It’s the one sponsored by the green firm from across the water, so we’ll just call it the 14:20.
Dan Skelton’s Protektorat 10/1 is the class horse in the race and tops the weights after his outstanding Ryanair win here at the Festival. He now finds himself in a handicap with 12 stone on his back, and based on that others make more appeal.
One of those ‘others’ is Lets Go Champ 9/1 for Henry De Bromhead. This promising nine-year-old comes here off a respectable showing in the always manic Galway Plate. His previous run was a win at Punchestown where he beat his 16 rivals into submission over 2 mile 4. It goes without saying that his trainer has an excellent record at Cheltenham and carrying 10 stone 2 on ground predicted to be good will provide ideal conditions for this consistent Irish Raider.
Another for the shortlist is Imagine 5/1, who is having his first run for Harry Derham since moving out of Gordon Elliot’s yard as part of the Andy and Gemma Brown dispersal earlier this year. This six-year-old disappointed on his last run in Ireland after a promising 2023 campaign where he finished in the frame in the Martin Pipe and at the Punchestown Festival in big fields. With two wins from his first three starts over fences it’s certainly worth ignoring his previous run, even if the current 5/1 looks slim in such a competitive race.