Coral Gold Cup ante-post tip: follow the form with 20-1 Closutton runner

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Nic Doggett has had his head in the form book as he looks ahead to the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury at the end of November.

The standing start of last year's renewal of the Coral Gold Cup – which this year takes place at 3pm on Saturday 28 November - was something of a shambles, with Gorgeous Tom, Pic Roc and Katate Dori amongst those who were almost left standing, yet the fact that they finished fourth, fifth and sixth further underlines that this is a race that leaves no stone unturned in terms of stamina reserves; you have to jump well and gallop strongly if you're to win this.  

It's a shame that none of that trio are back for another crack, but one who might be is last year's winner Panic Attack, though she missed her recent return at Carlisle so that might be in the balance. 

What isn't in doubt, however, is that her trainer Dan Skelton – who has now won two of the last four renewals - will have a well-punted runner (or two) in the race. At the time of writing, Mr Hope Street (who ran over an inadequate trip when a solid third on his reappearance at Stratford last month) is the shortest in the market, and he has a very solid profile for the race, but it wouldn't surprise me to see a plunge on Here Comes Georgie who beat Katate Dori on his stable debut at Cheltenham last month and his mark of 130 is surely not his limit now upped in trip. Along with Montregard, he's declared for Aintree on Friday. 

Favourite Wendigo ran in the Mildmay Novices' Chase at Aintree last season along with Miami Magic (fell when looking beaten, hadn't jumped well prior to that), Salver (third, quite interesting here after a pipe-opening run on the Flat at Nottingham) and Regent's Stroll (second, yet to convince me this will be his ideal trip),  

Wendigo made a very pleasing return when winning at Carlisle the other day, and his unchanged mark looks slightly more appealing than that of Salver (3lb higher on 150), however, it must be pointed out that he and Doyen Quest didn't cut each other's throats out in front in the north-west and this will put more pressure on his jumping.  

On that subject, Myretown – last year's 4-1 favourite when falling at the ninth – defied a sizable mistake when winning recently at Kelso. That earned him a 5 lb rise back to last year's mark, which I think is fair, but his jumping is still a big worry.  

The Ultima at Cheltenham featured several horses prominent in the ante-post betting

In contrast, a mark of 141 for Quebecois still looks well within range given how well he ran in the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival from just 2 lb lower. He's yet to win over fences but this sort of test looks much more suitable than the 2m5f small-runner event he was second in at Newton Abbot on his return last month, however it looks like connections think the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham is a better fit; Alex Scott agrees, but I'm not so sure, so he will have to stay on my shortlist for 3m+ races later in the year. 

The Jukebox Kid is also very high on that list, but I'm just a little worried that a race of this nature might be overfacing him after just seven starts under rules. He has had wind surgery since pulling up in the Irish Grand National in April, so is worth plenty of respect (his Ascot beating of Montregard is solid form), but he didn't fare anything like as well as Miami Magic - who was a battling second having been very well backed - over hurdles at Newbury on Thursday.

Willie Mullins (Total Recall in 2017) was the last Irish trainer to win this, and his ROAD TO HOME could be a very interesting contender this year. He ran some good races in defeat last season (including here in December) - most notably when second in the Kim Muir at Cheltenham and third in the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown – and then broke his duck over fences in good style at Galway last month.  

That beginners' chase was over a trip short of his optimum but has been franked by both the runner-up Karl Des Tourelles and fifth Chart Topper who have won since, while the fourth Some Song has also run well in defeat. Road To Home's updated mark of 140 looks workable and I'm hopeful he will run here given how often he has visited in the past (half of last 10 starts over here, same ownership – Peter Davies – as Djelo et al). He's the best each-way bet at a general 20-1. 

Brian Hayes spoke to Racing TV - and mentioned this race - after Road To Home's Galway win

I've deliberately not mentioned the JP McManus pair yet – Iroko and Jagwar – mainly because it's very hard to work out if either will run. The race looks a fine fit for both, but spring targets are always at the back of the mind, and each has reappeared over much shorter for the past two seasons (the same Haydock race twice in Iroko's case). 

This test should suit the NH Chase winner Holloway Queen, but she seemed to come to hand later in the campaign last season and connections still believe that she is best on testing ground. Unless it came up soft, I'm not sure it would be seen as an ideal first assignment back from her break. 

Ante-post selections

Coral Gold Cup Handicap Chase

ROAD TO HOME each-way at 20-1 (general)

Nic Doggett

Road To Home

15:00 Newbury

J:

T:

W P Mullins

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