his price is very skinny now considering there is every likelihood he will hit a few in the future.

i had 40 at 9/2 with pp if imperial won refund. But when the two old boys went ahead i was cheering them on. fantastic sight, might have won bet but would have been happy for the moment to watch the two greats battle it out. Still nice to have that buzz and still collect but for once would haver been quite happy not to.

Which younger set is that Eric.

Long Run is younger than anything that ran in the RSA.

Younger no, but less experienced yes. Long Run has a lot of miles on the clock for a 6 year old. He's already run in 10 chases and RWC has mentioned a couple more possible runs in France this season. Gold Cup winners have typically run in 6-12 chases when they win, so one could argue Long Run will be on the exposed side next year compared with e.g. Burton Port and Weapons Amnesty plus this year's RSA lot.

Younger than Denman, Kauto Star and Imperial Commander, now pensioners.

Yep - I'd really struggle to see anything that ran this year beating Long Run next year unless something goes wrong with him.

if big bucks goes chasing long run can take a back seat again

I think it's unlikley though - Nicholls certainly implied that he's stay hurdling. In any case, his last attempt at chasing wasn't very impressive - why should he be so much better now? Jim McGrath did a thoughful (and convincing) piece on C4 just before the World Hurdle explaining some of BB's limitations as a chaser.

As soon as I hear of a trainer say 'We'll give him one more year over hurdles before he goes chasing', it's a mental note to self to reach for the 'lay' button when it does tackle the bigger obstacles.