Age concern means Thistlecrack must go for Gold Cup this season

By common consent, Thistlecrack put himself firmly back in the Cheltenham Gold Cup mix when he overwhelmed four opponents in a novice chase at Newbury on Saturday. The horse was never likely to get beaten, but those disappointed with the way he had jumped at Cheltenham on his previous start were assuaged this time round.

Practice makes perfect, so the saying goes, although with a strapping horse like Thistlecrack there is only so much a jockey can do when it comes to presenting him at his fences. It’s as much down to the horse meeting the fence on the right stride as anything else. When they don’t, far better to let them figure it out for themselves than try to regulate their stride on the approach to the fence.

Thistlecrack was more measured at Newbury than he was at Cheltenham. He didn’t try to launch himself from outside the wings and part of that was surely down to Tom Scudamore’s decision to let him bowl along in front. Thistlecrack is a naturally competitive horse but he didn’t have anything ahead of him to trigger that instinct. He was nicely in hand throughout.