Ante-post favourite Spiritofthegames is among 42 entries revealed today for the G3 BetVictor Gold Cup, the highlight of The November Meeting at Cheltenham on Saturday, 16 November.

Run over two and a half miles, the BetVictor Gold Cup is one of the most coveted handicap chases of the season and carries a total prize fund of £160,000.

Spiritofthegames is the market leader with BetVictor. Trained by Dan Skelton, the seven-year-old captured a Listed novices' chase at Chepstow on his first start last season before finishing third in a pair of handicap chases at Cheltenham later in the campaign.

The latest of those efforts at the Home of Jump Racing saw Spiritofthegames take third behind Siruh du Lac (Nick Williams) in the G3 Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate Handicap Chase at The Festival™ presented by Magners.

Spiritofthegames has not raced since finishing fifth behind Kalashnikov (Amy Murphy) in the G1 Devenish Manifesto Novices' Chase at Aintree's Randox Health Grand National Festival in April.

Siruh du Lac was one of the most improved chasers in training last season and, prior to his triumph at The Festival™ under Lizzie Kelly, had registered handicap wins at Newbury, Exeter and Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day.

Trainer Nick Williams said of the six-year-old: "All is fine with Siruh du Lac.

"He is ticking over nicely, there have been no issues, and the plan is to go for the BetVictor Gold Cup.

"I guess at the beginning of last season it would have been hard to envisage the rate of improvement he showed, but he has always been a horse with lots of potential.

"He is a young horse who loves jumping fences and I think the confidence he has was a big part of his progress last season.

"I would like to think he can pick up from where he left off. That is the idea anyway."

The class act among the entries is Aso (Venetia Williams) with an official rating of 168. Aso posted a career-best on his latest start when second to last year's BetVictor Gold Cup runner-up Frodon in the G1 Ryanair Chase at The Festival™.

Nigel Twiston-Davies has trained four winners of the BetVictor Gold Cup, including 2017 victor Splash Of Ginge, who could line up again. Twiston-Davies has also engaged course and distance scorer Count Meribel.

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has two BetVictor Gold Cups to his name and the Somerset handler has five entries, the joint-most alongside his great rival Nicky Henderson.

Nicholls' quintet features Galway Plate second Black Corton and Brelan d'As, one of three entries for owner J P McManus, while Henderson's team is led by Janika, who finished second to Siruh du Lac at The Festival™.

Colin Tizzard, chasing a first BetVictor Gold Cup, appears to have two live contenders in Slate House, a facile winner in novice company at The Showcase last weekend, and White Moon.

The three Irish-trained entries are The West's Awake (Edward O'Grady), Us And Them (Joseph O'Brien), who finished second in four G1 novices' chases last season, and Articulum (Terence O'Brien).

There have been three Irish-trained winners of the BetVictor Gold Cup, the most recent being the Edward O'Grady-trained Tranquil Sea in 2009.

Weights for the BetVictor Gold Cup will be announced at noon on Wednesday, 6 November.

Sam Boswell of BetVictor commented: "We are thrilled to have so many classy entries for the 2019 renewal of the BetVictor Gold Cup. For many, this race is seen as the Jumps season opener and we, like the racing public, are looking forward to watching it all unfold on 16 November.

"Our ante-post market has been popular with customers, with a few names already making moves. Dan Skelton currently has the ante-post favourite Spiritofthegames. The recent Cheltenham winner Slate House entered the betting at 33/1 and, prior to that victory, had already been well supported to make it back-to-back victories at Prestbury Park.

"We are delighted to offer five places to our customers ahead of the big race."

The November Meeting is Cheltenham's biggest meeting outside of The Festival and takes place over three days from Friday, 15 November and Sunday, 17 November.

