Bryan Cooper: 'He has an incredible future - you wouldn't swap him for the world if you were riding him'
The sport's top judges answer the key Cheltenham Festival questions. This time, it's Gold Cup-winning jockey Bryan Cooper . . .
What's your best bet of the meeting?
Galopin Des Champs in the Gold Cup. If he shows up in the same form as he did at Leopardstown at Christmas and the Dublin Racing Festival then he's going to be very hard to beat.
What do you make of the Champion Hurdle now?
Even before Constitution Hill had the disappointing piece of work, I did think State Man could potentially get a bit closer to him than he did last year as he seems to have improved. He’s always been a safe jumper but I think he's got slicker and quicker and his two performances at Leopardstown this season were very good.
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- 'I could see him being a big, big player' - our Ultimate Cheltenham Preview panellists with their dark horses
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- 'I think he's got a stone in hand' - our Ultimate Cheltenham Preview panellists give their festival bankers
- Davy Russell: 'I thought I was going to win the whole way until two aeroplanes whizzed past me, so he might win it this year'
- Paul Nicholls: 'I like this horse a lot and I'd say he has a nice chance at 10-1'
- 'I could see him being a big, big player' - our Ultimate Cheltenham Preview panellists with their dark horses
- Tom Segal: 'He looks very dangerous on soft ground and the nearer the race gets the more I fancy him to upset State Man'
- 'I think he's got a stone in hand' - our Ultimate Cheltenham Preview panellists give their festival bankers
- Davy Russell: 'I thought I was going to win the whole way until two aeroplanes whizzed past me, so he might win it this year'
- Paul Nicholls: 'I like this horse a lot and I'd say he has a nice chance at 10-1'