Broadway Boy out to give excellent Coral Gold Cup another boost in competitive handicap chase

A field of five is undoubtedly less than you would like to see for a Cheltenham handicap. It is the third such field in the last decade, with one of the other examples being last year. And, at the risk of labouring the point, this time of year is overly well served with good staying handicap chases.

Three of the five runners have already contested more prestigious handicaps in the last five weeks. Broadway Boy was second in the Coral Gold Cup. Our Power chased home King Turgeon in a Premier handicap at the December meeting here. Bowtogreatness added to his Jekyll and Hyde profile in the Rehearsal Chase last time, blowing out when among the market leaders.

The other two runners have an even greater pedigree. Cloudy Glen won the Coral Gold Cup in 2021. Chantry House has won two Grade 1s and the Cotswold Chase over this course and distance. Cloudy Glen arrives here as the one in form. He won in veterans' company at Haydock four weeks ago, whereas Chantry House has not run over fences since 2022 and has not won since.

Broadway Boy is hard to argue with as favourite. His efforts in the Coral Gold Cup were not far off heroic and he has won a Premier handicap over a near-identical course and distance. He goes from the front too, and it is unlikely any of his four rivals will take him on.

It is more open behind him than the market suggests. Our Power was aimed at the December meeting and is a bounce candidate, while Cloudy Glen has always done his best work fresh. Bowtogreatness seemed to suit a smaller field when winning at Newbury recently, while it hardly needs spelling out how well handicapped Chantry House is off a mark in the 140s. There might only be five runners, but they are all genuine contenders.
Race analysis by Keith Melrose

What they say

Nigel Twiston-Davies, trainer of Broadway Boy
All has been smashing with him since Newbury and he's in good form. It's nice there are only five runners and hopefully he's still well handicapped.

Nicky Henderson, trainer of Chantry House
He's a good old soldier and he's been around here before, so he knows what he's doing. He's in good form and he seems very happy.

Cloudy Glen and Charlie Deutsch changed the top of the Tote Ten To Follow leaderboard with their Ladbrokes Trophy victory at Newbury

Cloudy Glen: will handle rain-softened groundCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Venetia Williams, trainer of Cloudy Glen
He wouldn’t mind any rain that falls. He’s been placed several times at Cheltenham without winning, so hopefully he can put in another good display at the track.

Sam Thomas, trainer of Our Power
I hope it won't come too soon after last time. It's a nice little race again, there aren't loads of runners, so a repeat effort should put him in with a good shout.

Ben Pauling, trainer of Bowtogreatness
It's a proper race. He's in very good order. He'll need to be at his best to win it, but I think he might be. He's still well handicapped but he's not an easy one to follow. Newcastle was a disaster as he was taken on for the lead and he ran with the choke out for two miles. Hopefully he'll be able to get into a better rhythm and put up a good performance. The rain won't bother him.

Read the rest of Saturday's previews:

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