'Coole Cody will work it out' - Williams backs Racing Post Gold Cup hope

Coole Cody, a likely leading player in Saturday's Racing Post Gold Cup at Cheltenham, had his "unconventional" style of jumping backed fully on Tuesday when trainer Evan Williams defied anyone to find a tougher horse than his ten-year-old.

Owned by Wayne Clifford, Coole Cody was impressive in last year's Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham and looked a big danger in the 2021 race four weeks ago only to fall two out.

He is a general 10-1 to make amends on Saturday when his rivals are set to include the fancied Lalor and Paddy Power Gold Cup winner Midnight Shadow, who was the main beneficiary of his rival's fall in the Paddy Power.

Paddy Power Gold Cup replay

"I'm never one of those to predict things and at the end of the day if you don't jump, you don't win – good luck to the winner is what I say," Williams said.

"I'm pretty keen to run this weekend and can't see any reason why we wouldn't. He'll have a school in the morning and that'll tell us where we are. He has his own technique of jumping and it's unconventional. There's no doubting that and he gets away with things, but didn't that day.

"He normally works it out. He didn't work it out last time, but I'm sure he knows more about jumping than you or me. Not a lot bothers Coole Cody though. He's a tough, genuine horse – they don't come much tougher."

Coole Cody was a well-beaten sixth in last year's race off a mark of 143, the rating he was raised 2lb back up to despite his fall.

"I don't even worry about things like that," added the trainer. "The handicapper does what he does and he obviously thought we'd be involved in the finish in the Paddy Power. That's his view and he's done his job, and I'll do mine."

Adam Wedge: Coole Cody's riderCredit: Harry Trump / Getty Images

Williams' stable jockey Adam Wedge is set to be aboard Coole Cody even though he has ridden the Rucker family's Fergal O'Brien-trained Silver Hallmark – as short as 5-1 second-favourite with Paddy Power and Betfair for the Grade 3 – in four of his last five starts.

The owners have the majority of their string with Williams, who said: "I've just spoken to Mr and Mrs Rucker, who have been wonderful people to me. They said there'd be no issues and they'd find somebody else for their horse if I wanted Wedgey for my horse."

A jockey will not be needed for Adagio, who had been a leading contender for the Unibet International Hurdle on the card, but will not run after what trainer David Pipe described as a "slight setback".

The ground at Cheltenham, which also races on Friday, was described on Tuesday as good to soft, good in places.

Jon Pullin, its new clerk of the course following the departure of Simon Claisse after 22 years tending to the track, said: "We've had 8mm of rain today and we've had strong winds throughout the day, although they've blown through now and we have more settled weather. There's no more rain forecast of any significance today, although potentially there's the odd shower tomorrow.

"There's nothing now of significant volume before racing though. We held off watering last week on the basis we wanted to see what rain we may get this week, and thankfully we've had what was forecast, which has put us into a nice position going into the weekend.

"I'm really looking forward to the meeting and getting started. I can't wait."

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