A race for the ages: the Gold Cup is the contest the sport hangs its hat on and this one looks to have it all

As an exhilarating week that's had a bit of everything soars to a crescendo it is apt that proceedings should come to a riveting climax with a Boodles Gold Cup that seems to have it all.

The 2023 Cheltenham Festival burst into life with a Tuesday that had us at 'hello' and the Cotswolds has not let us out of its warm embrace since. Still, such is the lustre of the Gold Cup that even after all that's gone it is hard to shake the sense that everything has been a mere prelude to what is about to unfold.

This is the championship race the game hangs its hat on – and this is a line-up that is suitably stacked. In A Plus Tard and Minella Indo, we have the last two Gold Cup heroes duelling for a third time in the race as Henry de Bromhead strives to emulate some of racing's most illustrious names by completing a hat-trick. Honeysuckle's glorious swansong will be hard to top, but it would represent another exquisite training performance were De Bromhead to conjure a victory here.