Punters pile into Slate House to put wilderness days behind him at Cheltenham

Joe Tizzard believes BetVictor Gold Cup favourite Slate House is ready to deliver on the promise of his youthful best after 18 months in the wilderness.

Two wind operations and a seven-month break have helped restore the form of the Colin Tizzard-trained star who on Monday was cut into a top-priced 11-2 (from 7) for Saturday's Cheltenham showpiece.

The sky looked the limit for the son of Presenting after victory in a classy novice hurdle at Cheltenham's November meeting two years ago.

But he was beaten by 23 lengths or more in four of his next five completed runs, and was 44 lengths behind Duc Des Genievres at 66-1 in last season’s Racing Post Arkle.

But after a rousing display of jumping at Cheltenham last month, where he beat Garo De Juilley by 11 lengths, Slate House is now as short as 4-1 to land the big handicap at the November meeting for Tizzard.

"Last year was all about getting him going again," said Tizzard, assistant trainer to his father Colin. "He had a great start to his novice hurdle campaign in 2017 but that sort of petered out. He never looked particularly well and has had two wind ops and sometimes those little issues set horses back a bit.

"We were able to treat him properly this season and turn him out nice and early for the spring.

"You only have to look at that Grade 2 novice hurdle win to know how strong the form is, and I think he’s back to the level of those days."

On that afternoon Slate House was a three-quarters of a length victor over Summerville Boy, who won the Supreme that season, as well as Grade 2 WKD Hurdle scorer Bedrock, who beat Samcro on that day.

While those two rivals have scored big successes since, Tizzard admitted his excitement after seeing his runner secure a comfortable success last month.

He added: “The performance at Cheltenham was very good – we thought he’d run well, but did not expect him to win as well as he did. When you hit that heavy ground in the early part of the season it can catch a few of them out, but he handled it better than the rest.

“He’s gone up 12lb but with how the weights are at the minute it’s a good job he did otherwise he might have struggled to get in – or Robbie [Power] might not have been able to do the weight!

"We’re not going in there being bullish thinking he can’t get beat because we know how competitive this race is, but it would be great to bag it."

Among his potential opponents is Saint Calvados, a best-priced 12-1 shot who on the same day as Slate House’s triumph landed an exciting victory of his own, defying top weight to defeat Vaniteux by a length.

Harry Whittington’s six-year-old is no stranger to success, landing the Grade 2 Kingmaker at Warwick by 22 lengths, and his trainer is upbeat about their chances of winning the big prize.

“He’s a giant of a horse and physically he’s more than the finished article,” said Whittington. “He didn’t have a significant breathing problem but a small issue that was causing him to back off in those big championship races against the best horses, and dealing with that has given him a big help and got him to improve that bit to win last time off top weight.

“He seemed to enjoy that run and thrive off it, and he always comes out the right side after those hard races – they toughen him up rather than make him more fragile.”

Saint Calvados (left) jumps the last en route to winning at Cheltenham last month under Gavin SheehanCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

While that success last time came over two miles, Saint Calvados must now tackle an extra half-mile in his bid for Gold Cup glory – the furthest he has ever run over in his 13 starts across Britain, Ireland and France.

Whittington added: “The trip is our biggest concern but he was a bit sticky with his jumping last time and going that extra bit further and half a stride slower might get him into a better rhythm.

"I don’t think it should be a problem and could very easily turn into a positive. His whole demeanour at home is a lot slicker, so hopefully things will improve with the step up in trip.”

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls could pose a two-pronged attack for the BetVictor Gold Cup with general 20-1 shots Magic Saint and Brelan D’As left in.

Magic Saint was favourite for the Grand Annual at last season’s festival but could manage only tenth, but assistant trainer Harry Derham is keeping faith the five-year-old can still come good.

He said: “I was a bit disappointed with Magic Saint in the Grand Annual as I really fancied him, but he just didn’t pick up. He’s had a wind op since then and although it’ll be his first run of the season, his work has been very good. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet.”

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