Road to the 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup

If Chantry House doesn't win the Cotswold, they'd be as well running him as a pacemaker for Champ in the Stayers.
 
I backed Protektorat at a big price for the Gold Cup and got slagged for it.

It's true he failed to win the paddy Power of 11st12lbs but Harry was quick to point out he was almost on the deck at the 5th fence and the last horse to win the race with more waeight than he carried was Dunkirk in the 60's.

Ok Native River was one race awat from retriement but he was well suited by the conditions that day and Protektorat won in an absolute common canter.

Not manay would have beaten him that day IMO.

At least he's going to turn up and he's now only 8/1 and 10/1 at best so someone fancies him
 
I will now have a glass of orange juice and wait here for Grassy to slag me off again for taking 20/1 Protektorat:lol:
 
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Tanlic said:
I don't think Nicky really fancies him and I def don't think he'd win a Gold Cup if he started off now.
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There's a piece on the racing post website recently published with a headline from Nicky Henderson saying, 'he's a proper Gold Cup horse'.

I'd like to read it but I don't subscribe to it.

Any horse can be forgiven for one very poor run, which was him in the King George. He was very consistent overall last season winning 4/5.

I am not saying he will win the Gold Cup but it'll be interesting to see how he runs on Saturday. He is 16/1 for a reason for the GC and clearly has some sort of an outside chance.
 
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Sure I read immediately after the KG that Nicky said he hated the course and hated the ground

Hopefully we’ll see a better effort on Saturday as the course seems to suit him.


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viking said:
Sure I read immediately after the KG that Nicky said he hated the course and hated the ground

Hopefully we’ll see a better effort on Saturday as the course seems to suit him.


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Yeah but he was beat a long way out at Kempton. His jumping was awkward aswell. Hopefully there's been nothing physically wrong with him. That was my main line of inquiry after Boxing Day.
 
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It was Chantry House's first step in the big time agains the seniors and he failed miserably. Not saying he was happy round Kemton but he seems as good going left handed or right handed and he won round Aintree which is also a fast course very easily.

Even if he wins the Cotswold it doesn't mean he is up to Gold Cup class as the opposition looks decidedly weak.

Nicky tends to talk up JP's horses more than he does others so I am not convinced he truly believes he's a proper Gold Cup horse
and there's a bit of wishful thinking going on
 
Marb said:
Lol can anyone left on this place who does still subscribe to the RP post up the latest from Nicky Henderson. Cheers.
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Nicky Henderson, still buzzing from the thrill of Shishkin's epic victory over Energumene in last weekend's Clarence House Chase, has now set his sights on putting King George VI Chase flop Chantry House firmly back on the Gold Cup trail on what could be another stunning Saturday for the trainer.

Successful at the Cheltenham Festival in what was the Marsh last season, Chantry House was seen as Britain's leading hope for the Boodles-backed Gold Cup before the King George, but he ran no race at Kempton despite going off the 3-1 favourite.

The eight-year-old is a 16-1 chance for the festival highlight, although those odds will tumble should he deliver in the Paddy Power Cotswold Chase (2.30) at Cheltenham.

Henderson suggested on Monday it was too early to talk about the prospects of his winning a seventh training title, but he is in a rich vein of form, with Shishkin's Ascot triumph following on from five winners at Kempton and Warwick the Saturday before and Constitution Hill's striking Tolworth triumph seven days earlier.

The 71-year-old, who had weekend form figures of 12P01211, will hope to maintain his fine run on Saturday when Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle fancy Champ and exciting novice hurdler Balco Coastal are also set to join Chantry House at Cheltenham.

"You won't see anything like Ascot for a long time I suspect, but I don't know," said Henderson, whose leading Supreme Novices' hope Jonbon also struck on Saturday.

"Everyone seemed to enjoy it, which was the main thing and if it's good for racing, it's good for me. Shishkin is 100 per cent and so is Jonbon and neither will run again before the festival.

"We're lucky they're a good bunch. There are some very high-class horses in the team and the nice thing is a lot of them are young. There's plenty to look forward to. The older boys are doing well, but the younger boys are doing really well."

Henderson was around £550,000 in earnings behind Paul Nicholls on January 1, but had trimmed more than £100,000 from the deficit by Monday.

He said: "The title doesn't cross my mind at this stage, definitely not. We'll just get on with our job. There's a long way to go and lots can happen, but we do have a lot to look forward to. You've always got problems, but, by and large, the string have been in very good shape."

Chantry House is reported to be in tip-top condition for his Cotswold Chase assignment.

"I put Kempton down to Kempton," said Henderson. "Cheltenham and Kempton are two completely different places and Kempton, in its own way, is a specialists' track, which usually suits our horses. But I think the King George all happened a bit quick for him. He'll be happier at Cheltenham and I see him as a stayer.

"He's in very good form and worked really well on Saturday, while he'd also schooled well on Thursday. We're happy with him, very happy."

Chantry House's rivals could include promising novice Ahoy Senor and Henderson added: "The ground should be lovely. It's a Gold Cup trial and that's what we're aiming for. He's hardly done anything wrong in his life. He's a very honest fella, straightforward, but at the same time he's in the high rank of my horses – he's a proper Gold Cup horse."

