Gidleigh Park likely to swerve Paddy Power Gold Cup

Harry Fry may be leaning against sending Gidleigh Park for the Paddy Power Gold Cup, but the talented chaser could still feature at Cheltenham’s November meeting, with the Shloer Chase among the races under consideration

Always held in the highest regard, the five-time winner has won Grade Two events over both hurdles and fences, proving versatile in terms of distance and capable of mixing it with the best around when at his peak.

The eight-year-old is 20-1 with the sponsors for the feature handicap chase of Prestbury Park’s three-day meeting, but Fry is preparing to swerve handicap company on his first outing of the new campaign.

That brings the Grade Two Shloer Chase into calculations, but the five-time winner also holds an entry for Carlisle’s two-mile Weatherbys nhstallions.co.uk Graduation Chase on Monday, a race that has also attracted the attention of Nicky Henderson and his Supreme Novices’ Hurdle hero Old Park Star.

Assessing his options, Fry said: “Gidleigh is in very good form with himself at home and he’s obviously not the most straightforward to train having suffered from intermittent atrial fibrillation, but we’ve been very happy with how he’s been going this autumn.

“He’s got his entry in the Paddy Power Gold Cup but he’s also in the graduation chase at Carlisle on Monday and I’ll probably also enter him in the Shloer Chase as well because we’re just looking for somewhere to get his season started on some nice ground and then build the campaign from there.

“Last year he started the season well at Ascot and then struggled, but when he’s right and on a going day he’s very talented and we’re very much looking forward to getting him out and getting his season under way.

“I think it will be one of the conditions races over the Paddy Power, where he will have top-weight. He’s in the Hurst Park at Ascot the following week as well and again he would have top-weight. We’ve given ourselves options but I would say he’s most likely to run in one of the non-handicap races.”