Iceo gets Chris Giles in festival spirit with Imperial Cup success

It is that time of year when all jumps owners are praying their luck is in and the omens heading into Cheltenham Festival week could not be much better for Chris Giles after the Paul Nicholls-trained Iceo spearheaded a big-race double with an authoritative win in the Betfair Imperial Cup.

Giles has a small but select team for the festival in Greaneteen, Il Ridoto and Stay Away Fay and things went from good after Crambo carried his pink and purple silks to victory in EBF Betfair National Hunt Novices' Handicap Hurdle Final to absolutely fabulous thanks to Iceo's three-and-three-quarter-length win over Knickerbockerglory in the £100,000 feature.

"It's fantastic to do it at Sandown, which is my favourite track," said a delighted Giles, who admitted to having nibbled away at the prices for both his winners during the past seven days. "It was a great plan by the trainer with Iceo after his run at Sandown last time and it's nice to see a plan succeed. 

"He's a big lad and definitely a chaser in the making. I was delighted to see the rain and he's just beginning to grow up."

The winner has entries in the Cheltenham McCoy Contractors County Hurdle and Martin Pipe next week but, with no bonus for following up success in the Imperial Cup with a win at the festival this season, it sounded like he would not be joining team Giles next week.

"Harry Cobden said he had a hell of a hard race and I'd probably say not, because today was always the plan," said Nicholls. "It can come too soon and we might just wait for the Scottish Champion Hurdle and hope it's soft. If not we'll leave him and go novice chasing in the autumn." 

Nicholls and Cobden were enjoying their second win in the race after Malaya's victory four years ago and the trainer said he was confident heading into the race. 

"I was hoping he'd win," said Nicholls. "He ran very well here two months ago having been off for a year with a tiny fracture in the front of his cannonbone and he has several screws in there. We had to give him time and he needed that first run back.

"I said to Chris then the one race we're going to aim for is the Imperial Cup and pray it rains and the rain came for him. He stayed strong and he got a perfect ride."

Giles said the double gave him a bit of added confidence, and betting funds, heading into the biggest week in jump racing, and is confident there are "no social runners" among his Cheltenham trio. 

"I'm most nervous about Stay Away Fay because he's a future chaser for us and an expensive horse," said Giles. "I don't think we've seen the best of him this season and think he's got a great chance in the Albert Bartlett. 

"I love Greaneteen. He loves it at Sandown but I don't think he's a horse just for a right-handed course and I think he can go well in the Champion Chase. He's A1 and we think he's ready for it. He's won three Grade 1s and we'll know on Wednesday night if he's been underestimated. 

"Then we've got Il Ridoto for Ged Mason and the crew. He's nice but the Plate is competitive too and you could go to Cheltenham with good horses and not get a place." 

Dan Skelton will be hoping for a little more luck next week after saddling not only runner-up Knickerbockerglory but also third-home Playful Saint. Both have engagements at the festival but their trainer said neither will be running. 

"I thought it was a great run from Knickerbockerglory and Bridget [Andrews] almost pinched it," he said. "He wants similar conditions again and races like the conditional riders' race at Aintree and Scottish Champion Hurdle if it bucketed down would come under consideration. And he wouldn't be a zillion to one if Plumpton got some rain for the Sussex Champion Hurdle. 

"Unless we got horrendous ground I think Playful Saint now needs to take a step up to two and a half miles now. He'll have one more run this season before we go chasing next season."

Read these next:

Star novice The Real Whacker kept in Gold Cup contention as big guns stand their ground  

'If we get what's in the forecast, it will certainly be soft ground' - Cheltenham clerk Jon Pullin  

Introducing our brilliant Cheltenham Festival team - get full access now with 50% off for three months 

Sign up here. 18+. New UK+IRE customers only. Certain deposit methods and bet types excluded. Minimum first £/€5 bet within 14 days of account reg at minimum odds 1/2 to get 4x £/€5 free bets. Free bets available to use on selected sportsbook markets only. Free bets valid for seven days. Stake not returned. Restrictions and T&Cs apply. Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators that our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing.