2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup: trainers on their chances of winning the big race

Friday: 3.30 CheltenhamBoodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade 1) | 3m2½f | 5yo+ | ITV/RTV

Energumene and Shishkin seemed to have copyright on the word 'rematch' in the lead up to the festival, but what about the stablemates who were the first two home in last year's Gold Cup? Won't that rematch be just as spicy?

Even spicier, perhaps, and hopefully it won't end in anticlimactic fashion like Wednesday's big showdown did.

The score at the moment is 1-0 to Minella Indo at Cheltenham after he fended off A Plus Tard in a thrilling tussle 12 months ago, but the market suggests we could have a different outcome this time around.

The reason A Plus Tard has spent most of the winter at the top of the market is down to his breathtaking Betfair Chase success at Haydock in November. A flawless round of jumping saw him gallop 22 lengths clear of Royale Pagaille and it earned him an RPR of 180. If he repeats that, you would imagine he wins.

But he was unable to reach that level back on home soil in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas, where he was picked off late by Galvin after trading at a low of 1.08. You could argue that he was in front sooner than he might have liked, but it was not a poor effort by any stretch of the imagination.

Rachael Blackmore, who went for the wrong one in last year's race, knows that A Plus Tard has a length and a quarter to find on Minella Indo from last year's race. Yet she has stayed loyal. She obviously thinks that form can be reversed. His jumping has certainly been slicker this season.

Speaking about A Plus Tard, Henry de Bromhead said: "He seems to be in really good form and I'm very happy with him. He wasn't beaten far in the race last year and everything has gone well with him this season. It was always the plan to come straight here after the Savills Chase, just like he did last year, and he seems to be in a very good place now.

Minella Indo (right) won the Gold Cup from A Plus Tard last seasonCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

"I know we got a lot of rain on Wednesday but the ground seems to be drying out all the time so it should be fine for him."

Minella Indo has had a strange sort of campaign. The defending champion was third of five behind Frodon in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal on his reappearance and was then pulled-up before three out in the King George after a very lethargic effort. De Bromhead admitted afterwards that he was trying to put a square peg into a round hole.

Then, just as we were beginning to write off a successful defence of his Gold Cup crown, he bounced back to something like his old self at Leopardstown in the Irish Gold Cup. He has a new pilot in Robbie Power and he seemed to have a new lease of life too.

Can he do it again? "I hope he can," replied De Bromhead. "He seems to come alive when he gets to Cheltenham and absolutely loves the place so I'm hoping that will happen again.

"I was delighted with him last time at Leopardstown, that was much more like it, and I've been very happy with him since. He goes there in good form and I'm very happy with him."

When asked to pick between the two, the trainer replied: "I honestly couldn't split them."

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Gordon Elliott: 'There is actually more improvement to come from Galvin'

Davy Russell is 42, apparently, but the fact he is "made of steel" according to Gordon Elliott means he does not act his age at all.

Both are bidding for their second victory in jump racing's most prestigious prize. Russell somehow managed to get there on Lord Windermere in 2014 when for most of the journey it looked more likely that he would pull-up, while Don Cossack did the business for Elliott in 2016 when storming up the hill to deny Djakadam.

The trainer thinks he has every chance of repeating the feat here with a horse who we never expected to be up to this sort of level. According to official ratings, Galvin has improved a stone since the start of the season with his mark soaring from 154 to 168.

Galvin (left) surged home to win the Savills Chase last timeCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Elliott said: "He's just improved and improved throughout the season, it's been unbelievable really. The more questions we keep asking him the more answers he keeps coming up with. He likes his races being spaced out and he's had a lovely campaign.

"He seems to love Cheltenham too, as you saw in last year's National Hunt Chase, and it's possible there is actually more improvement to come from him. He's been working very well and I couldn't be any happier with him going into the race. I'm really looking forward to it."

Russell gets a tune out of Galvin like nobody else can. Their form figures together read 1162F4221111 and he arrives here on the back of a career-best at Leopardstown in the Savills Chase where he ground down A Plus Tard in the final few strides.

That performance earned him an RPR of 175 and puts him right into the Gold Cup mix.

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'He's got all the credentials' – a nation is relying on Protektorat

The mammoth task of keeping the biggest prize of the week at home seems to rest on the broad shoulders of Protektorat – now there is a sentence we did not think we would be saying at the start of the season.

This time last year he had been a beaten odds-on favourite in the three-runner Dipper rerouted to Wincanton and was 41 lengths behind Empire Steel in another three-runner affair at Kelso. He was odds-on there too.

