Kandoo Kid has plenty going for him in the Coral Gold Cup, but evidence shows things are not quite what they used to be

Even the second-best handicap chase in the world has not proved immune to the tangible weakening of the best races in Britain this autumn, yet many of the laments about this year's Coral Gold Cup are unfair. 

No, there is no Denman or Bobs Worth. It has been nearly a decade now since there was, and even then it took Native River 15 months to win his Gold Cup. More worrying is the second-smallest field, and joint-lowest total of runners rated 150 or higher (three) in the last decade. 

Numbers tell you so much, but the horses tell you more. Looking at the field, this could still be the strongest handicap chase run in Britain before the spring. A case can be made for almost all the runners, without feeling that you are doing so out of politeness. Veterans and outsiders Sam Brown and Remastered both come here in form and on good marks. Horses a couple of years younger with identical recent profiles would be more like 12-1 than 25s bar.