'Nothing obvious showed up' - De Bromhead still puzzled by A Plus Tard no-show

Henry de Bromhead remains at a loss to explain A Plus Tard's lethargic effort in Saturday's Betfair Chase and a decision on where the Gold Cup winner will appear next will not be made until he is fully checked over.

Rachael Blackmore, who pulled up A Plus Tard before jumping three out, told the stewards afterwards that he was never travelling and a post-race examination from the racecourse vet at Haydock failed to reveal any abnormalities.

A Plus Tard arrived back at Knockeen seemingly none the worse for his exertions and De Bromhead is still scratching his head.

The trainer said on Sunday: "My only thought on the performance at this stage is that it was too bad to be true. I genuinely don't know what the problem was. He came back safe and sound and he seems fine. Nothing obvious showed up afterwards."

A Plus Tard has taken in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown en route to the Gold Cup for the last two seasons, but a decision will not be made on his participation in that for a while.

De Bromhead said: "We're going to give him an easy few days now. We need to go through him and see if there is anything wrong. That run at Haydock was just too bad to be true."

Henry de Bromhead: 'We're going to give him an easy few days now. We need to go through him and see if there is anything wrong'Credit: Edward Whitaker

A Plus Tard was pushed all the way out to 12-1 for the Boodles Gold Cup with bet365 following the uncharacteristically poor effort, the first time in his whole career he has finished out of the first three. He was 4-1 with the same firm before the race.

Galopin Des Champs has hardened into 9-4 favourite with bet365 as a result of A Plus Tard's blowout, while Protektorat is now second favourite at 8-1 following Saturday's victory.

Brown Advisory winner L'Homme Presse is 9-1, but he still has to reappear after being taken out of the Chanelle Pharma 1965 Chase at the eleventh hour because of the ground at Ascot on Saturday.

Cheltenham Gold Cup (March 17, 2023)

bet365: 9-4 Galopin Des Champs, 8 Protektorat, 9 L'Homme Presse, 10 Allaho, 12 A Plus Tard, 16 Bravemansgame, 20 Statler, 25 bar

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