A full list of odds for the BetVictor Gold Cup will be available later today at www.BetVictor.com

The BetVictor Gold Cup

Grade 3 handicap chase, £160,000 total prize fund. Cheltenham, Saturday, 16 November. Two miles, four furlongs (2m 4f 44y). For four-year-olds and upwards. Penalties: after November 3, a winner of a chase 5lb. Entries closed October 29, entries revealed October 30 (42 entries). Weights revealed November 6. Five-day confirmation stage November 11, final declarations November 14. Maximum field size 20 runners plus 2 reserves.

Horse	Age	Owner	Trainer
Articulum (IRE)	9	Martin McDonagh/Paul Murphy/M Nixon	Terence O'Brien IRE
Aso (FR)	9	The Bellamy Partnership	Venetia Williams
Belami des Pictons (FR)	8	Hills of Ledbury (Aga)	Venetia Williams
Black Corton (FR)	8	The Brooks Family & J Kyle	Paul Nicholls
Brelan d'As (FR)	8	J P McManus	Paul Nicholls
Capeland (FR)	7	Mrs Kathy Stuart	Paul Nicholls
Casablanca Mix (FR)	7	E R Hanbury	Nicky Henderson
Cepage (FR)	7	The Bellamy Partnership	Venetia Williams
Charmant (FR)	7	A Phillips & Mr&Mrs Sperling	James Ewart
Count Meribel	7	Charles C Walker	Nigel Twiston-Davies
Dead Right	7	J P McManus	Neil Mulholland
Dell Oro (FR)	6	Galloping On The South Downs Partnership	Gary Moore
Demi Sang (FR)	6	J P McManus	Ben Haslam
Eamon An Cnoic (IRE)	8	The Angove Family	David Pipe
Go Long (IRE)	9	William & Angela Rucker	Evan Williams
Gold Present (IRE)	9	John & Barbara Cotton	Nicky Henderson
Got Away (FR)	6	B McDonald and B Mellon	Oliver Sherwood
Guitar Pete (IRE)	9	Mrs Pat Sloan	Nicky Richards
Happy Diva (IRE)	8	Will Roseff	Kerry Lee
Highway One O One (IRE)	7	Anthony Ward-Thomas	Chris Gordon
Janika (FR)	6	Simon Munir & Isaac Souede	Nicky Henderson
Kalashnikov (IRE)	6	Paul Murphy	Amy Murphy
Knocknanuss (IRE)	9	Hail Sargent Evans	Gary Moore
Magic Saint (FR)	5	John & Barbara Cotton	Paul Nicholls
Mercian Prince (IRE)	8	Paul Murphy	Amy Murphy
O O Seven (IRE)	9	Christopher Hanbury	Nicky Henderson
Potterman	6	James & Jean Potter Ltd	Alan King
Royal Village (IRE)	7	R Triple H	Ian Williams
Saint Calvados (FR)	6	Kate & Andrew Brooks	Harry Whittington
Secret Investor	7	Hills of Ledbury (Aga)	Paul Nicholls
Siruh du Lac (FR)	6	John White & Anne Underhill	Nick Williams
Sky Pirate	6	Lady Bamford & Alice Bamford	Jonjo O'Neill
Slate House (IRE)	7	Eric Jones, Geoff Nicholas, John Romans	Colin Tizzard
Spiritofthegames (IRE)	7	N W Lake	Dan Skelton
Splash of Ginge	11	J D Neild	Nigel Twiston-Davies
Springtown Lake (IRE)	7	Tim Syder	Philip Hobbs
The West's Awake (IRE)	8	Sue Magnier	Edward O'Grady IRE
Us And Them (IRE)	6	Burnham P & D Ltd	Joseph O'Brien IRE
Warthog (FR)	7	Professor Caroline Tisdall & Bryan Drew	David Pipe
Western Miller (IRE)	8	The Pantechnicons IV	Charlie Longsdon
Whatswrongwithyou (IRE)	8	5 Hertford Street Racing Club	Nicky Henderson
White Moon (GER)	7	Brocade Racing	Colin Tizzard

 

42 entries

3 Irish-trained