Leopardstown’s Lexus Chase can put Road To Riches on Gold Cup trail
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Version 0 of 1. Silviniaco Conti is the only horse at a single-figure price for the Gold Cup in March following his powerful display of jumping and galloping in Friday’s King George VI Chase at Kempton, but a solid second-favourite for Cheltenham’s feature event should emerge at Leopardstown on Sunday when a field rich with both proven ability and potential lines up for the Lexus Chase. The Hennessy Gold Cup at the same track in February is, in theory at least, Ireland’s most prestigious chase, but this season’s renewal will do well to offer a more interesting and competitive field than Sunday’s Grade One, which includes Lord Windermere and Bobs Worth, the last two winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In all, six of the 10 declared runners have at least one previous Grade One victory over fences to their name, and one of the remaining four is On His Own, who was touched off by Lord Windermere at Cheltenham in March and could easily have been awarded the race in the stewards’ room. Lord Windermere was the first Irish-trained Gold Cup winner for eight years, and he will enjoy plenty of goodwill and support when he turns out in front of a home crowd on Sunday. Sentiment alone may not be enough to earn him a place at the head of the market, though, as Nicky Henderson’s Bobs Worth, who won this race 12 months ago, is the early favourite at around 7-2 despite having been absent since finishing fifth at Cheltenham, his first defeat in six starts at the home of jumping. The current theory in the Gold Cup market seems to be that last season’s race was an oddity, with little pace and a blanket finish won by Lord Windermere after a sprint up the hill. He made a promising return to action over an inadequate trip in the John Durkan Memorial Chase, however, and makes more appeal at the prices than Bobs Worth, who faced a less competitive field here 12 months ago and also arrived with a race under his belt. Sam Winner, from the Paul Nicholls stable, joins Bobs Worth in an attempt to take the Lexus back to Britain for the seventh time in the last eight years, but he looks more like a Grand National contender than a Grade One winner. Road To Riches (2.55), on the other hand, won for the first time at the highest level at Down Royal in November, when he was also stepping up to three miles for the first time over fences. Noel Meade’s seven-year-old was held back by his jumping earlier in his career but has been far more polished in recent starts. He can lead home Lord Windermere to establish himself as Ireland’s main hope for the Gold Cup. |