Very hopeful for John's Spirit got the softish ground I wanted, Jonjo reckons it's the best he's had him. Hope he's right. Does look a classier race than last year, whether they are particularly well handicapped is another thing.

I'm always looking for a second season chaser who appears well weighted. I think Irish Cavalier's festival win was solid form and note that Generous Ransom has a 15lb pull for a 3 length defeat. On trials day he had beaten Irish Cavalier a neck and 2 lengths receiving 7lb on softer ground (value for more as he nearly came to a halt after a mistake at the last). Today he receives 16lb. I would imagine the Paddy Power was targeted after the trials day victory as the race will hold fond memories for the trainer and he has aimed his better horses at it in the past. On that basis I'm prepared to forgive the poor showing in the prep run over hurdles on the basis that it was just to bring him on. Gifford said he was pleased with ride Paddy gave him that day. Good value at the widely available 20/1 imo.

Gutted tbh. Buywise, if only he could Jump

Buywise didn't jump great, but think he'd still have won if he hadn't had to switch after the last.

Kings Palace gone. Rancid price today.

Boondooma  - very disappointing

Have to say, I didn't even consider Anacotty for the same reason GI, treated him like Sound Investment or Cloud Creeper, exposed. I also completely missed he'd moved trainer

Johns Spirit travelled well enough but had no response when asked. Perhaps they should have put claimer on Sound Investment, but I think him only going up 4lb meant they didn't need it.

cant understand the ride on KP surley should have been delivered to lead at the last

Nowhere near with any of my bets today - been in shocking form since the Arc.

If I had to take one horse out of today's race it would be Monetaire who, given the shocking form of the Pipe stable,  ran well enough until hitting the last. Hopefully he'll be a decent price next time.

Well done to winners

Some good points Iris,Present View is the mystery,just wonder if the blinkers were for the wrong reason,i:e temperament,like to see him go left handed over 3m on better ground,fine jumper normally.
Art Mauresque... ran a cracker,only 5,on ground possibly softer than ideal,lovely prospect, in the right hands,interesting to see when and where he goes next.
Irish Cavalier....not sure what to make of that,trainer said he wanted 3m and better ground after his festival win,travelled like a dream today,another with bags scope,was todays race an afterthought? If the trainer has him right,serious horse on todays performance,could be difficult to place.

The horse that comes out with the most credit from the PP was not even a runner. Wishful Thinking divided Sound Investment and Buywise at Aintree and must be as good as ever. The Peterborough chase or some other valuable 2.5 mile condition chase must be on the cards for him soon.

Irish Cavalier emptied very quickly, he could have choked.

Horse is cursed.

Boondooms's trainer had stated before the race, that they would try to settle him, as he had been quite headstrong in winning his last race. And by getting him to settle would help with the trip too.

In hindsight I think it would have been better to have let the horse have his head and allow him to run his own race. Being restrained probably caused him to sulk, as he never showed at any stage.

Thanks PJay. Probably explains his poor showing.

Morning chaps... can anyone help me please with a bet query. When did Paddy Power start paying 5 places... wasnt just on the day was it?

The place terms are usually on your betting slip if it's an online bet so I'm assuming you're asking about a shop bet.

They never stop banging on about their promos on twitter so it's pretty useful if you need to go back and check. I searched using the phrase "5 places paddy power gold cup" and looking through their official twitter feed on 'paddypowershops' the earliest mention I can see is in the early hours of November 11th, which was the Wednesday before the race.

https://twitter.com/PaddyPowerShops/status/664368769905635328

They say they have a 2nd place freebet offer lasting all 3 days at Cheltenham and mention 5 places in the same post. They say 2nd place freebet applies to all bets placed from Thursday but they are not clear when the 5 places starts. It must apply from at least the Thursday, but it could be earlier. The post implies 5 place offer has already begun imo.

The first overall mention comes on Tuesday November 10th on an account called 'myracingtips', and some random bloke replies to them and posts a screenshot of his online bet and it shows them already offering 5 places.

https://twitter.com/Gogzy25/status/664179523987091456

So to answer your question, it definitely was not just for bets placed on the Saturday, either in store or online. If you bet on the Thurs, Fri or Sat you should have got 5 places. If you bet on the Tue or Wed I'd be a lot less hopeful but it's possible they were 5 places.

Placed the bet on Tuesday morning and was sure they were five at the time but cent find proof and didn't mention it when I placed it.