Put the title story to one side and there is value to be found in the bet365 Gold Cup

An analytical look at the bet365 Gold Cup should be far from the madding crowd of 'narratives' and 'good for the sport'. This is the crossword page, where a chunk of racing's audience gathers in quiet study with only one question: what's going to win?

But there is no clean escape. Because of the Willie Mullins assault, this race does not look like it normally does. It does not even look like the 2024 running, when the trainers' title was on the line but Mullins ran three rather than ten.

Trends bettors are unlikely to be the only ones flummoxed. I use perceived intent a lot when figuring out why a horse is in a certain race. Going through this field, and answering that question with 'their trainer is scrambling for the title' multiple times does not take me very far in my search.