Nice work by Charlie Deutsch to get the win on L'Homme Presse while saving a little something for March

L'Homme Presse earned himself the right to be called the leading British contender for the Cheltenham Gold Cup with his Cotswold Chase success on Saturday. That label does not quite carry the cachet it would have had, say, 15 years ago, but he is a smashing, durable talent who has now raked in more than half a million in prize-money.

Charlie Deutsch in stealth mode is a pleasure to watch and he kept his cool, while presumably wishing Stage Star would admit defeat. The pair got quite a long way up the run-in before it became clear that L'Homme Presse had the upper hand and favourite-backers could allow themselves to relax; even so, Deutsch only resorted to two uses of the whip.

It is hard to know how much was left in the tank but at least there was something. With less than seven weeks till the Gold Cup, having a hard race in the Cotswold Chase would be a sure way to kill off any chance you might have had at the festival.