Gold Cup second Minella Rocco enters hunter chase sphere at Warwick

Former Gold Cup runner-up Minella Rocco takes a big drop in class when he meets three rivals in the Schiaparelli Willoughby De Broke Open Hunters' Chase at Warwick on Wednesday.

Jockey Aine O'Connor has ridden regularly for owner JP McManus, but she will be having her first ride for Jonjo O'Neill and is thrilled at the prospect of partnering a horse with such a distinguished record.

She said: "It's an honour to be asked to ride a horse like Minella Rocco. Opportunities like this don't come around too often, and I'm really looking forward to it.

"Unfortunately I haven't had an opportunity to school him and I'll just be flying in and then flying back out again, but I've been quite lucky for JP as I've had 13 or 14 winners for him, including Edwulf and On The Fringe in point-to-points last year. I'm being spoiled rotten in getting to ride all of these famous horses."

Amateur Aine O'Connor: 'honoured' to be asked to ride Minella RoccoCredit: Patrick McCann

Minella Rocco beat subsequent Gold Cup winner Native River in the 2016 National Hunt Chase, but has not been placed in 11 outings since his two-and-three-quarter-length second to Sizing John in the Gold Cup 12 months later.

He was pulled up four times in succession before finishing down the field behind Militarian off 142 in an Ascot handicap when last seen in November.

Wednesday's race had been pencilled in for last year's winner Hazel Hill, who went on to land the Foxhunter at Cheltenham, but in his absence Minella Rocco may have most to fear from the Paul Nicholls-trained ex-French nine-year-old Bob And Co, who is rated 150 and will be ridden by his owner David Maxwell.

O'Connor, sister-in-law to Harry Fry, hopes the easier task in a small field might just be what Minella Rocco needs. "Hunter chasing might just spark something up in him. I'm hoping so," she said.

Watch Minella Rocco's finest hour in the National Hunt Chase

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