Sunday 15th November 2015

Annacotty won the Paddy Power Gold Cup on his first start for trainer Alan King, a standing start isn’t ideal for such a race as quite a few of the horses that wanted to be up with the pace missed the kick, however it’s the same for all I suppose.

Stamina won the day for Annacotty who was given a lovely ride by Ian Popham, a proven three miler beforehand Annacotty raced in mid-division and looked beaten 4 out but the likeable jockey got a great tune out of the horse and he held on gamely.

The conditions at Cheltenham looked hard work yesterday, the ground was testing and it’s going to be the same today.

We’re at Cheltenham this afternoon with Ebony Express who runs in the £100,000 Greatwood Hurdle. It’s a fierce race that will take a lot of winning, Nabucco could be anything, Waxies Dargel could have loads more to come whilst Renneti must also be feared.

Ebony Express has earned his right to have a go in such a contest and he’s ready to run. The ground will be ok for him but we wouldn’t want it sticky & holding. Ebony has done plenty of work at home and won’t lose through lack of fitness. The question mark is going left handed and is he good enough for this type of race off a rating of 137? We’ll wait and see.

Whatever the result it’s a great way to start the season at Cheltenham in such a high profile race. I and Ebony's owners are very much looking forward to the day.

As for the other races, it will be interesting to see how Sprinter Sacre gets on if allowed to line up on soft ground. The Arkle trial at 1:35 looks a decent event as does the Supreme trial with the exciting Maputo.