Trainer Gavin Cromwell gets an early cross-channel sighter on Monday when sending Path D’oroux to Carlisle for a conditions chase.
A week that builds towards the start of Cheltenham’s November meeting on Friday begins with comparatively scanty fare as Carlisle and Kempton host the only two fixtures on Monday.
Jockey Keith Donoghue travels to the northwest of England to team up with Path D’oroux who has another crack at the Weatherbys Graduation Chase.
Cromwell’s runner was third in it a year ago to Nells Son and faces a familiar rival this time in Unexpected Party. The pair have clashed three times in all, including at last year’s Cheltenham Festival when Path D’oroux was third to the Skelton runner in the Grand Annual.
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Cromwell has entered Welonlyhavedone for a Grade Two novice hurdle on Day One of Cheltenham’s upcoming three-day meeting.
However, his shot at Saturday’s Paddy Power Gold Cup looks like being Thecompanysergeant.
No Irish trained horse has won the first major handicap pot of the British jumps season since Tranquil Sea scored in 2009. He was trained by the late Edward O’Grady, and the race is being run in his memory this weekend. The former champion trainer passed away in July aged 75.
The complexion of the race will become clearer after Monday’s latest acceptance stage although another prime Irish contender may be Henry de Bromhead’s Coming Up Easy, winner of his last three starts.
In contrast, Thecompanysergeant hasn’t won in more than a year and has yet to score in five starts for Cromwell, including when runner-up to Jagwar in last season’s Plate at the Cheltenham Festival.
Jagwar tops most betting lists for this weekend’s feature alongside last year’s winner Il Ridoto who will try to give trainer Paul Nicholls a third win in a row in the race and a fifth overall.
Bradbury Star in 1993-94 was the last horse to win the Paddy Power back-to-back, but Nicholls is hopeful Il Ridoto can pull off a similar feat.
“It was a great day when he won the race last year under Freddie [Gingell], but I suspect Harry [Cobden] will ride him this time,” he said.
“He had a nice run at Chepstow the other day, and it was better than we expected. He has come out of that well and he seems well at home. The form of that race has since been boosted with the winner, Saint Segal, running well in the Haldon Gold Cup.
“I’m looking forward to it as he comes right at this time of year.”
Gordon Elliott’s Casheldale Lad is topweight for Cheltenham’s feature on Sunday, the Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle, although the top of ante-post betting lists is dominated by home-based entries.
These include Joe Tizzard’s ex-German runner Alexei who scored impressively at Ascot last week.
“I was thrilled with that, he’d really come on for his Chepstow run [runner up in last month’s Welsh Champion Hurdle]. He’s gone up 7lb for the win, he’ll go to the Greatwood next weekend now and we’re really looking forward to it,” Tizzard said.
“He loves a bit of decent ground, so we’ve got to make hay while the sun shines with him at the minute before it gets too soft. He’s an improving, young horse and one we’re excited about.”
Alexei won four of his eight starts on the flat in Germany before joining Tizzard. Celtic Dino beat Alexei at Chepstow and is firmly in the Greatwood mix as is the third in that Welsh Champion Hurdle, Wilful.
In other news, Nicholls hasn’t ruled out looking at Cheltenham’s December Gold Cup as an option for his Kalif Du Berlais, who disappointed on Friday in Exeter’s Haldon Gold Cup.
“It was a bit different to running in those small field novice chases that he was in. He won his Grade One, but he could dominate in front and it all goes easy, but we knew that wasn’t going to happen on Friday. He wants a trip, and we did think that as a juvenile. He is bred to stay,” he said.
“He is a big strong horse that is 17 hands, so we have got to give him time. The December Gold Cup and Peterborough Chase are races he could go in, but we have got others for those. Giving him time is the plan at the moment.”
