Hoping Master Blueyes can master Triumph rivals

I was hugely impressed by him in the Adonis at Kempton, it was a very good performance. He had been improving rapidly and his win at Ludlow gave him a lot of confidence. He’s come out of Kempton very well but my one slight concern is that there could be quite a lot of rain on Thursday night. I’d love to see better ground for him.

We also run Coeur De Lion, who’s tough and has improved with every run. I wouldn’t mind if the rain came for him as that would put the emphasis on stamina and he gets the trip really well.

We’re hoping for much better from Winter Escape. I thought he was an exciting horse at the start of the season and I still think he is. He was sick after disappointing in the Greatwood Hurdle in November and it has taken most of the winter to get him back, but I’ve been very happy with him in the last two or three weeks. However, he’s a good-ground horse and any rain would count against him.

Smad Place will be running at his seventh festival, which is quite an achievement. He’s been third in two Stayers’ Hurdles and second in an RSA Chase and has run in the last two Gold Cups. The Gold Cup is his target again and I’m under no illusions that he’ll be up against it. But any rain would help him and he could run well, although he will probably find some of the opposition a bit too good for him.

Gibralfaro has been switched to the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle as I did not really want to run three in the Coral Cup. He was a little disappointing at Huntingdon last time, but he’d been ready to run for a fortnight and there had been cancellations, so he may have gone slightly off the boil. He’s fresh and well now after having a little break but he’s probably handicapped up to the hilt.