AIS December Gold Cup |
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| Handicap Chase, Cheltenham 13:50 Grade 3, £130,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 2m 4f 127y, Class 1  |
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📣 RACING ABANDONED pic.twitter.com/eeFYim6TA0
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) December 10, 2022
Stolen Silver will be looking for Cheltenham redemption as he heads the 15 declared.
Sam Thomas’ charge was sent off the 4-1 favourite for the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Prestbury Park last month and was not without a chance in a race won by Jamie Snowden’s Ga Law when unseating Sam Twiston-Davies three out.
Twiston-Davies will be onboard once again as Stolen Silver competes off the same mark of 150, but he must shoulder top weight on this occasion.
Paddy Power Gold Cup fourth Il Ridoto is disputing matters with Stolen Silver at the top of the market as he looks to enhance Paul Nicholls’ fine record in the race, while Deyrann De Carjac (fifth), Simply The Betts (seventh) and Storm Control (eighth) are others looking to better their most recent efforts.
However both Storm Control and Kauto Riko also hold an engagement at Doncaster which is their stated first preference.
War Lord steps up in trip for Joe Tizzard having finished a staying on third in the Haldon Gold Cup on his reappearance with Market Rasen scorer Fantastic Lady and Venetia Williams’ Frero Banbou others with leading claims.
The race will be without ante-post favourite Midnight River, though, with the seven-year-old not appearing amongst the final field on Thursday morning.
Dan Skelton had previously issued a warning about the ground being on the quick side and the handler is not willing to take any chances this time around, preferring to wait for the £100,000 Paddy Power New Year’s Day Handicap Chase at the track.
He said: “We want it (the ground) to be a good bit softer than it was in November and even though it probably will be a bit softer, I want to see it properly good to soft. So he’s going to go (to Cheltenham) on New Year’s Day.”
AIS December Gold Cup
£130,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 2m 4f 127y, Class 1
15 runners
Going: Good
1 4341-U Stolen Silver 7 12-0 Sam Thomas Sam Twiston-Davies
2 P252-7 Simply The Betts 9 11-13 Paul Nicholls Mr David Maxwell
3 2142-3 War Lord 7 11-12 Joe Tizzard Brendan Powell
4 2243-3 Cheddleton 7 11-10 Jennie Candlish Sean Quinlan
5 126333 Sole Pretender 8 11-9 Norman Lee Michael O'Sullivan
6 239-24 Frero Banbou 7 11-5 Venetia Williams Charlie Deutsch
7 252-21 Fern Hill 7 11-4 Ben Case Jack Quinlan
8 113U-1 Fantastic Lady 7 11-4 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville
9 P383-4 Il Ridoto 5 11-3 Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden
10 453-U5 Kauto Riko 11 10-12 Tom Gretton David Noonan
11 1448-2 Fugitif 7 10-11 Richard Hobson Kielan Woods
12 42-496 Jacamar 7 10-10 Milton Harris Jonathan Burke
13 /332-3 Coconut Splash 7 10-10 Evan Williams Adam Wedge
14 PP-358 Storm Control 9 10-10 Kerry Lee Richard Patrick
15 F36-25 Deyrann De Carjac 9 10-6 Alan King Tom Cannon
