Grands Crus may run in Cheltenham Gold Cup

David Pipe dropped strong hints on Thursday night that Grands Crus would run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup if Kauto Star were to miss the race through injury. The trainer was speaking at a Cheltenham Festival preview event at Wincanton racecourse where he shared the panel with Paul Nicholls, trainer of Kauto Star. Grands Crus is a novice chaser and therefore expected to run against other novices in the RSA Chase for which he would start a hot favourite. But his connections have been mulling over a possible attempt on the Gold Cup for some time, with one of his owners being enthusiastic about the idea while Pipe has remained cool towards it. Pipe is known for keeping his options open, as his father, Martin, was before him, and teased the audience with several noncomittal statements like: "Everything is very much up in the air at present". He said Grands Crus was likely to be left in both races at the five-day entry stage and a decision left until as late as possible. But, when pressed by the chair, Alice Plunkett, Pipe gave a couple of broad hints that the Gold Cup would be the target if Nicholls' chaser were to miss it. "If Kauto Star goes out of the race, he's the second-favourite. What would you do?" he asked Pipe showed little fear of last year's Gold Cup winner, Long Run, suggesting he was "perhaps a little bit lazy now". Grands Crus' regular jockey, Tom Scudamore, rode a beaten horse in Long Run's recent prep race and was not impressed, apparently. Pipe reported that the rider was "confident" he could have won the race on Grands Crus. The Grand National is the main aim for Pipe's Junior but the trainer said this horse might also attempt to profit from Kauto Star's absence en route to Aintree. "I've got to speak to his owners because they might want to go for the Gold Cup now," he said. Nicholls showed a similar lack of fear of Long Run, saying; "I'm not convinced he's trained on this year. He had a lot of races in France when he was three and four years old. If Kauto Star doesn't run, it's quite an open Gold Cup." The champion trainer suggested that Burton Port, second to Long Run at Newbury recently, could have won under a more vigorous ride and alluded to the fact that both are trained by Nicky Henderson. To rumbles of approval from the audience, he said: "If anyone else had trained Burton Port, he would have gone past Long Run". Nicholls still hopes to run What A Friend and said he was a "massive" price for the Gold Cup at 40-1. Third behind Long Run and Burton Port, he "will improve enormously for the run. He's definitely got place chances". There was good news from Nicholls about his Champion Hurdle favourite, Zarkandar, who is recovering from a recent bout of coughing. "He worked well yesterday [on Wednesday] and had an easy day today. He was mad fresh, I was really pleased with him." Nicholls took issue with those who suggest Zarkandar might have been beaten by Darlan in his most recent race if that rival had not fallen at the second last. Calling Darlan "a bridle horse", he said: "Just because they travel well, it doesn't mean they win. Ruby [Walsh] was fairly adamant that he'd have won anyway. He must have been some horse to win and then start coughing." He said the cough did not mean the horse had been sick, just that he had suffered "an irritant". Of his other Champion Hurdle runners, Nicholls said that Rock On Ruby had pleased him in a gallop at Wincanton 10 days ago but that Celestial Halo had "an enormous task". While positive about Brampour, he noted the horse had an alternative engagement in the County Hurdle. Nicholls offered encouraging words about Big Bucks, the odds-on favourite for the World Hurdle. "He'll be a lot tighter than the last day he ran. Oscar Whisky is the one to beat and he's a very worthy and interesting opponent. He might stay but you've really got to be staying on from the last hurdle to the winning post and that's what seems to be Big Buck's' strength. He looks like he might be in trouble but he keeps on going. Touch wood, he seems in good shape." Also on the panel was the jockey Joe Tizzard who is heavily involved with the Dorset stable of his father, Colin. He reported that Cue Card, the fourth favourite for the Arkle Challenge Trophy, had galloped around Wincanton on Tuesday with Oiseau De Nuit, who won at last year's Festival. "He flew round," Tizzard said, "and he made Oiseau De Nuit look very, very moderate. I have to go into the race confident. I'm going to bounce him out, ride him confidently and we'll see if Sprinter Sacre [the favourite] does come up the hill." "The only thing that worries me is that I might set the race up for Al Ferof," he said in reference to a horse Nicholls trains, who won last year's Supreme Novice Hurdle when Cue Card was fourth. Several of those on the panel noted that Peddlers Cross, who had been second favourite for the Arkle, had drifted on Betfair for the race while shortening for the Jewson Novices Chase suggesting that connections may have decided to aim at the latter race.