Paul Kealy provides his perm for day one of the Paddy Power Gold Cup meeting

Cheltenham's card, for which the Tote are putting up a guaranteed pool of £250,000 for the Placepot, is book-ended by two big-field handicaps, one of which is routinely won by a well-backed horse, the other often going to an outsider.

There have been some tidy gambles in the opener (1.10) over the last eight years, with five winners shorter than 4-1 and none bigger than 7-1.

Gordon Elliott's Enki Flacke is 4-4 at Perth and 0-6 elsewhere, but his last win there, over a trip too short, has worked out so well he has to go in. The third, who was getting 12lb and was beaten seven lengths, would have to give him 13lb in a handicap now.

Astigar could also be chucked in for a yard with a good record in this, so I'm playing this one safe.

Captain Tom Cat and Grey Diamond are my two in the 2m handicap chase (1.45), while the next (2.20) is tricky, with the potential for a ground-related non-runner robbing us of a place.

Unanswered Prayers is out of the weights and has yet to jump a fence, but his return behind Knappers Hill is good form. He's top of the list, just ahead of Hereditary Rule for John McConnell, who does so well here.

Kauto Riko and Magic Dancer look the obvious choices in the next (2.55), and although you could make a case for pretty much everything in the fifth (3.30), Hubrisko and Quid Pro Quo are my two.

That leaves a tricky finale and I'll go three-handed with main fancy Master Dancer, Great Realisation for last year's winning stable, and Alto Alto for in-form Chris Gordon.

Cheltenham Placepot perm

1.10
5 Enki Flacke
13 Astigar

1.45
4 Captain Tom Cat
7 Grey Diamond

2.20
2 Hereditary Rule
6 Unanswered Prayers

2.55
4 Kauto Riko
6 Magic Dancer

3.30
4 Hubrisko
6 Quid Pro Quo

4.00
4 Master Dancer
11 Alto Alto
16 Great Realisation

2x2x2x2x2x3=96 lines

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