The enigmatic Champ is also in the Gold Cup but seems more likely to stay over hurdles and is among the entries for Saturday's Welsh Marches Stallions At Chapel Stud Cleeve Hurdle (3.05).

Owned, like Chantry House, by JP McManus, Champ disappointed in the Gold Cup last season, but shone under Jonjo O'Neill Jr in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot before Christmas, and only Klassical Dream at 11-4 is a shorter price for the Stayers' Hurdle in March.

"He's going to run in the Cleeve and I suppose if we run in the Cleeve, the chances are we'll be talking about staying hurdles, but he's in the Gold Cup and will stay in it," Henderson added.

"Nobody is saying he won't run in it, that's for sure. He could go either way and he's been in great form, but we haven't got as far as riding plans."

Henderson has a particularly smart crop of novice hurdlers and they include Balco Coastal, who could clash with Hillcrest – a rising force for Henry Daly – in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle (3.40), which will also be screened on ITV's main channel alongside the Cotswold Chase, Cleeve and action from Doncaster.

The ground at Cheltenham was described on Monday as good to soft by clerk of the course Jon Pullin, who said: "We've got a dry forecast for the remainder of the week and temperatures are set to improve as the week goes on. I'd anticipate 'good' appearing in the going description, but I wouldn't think about watering – it wouldn't need it as there's enough moisture in it.

"Daytime temperatures will get better as the week progresses and overnights won't dip below zero once we get to the end of the week."
 
Desert Orchid said:
A fortnight without discussion on the Gold Cup less than two months shy of the race?

Anyway, I've been trying to get a handle on yesterday's Peter Marsh won by Royale Pagaille off 163. I reckon he'll go up 4lbs for it which will make him the highest rated of the home defence. I was hoping he'd be more impressive, if I were to be brutally honest, but maybe the ground wasn't soft enough and maybe it won't be soft enough in March either but he's at least heading in the right direction and is young enough to improve again.

I'm off to google 'rain dances'...
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Royale Pagaille has been raised 3lbs to 166 so he's now the highest-rated of the home guard.
 
Tanlic said:
It was Chantry House's first step in the big time agains the seniors and he failed miserably. Not saying he was happy round Kemton but he seems as good going left handed or right handed and he won round Aintree which is also a fast course very easily.

Even if he wins the Cotswold it doesn't mean he is up to Gold Cup class as the opposition looks decidedly weak.

Nicky tends to talk up JP's horses more than he does others so I am not convinced he truly believes he's a proper Gold Cup horse
and there's a bit of wishful thinking going on
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Agree it’s wishful thinking to believe Chantry House is Gold Cup class but I don’t agree he’s as good right handed. Yes he’s won at Sandown but in a two runner race from The Big Breakaway which isn’t anything special IMO. He’s also won at Ascot but was probably getting a beating by Pic d’Orhy when that one fell

Nor do I agree on flat tracks. He won at Aintree but wasn’t making much impression on the Kim Bailey horse when that one came down. So again the beneficiary of a faller and not an easy winner


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The Irish look so dominant with Galvin A Plus Tard Minella and Al Boum Photo I think we are peeing against the wind
to try and beat them Protektorat might turn out to be good enough but he's going to have to improve by a stone.

I'm very much in the Galvin camp and haven't even given the Henderson horse a second thought.

i think this time round Nicky has decided his best bet to make a few quid is to run Champ over Hurdles and Chantry over fences and hope one of thim brings some bacon home.
 
Safe to rule out Chantry House despite that win, I reckon.

Didn't beat Aye Right anywhere near far enough or impressively enough to fancy him for the big one.
 
Desert Orchid said:
Safe to rule out Chantry House despite that win, I reckon.

Didn't beat Aye Right anywhere near far enough or impressively enough to fancy him for the big one.
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Agreed. He should be pushed out to 25s or 33s after that.

He was game to win today as he looked nearly beat a few times but I just don't think he has the toughness of a Galvin or the proven class of A Plus Tard.
 
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I’ll be looking to pick up something from Mullins in the coming weeks about his chances in the GC. I don’t want to miss the obvious here about a KG winner, who has beaten a GC winner and the last three winners of the KG, in only his second try over 3 miles. Tornado Flyer at 12/1 is my fancy; some Cheltenham form too.
 
hardly surprising about Ahoy Senor.

Was listening to Ted Walsh and co and they rate Protektorat's win pretty highly despite Native River being passed his beat.

He is theonly horse in the arce that could spring a surprise but now I'm the one who's dreaming having backed him at 20/1

My realistic fancy for the race is still Galvin who looks to be the improver
 
Desert Orchid said:
Royale Pagaille has been raised 3lbs to 166 so he's now the highest-rated of the home guard.
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I can't be unhappy with that run from Royale Pagaille. Take the winner out and they'd be halving his price. Unfortunately the winner was there and that kind of tempers enthusiasm but the ground was probably on the quick side for RP. He's still a bit sticky at some fences. Probably still the best of the home guard but a minor place probably his best chance unless it ends up Dessie-Yahoo type ground.
 
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