Betvictor Gold Cup Cheltenham 17th November

Holbrook Park , versatile type with regards to ground and trip . Has gone well fresh in the past and runs well for a claimer. A horse on the up and pretty well treated on 129 . If entered he might just scrape in .

Rather Be would be my early fancy.

Baron Alco is a likely runner in this after a year off with a tendon injury.He led for the last mile and a half in the 2017 Brown and Merry at the festival before beaten only  by Road to Respect who was running off 145.Likely to lead them into the last fence again now he is fully recovered.

When do we usually get a market for this race?

Of course The Mackeson, thanks. Such a long time ago.

Pathetic that no bookie has priced this up. When paddy power sponsored the race I'm sure they had markets from early September.

Very keen ML.......I suspect you fancy one or two

No idea if he gets an entry,a horse that impressed me in last years renewal....

Romain De Senam.....rated 145 last year,the ground went against him in the run up to the race.Only 5 at the time , he travelled well,despite clouting one heading out onto the 2nd circuit.

With another year on his back,granted less testing ground,interested to see where he is entered.

Down to 139,decent record fresh,no surprise if that mark under estimates his ability.

Many Thanks for the update PMT

What a fine prospect you have there......watching  that Browne Advisory back,struck me how game he was when headed between the last two fences.

Only beaten by a group horse in a handicap,the winner is now rated 165,putting up a fine display in this years Blue Riband,RTR is only 7yr old himself,he may well have more to come,especially on a sounder surface.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.....the time of that Browne Advisory was 0.7 secs quicker than the Ryanair run an hour earlier,both looked to be run at a decent gallop.

Presumably he,s back in work,with all roads leading to mid November,will he have a prep?

Finally another question if I may........What was the feeling like watching him lead the field coming round the final bend at the Festival........and what was the heart rate ?

Wish you best of luck with him,he,s in good hands.

pmt what do you see as your main dangers in the race?

dont know. there will be some second season chasers who have improved . a lot of French horses take a season before they are at their best.

Definately worth a look Hanx.

The time confuses me a little,new course record,yet almost 3 seconds outside standard if the RP is to believed,is there a typo somewhere or am I missing something?

Gun to head,I would take out the 2nd and 4th from the race,both given interesting rides over the last few fences,neither pilot instil any confidence this end.

NTD no doubt will have his fair share entries,last years winner very ground dependant, Foxtail Hill might be in there too,never quite worked him out,early doors might be the time to catch him,dropped to a decent looking mark.

Baron Alco looked tailor made for this race.

The reason why I wanted a market was I knew Twiston Davies plan was to aim Ballyandy at this race since January.

Hopefully doesn't win by too far tomorrow at Wetherby to protect its 140 mark.

Was hoping for bigger but 20/1 will do.

Yes may well be dropped to 138 - lovely.

update on my sep 18 post.Baron Alco is being trained for this and will run barring injury. Has been put back to his 146 mark that he ran off in the Brown Advisory. His Chepstow run , beaten a head by Charbel was very satisfactory and we fancy his chances.

Ballyandy 137......Does the handicapper drink in the cotswolds?

That must be music to your ears ML,hope to see him in entries later this week.

Baron Alco 146.......Up 4lbs for his chepstow run.

Criminal really,off the best part of 18 months with injury,the horse looked keen as mustard,ran his heart out,does not win the race,yet incurs a 4 lb penalty.Charbel goes up 5 lb,the third horse gets dropped a 1 lb.

Everything that is wrong with the system to these eyes,surely in a sport where we should be encouraging owners / trainers to let their horses run on merit,this must have the complete opposite effect ?

What if Baron Alco had been dropped say 3 lb,would this make a difference to handicapping long term,effectively rewarding connections rather than penalising them ?

Sure plenty will have an opinion here,be good to hear them.

Echo Souldancer post....PMT has been a breath of fresh air here,lets hope they all make it,always a cracking race.

One final thought PMT......would you consider Aintree fences?,no need to answer just yet,love to see this lad in the Topham,he does remind me of Ultragold in many ways,just a thought.

thanks nocturnal. Yes we have thought of the Topham and its probably on the agenda this season.In fact Gary has the Grand national in mind for him in a couple of seasons time. We will try him at 3 miles this season, maybe in the Betbright (sorry Racing Post chase). I think the handicapper was spot on raising him 4lbs for Chepstow. I was a handicapper myself and would have given him 4lbs too. You have to be fair to every horse in the race and give them all an equal chance if they run to their best form. he was dropped 6 lbs from the mark he was given after finishing 2nd to Road to respect who was getting weight from us. That looks like 150 form now so to get dropped to 142 was a gift.

Souldancer you are spot on. He went up 2lbs not 3lb which would have been more if the handicapper knew about Road to Respects next two runs.

Does anyone know when the initial entries for the Bet Victor Gold Cup (and the Greatwood Hurdle) are announced?

I thought it was Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

Excellent pmt, thanks.
Should be up on the Racing Post site shortly then.
The weights for UK runners are known, Just the Irish to assess, I presume.