Protektorat was a dominant winner at Aintree when last seenCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

But Protektorat came of age in the Manifesto Novices' Chase at Aintree, staying on strongly to beat The Shunter, a festival winner only a few weeks earlier.

He may have been beaten first time out this season in the Paddy Power off a mark of 154, but so too was Long Run (off 158) and he finished that campaign a Gold Cup winner. It was what happened next that punters latched on to.

Stepping up to 3m1f on soft ground at Aintree, Protektorak tore apart the field for the Many Clouds Chase. He beat a previous Gold Cup winner in Native River by 25 lengths and looked as though there was enough petrol in the tank to go around again. It was deeply impressive.

He has not been seen since, Dan Skelton preferring freshness over match practice, and he comes into the race on the back of a 104-day absence.

Skelton said: "His build-up has been good. We've kept him fresh, which was a deliberate ploy. I feel he will stay, although he's got to prove that. He's got all the credentials, he's just never faced the top-end horses, the likes of A Plus Tard and Minella Indo."

If successful, Protektorat would be the first British-trained winner of the Gold Cup since Native River in 2018. Indeed, Ireland have won five of the last six runnings of the event.

Al Boum out to emulate greats by completing hat-trick

He's done it once. He's done it twice. But asking him to do it thrice might be asking a bit much. Or would it?

Al Boum Photo was not pleasing Willie Mullins when the press arrived for a media morning at Closutton recently. "I’d rather I had him in better order, to be honest," Mullins said with refreshing frankness.

But it seems the two-time Gold Cup winner, who is bidding to emulate the greats like Arkle and Best Mate by winning a third crown, is back catching Mullins' eye and did everything that was asked of him in a recent schooling session at Navan. He wore cheekpieces there and he will have them on him again here.

Al Boum Photo is a two-time Gold Cup winnerCredit: Edward Whitaker

Paul Townend has had an emotional rollercoaster of a week, but how fitting it would be if he ended it with a third Gold Cup win on the horse who he has been through thick and thin with.

"We schooled him in cheekpieces and thought they made him concentrate a bit more. I think he is overpriced and not far behind the other two last year," Townend said.

Speaking in his Ladbrokes blog, he added: "He's not getting any younger, but he has no miles on the clock and I am really looking forward to having another go and trying to regain the Gold Cup on him.

"A Plus Tard and Galvin are so closely matched on Leopardstown. They are the biggest threats. It's hard to read into the British form, obviously I know the Irish form a lot better. There is the unknown with Protektorat but he will give us something to think about, no doubt."

What they say

Harriet Graham, joint-trainer of Aye Right
Obviously he's an outsider but we're looking forward to it, he's very well. I was getting worried the ground could be a bit quick, now we've had the rain it's going to be quite dead tomorrow and that might slow some of them down. Getting round safely is the main aim but running into the top six would be a real achievement.

Nicky Henderson, trainer of Chantry House
He's in good form and it's a very open race. He's got his chance. I don't think the ground will be any worry, he should be all right on it.

Venetia Williams, trainer of Royale Pagaille
He finished lame in the race last year but you don't know how that affected his performance because horses are remarkable in not necessarily feeling things like that at the time. I was happy with his most recent run at Newbury. That race was all about speed and I thought he acquitted himself well. The rain on Wednesday was definitely welcome and if the moisture hangs around in the ground it is going to help us. Everybody keeps telling me it's an open Gold Cup but it never is if you're trying to win it.

Polly Gundry, trainer of Santini
It's really quite exciting – although there's a fine line between exciting and nerve-racking! He's as good as I can have him and also 15-plus kilos lighter than when he finished second on Trials day. He's done some really good work and schooling since then and I'm hopeful he could run as well as he did when second two years ago.

Danny Mullins, rider of Tornado Flyer
It's a very competitive race, but he's going in there with a solid each-way chance. He hit the line very well at Kempton and the fact that run came on slower ground would suggest he's got a good chance of seeing out the Gold Cup trip. He's not short of a bit of class.

Friday's Cheltenham Festival previews:

1.30 Cheltenham: who will come out on top between star juveniles Pied Piper and Vauban?

2.10 Cheltenham: 'He's got a big chance' - who fancies their chances in a red-hot County Hurdle?

2.50 Cheltenham: 'He's got the class and the form' - leading Albert Bartlett quotes and insight

4.10 Cheltenham: which trainer is taking the best horse he's ever brought to Cheltenham?

4.50 Cheltenham: Willie Mullins once again has good reason to be hopeful about the mares' chase

5.30 Cheltenham: 'He'll run a huge race' - is there a dark horse lurking in the Martin Pipe?

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