Tag Archive for: Bravemansgame

Dance ‘incredibly proud’ of Bravemansgame’s Cheltenham defeat

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Owner John Dance has stressed the pride he felt in watching Bravemansgame finish a gallant second in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

An impressive winner of the King George VI Chase, the Paul Nicholls-trained eight-year-old subsequently finished a fine runner-up to Galopin Des Champs.

However, whether he runs again this season remains up in the air with connections not convinced he has shown his best at the Grand National meeting in the past.

Dance is mindful the high-class chaser has produced two below-par races at Aintree in successive seasons following runs at the Festival, finishing runner-up in the 2021 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle and last of four in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase last term.

He said: “He is possible for Aintree or Punchestown. We’ll have to see.

“The last couple of years, he’s had late-season ulcers. We have obviously campaigned him and peaked him less often this year.

“Hopefully that allows him to go a bit deeper into the season, but maybe we just want to do a few more pre-race checks.

“Even when he came second at Aintree as a hurdler behind Ahoy Senor, he never looked happy all the way round, so we will just have to see how he is.

“If he is bucking fresh, I would imagine we will scope him before and if he looks healthy, then we’ll give something a go, I’m sure.”

Any disappointment at Bravemansgame’s seven-length defeat in the Gold Cup was eclipsed by the pride Dance and his fellow owner Bryan Drew felt.

“It was kind of weird,” said Dance. “Bryan had very similar emotions, in that we’ve come runner-up in a race we dream of winning, but there wasn’t really any disappointment. We were just thrilled and proud of how he ran. We’d obviously come across a potential superstar.”

Though some questioned if he would stay the extended three-and-a-quarter-mile trip, Nicholls’ star was only run out of it after jumping the last.

Dance added: “I would argue whether he stayed the last 100 yards or so. He was just treading on water a little bit and the third and fourth were regaining some of the ground they lost on him, but I wouldn’t say he didn’t stay, but he certainly didn’t stay as well as the winner, who was a better horse over the trip.

“Watching them both take off together at the last was an incredible buzz. Our guy landed a bit tired then galloped on for a little bit before he was out-stayed.”

The feeling of finishing runner-up in the Gold Cup could not compare to when his six-times Group One-winning mare Laurens was defeated by Billesdon Brook in the 1000 Guineas five years ago.

Laurens' defeat in the Guineas hurt more than a Gold Cup reverse
Laurens’ defeat in the Guineas hurt more than a Gold Cup reverse (Mike Egerton/PA)

“Despite coming second, it was a very enjoyable one, if that makes sense,” he added.

“I remember when Laurens came second in the Guineas, that was considerably more disappointing, possibly because we were beaten by a bit of a freak result.

“To this day, I still suggest the winner didn’t get enough credit for that particular run. Everything worked out for her to run the race of her life and in terms of quantifying the performance, she never got as much credit as she deserved.

“Everything about Bravemansgame was just very different, because we were all just incredibly proud of what a huge run he put in.

“We all instantly appreciated it. If you take the winner out, he would have hacked up and probably put in a performance that would have won the last 10 renewals.

“You can’t help the generation or the opposition.”

Dance is nearing the final stages of completing the renovation of Manor House Farm, a private training facility and development stud for yearlings in Middleham. The historic yard is the birth-place of Derby winner Dante.

Sir Michael Stoute’s former assistant James Horton is his private trainer and they cannot wait to get going, once the finishing touches are complete.

“I’ll be proud when it’s finished,” said Dance. “It is all taking a bit longer than we hoped and expected, but we are excited. It has gone so well with James, so it will be great to just give him even better facilities.

“He’s a lovely guy and I would definitely say he has a touch of genius about him. He has learned from some of the greats, but individually, he definitely has a touch of genius.

“I think James and I are probably thinking, depending on runners, we’ll be set after Royal Ascot.

“We had hoped to be in for new year, then they were saying March or April, and there is still quite a bit to do, but we’re looking forward to it.”

Nicholls ‘mighty proud’ of Gold Cup second Bravemansgame

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Paul Nicholls is not ruling out another run this season for Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Bravemansgame.

The eight-year-old and Willie Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs produced a fantastic renewal of the race at Cheltenham on Friday, with the latter horse eventually prevailing by seven lengths after a fantastic battle from the last fence.

There are a limited number of options for horses in the division to compete at the latter end of the season, with the Bowl at Aintree and the Punchestown Gold Cup the two most suitable races.

Nicholls is considering both, though stablemate Clan Des Obeaux is pencilled in for the former and the latter could mean a rematch with Galopin Des Champs on home turf.

The trainer told Racing TV: “It was an amazing race. The Irish Gold Cup winner, the best staying chaser in Ireland, and the King George winner, the best staying chaser in England, jumped the last together. What a race.

Bravemansgame (right) in the Cheltenham Gold Cup
Bravemansgame (right) in the Cheltenham Gold Cup (Steven Paston/PA)

“They went an end-to-end gallop. I’ve been involved in some good Gold Cups but I’d say that’s as good as any, if not one of the best Gold Cups you’ll ever see.”

Regarding Bravemansgame’s ability to stay over the three-and-a-quarter-mile trip, the trainer added: “If you took the winner out, no one would even question if he stayed. He’d have won by seven lengths, heavy on the bridle. He got into a real battle from the back of the last.

“I know lot of horses find that tough, that final furlong, it doesn’t mean they don’t stay. He definitely stays, he proved that yesterday. No excuses at all, he just got beat by a better horse, Paul (Townend) rode him for luck and he got the luck.”

The Gold Cup will be the ultimate target next season and hopefully for further seasons to come, with Nicholls unsure at this stage if there will be another outing for the gelding this term.

He said: “I’m mighty proud of him, next year we’ll look forward to giving it another go. Plenty of horses have been second and gone and turned it round and won.

Galopin Des Champs and Bravemansgame landing at the last
Galopin Des Champs and Bravemansgame landing at the last (Tim Goode/PA)

“Yes we got beat, and beat by a very good horse, but next year’s another year.

“He was really tired straight afterwards, but he was straight out eating his grub up this morning. I saw him have a half-hour on the walker this morning and he was fresh as anything. That’s a really good sign.

“The only two options you’ve got are the Bowl or go to Punchestown, there’s nothing else for him. We’re planning to run Clan Des Obeaux in the Bowl because he’s come about really nicely, we could have a really fresh horse for that.

“Then that leaves Punchestown and I don’t know if we want to go and take on Galopin Des Champs if he goes there again.

“I’ve have a talk to the lads who own him and make a plan. He doesn’t have to run again, but if he was to bounce back and was in really good order, we could consider it.

“We’d definitely give it another go as a lot can happen in a year in racing. He ran so well, I like to think he’d be there for the next two or three years.

“Kauto Star and Denman kept on running every year, you’ve just got to plan their campaigns. I suspect it’ll be the Charlie Hall, or something similar, the King George will be his big target, then a little break and back to Cheltenham.

“It’ll be an exciting challenge next year to see if we can find a few pounds.”

Bravemansgame will be back next year, says proud Nicholls

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Paul Nicholls vowed to bring Bravemansgame back for another crack at the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup after the King George winner only gave best to Galopin Des Champs in the final 100 yards.

Buoyed with confidence having saddled his second winner of the week with Stay Away Fay earlier in the day, the champion trainer never shies from a challenge and wants another crack at the Willie Mullins-trained favourite, who eventually won by seven lengths.

The pair were locked in combat over the last of the 22 fences, but it was the 7-5 favourite, a year younger at seven, who prevailed.

“He’s run an absolute blinder, but he’s just been beaten by a very good horse. He couldn’t have done more and got a great ride by Harry (Cobden),” said Nicholls.

“He’ll be back next year when he’ll be another year stronger and we’ll have another go.

“Turning in I thought we had a right chance but the winner was fantastic, we always knew he was the horse to beat. The winner won on merit.

“What we have to consider is that our target was the King George and while this wasn’t an afterthought we weren’t always going to come here.

“We gave it a go, we weren’t sure about the track, but he travelled beautifully and we’ve just been outstayed from the last by a very smart horse and I’m very proud of him.

“We hate finishing second, but he was always going to be the horse to beat.”

Galopin Des Champs begins to pull clear
Galopin Des Champs begins to pull clear (Tim Goode/PA)

He went on: “The track was never going to be a problem, I could never understand those who thought it was, he’s only run here once before today.

“A bit better ground would suit him, the whole way I was thinking he maybe just wasn’t travelling quite as well as he does on good ground but he’s a wonderful horse.

“Next year we’ll go Charlie Hall, King George and back here again. All the horses this week have run well bar Hermes Allen but he’ll be back. We’ve had a great Festival really, Stay Away Fay might be a Gold Cup horse of the future and we’ve been second in the Gold Cup.”

Cobden had no excuses, adding: “Seconds are never remembered are they, but he’s run a brilliant race and I couldn’t have been in a better position turning in.

“He’s galloped right to the line but we’ve been beaten by the better horse.

“I don’t think a lot of people felt he was man enough for a Gold Cup but he was relaxed, jumped well, stayed and was second best.”

Conflated finished a further six and a half lengths back in third for Gordon Elliott, who had a mini drama just before the race when his jockey Davy Russell was stood down by the doctor.

He was replaced by Sam Ewing and Elliott was full of praise for the youngster: “He didn’t miss a beat, he ran a great race. He got a little hampered turning in but it didn’t make much difference. We’re absolutely thrilled with him.

Sam Ewing was a late replacement for Davy Russell on Conflated
Sam Ewing was a late replacement for Davy Russell on Conflated (Niall Carson/PA)

“Sam gave him a beautiful ride and got him in a lovely rhythm and he ran his heart out.

“Davy was sore, I didn’t get much chance to talk to him but he just told me he was too sore to ride our horse so it looks like he was kicked.

“We’ll see how he is before deciding if he runs again.”

Grand National winner Noble Yeats flew up the hill to pip Protektorat for fourth in what some will see as a perfect Grant National trial.

Owner Robert Waley-Cohen said: “I thought he ran really well, apart from the fact he got outpaced at some point.

Noble Yeats will head back to Aintree
Noble Yeats will head back to Aintree (David Davies/PA)

“He wasn’t tailed off and he absolutely flew up the hill.

“I think he would have been happier with a bit more room, he was caught on the inside but then when Ahoy Senor fell it helped him a bit as it opened things out.

“Onwards to Aintree, if the horse is fine. What do they say about the Guineas, fourth in the Guineas, win the Derby. Let’s hope.”

Henry de Bromhead’s two previous Gold Cup winners Minella Indo and A Plus Tard were both pulled up.

“A Plus Tard was very unlucky. He was going well, tracking Paul (Townend on the winner) but then had to jump two horses (Ahoy Senor fell and brought down Sounds Russian).

“That’s the luck of the draw, but the main thing is he’s back. He needs to go left-handed so I imagine he will go to Aintree.

“Minella Indo completely missed the start. Nico (de Boinville) was annoyed but his chance had gone.”

Hewick still held place claims when falling at the second-last.

Galopin Des Champs dazzles for Mullins and Townend

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Galopin Des Champs and Paul Townend powered clear of Bravemansgame to justify favouritism and land the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, giving Willie Mullins chasing’s blue riband for a third time in five years.

In an eventful renewal, Ahoy Senor set a searching gallop until getting too close to the sixth fence from home and crumpling on landing.

Townend had bided his time, tracking the early pace before getting into contention coming down the hill, tailing Protektorat, Bravemansgame and Hewick, who had been left in front.

He crashed through the third-last, which almost cost him the race, but quickly recovered and by the time American Grand National hero Hewick had come to grief two out, Irish Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs had gone upsides Harry Cobden and the Paul Nicholls-trained Bravemansgame.

Both jumped the last on a good stride, but the King George winner could not find the same turn of foot as Townend drew clear.

Galopin Des Champs (7-5 favourite) had seven lengths to spare at the line, with Conflated a further sixth and a half lengths down in third.

Mullins said: “I didn’t realise the pressure I was under. I’m absolutely delighted for Audrey Turley (owner), Paul was under huge pressure too and gave him a peach of a ride.

“The plan was to drop him in and come through, I said to him ‘I think you’re on the best horse, the fastest horse, so as long as he doesn’t get running with you just tuck him in somewhere and put him asleep’ – and he did.

Paul Townend celebrates winning the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup
Paul Townend celebrates winning the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup (Mike Egerton/PA)

“It just worked out, he gave him a brilliant, cool ride. Everyone was questioning the distance and his stamina, they were going to make it plenty fast so I didn’t want him up there in the early exchanges.

“If he has the class, he’ll come through, if he hasn’t then there’s no point.

“All the thoughts go through your head, have we gone too far back? They had gone such a gallop, something had to give.

“One or two fell and we missed all that, we’d a lot of luck. I think that man on board, when the pressure comes on, he’s very good.”

He added: “I was surprised myself how I was over the last two fences. With this horse, we’d elected him as our Gold Cup horse whereas Al Boum Photo sort of just happened. This fellow, we thought he was good enough and that puts you under pressure.

“Every time we’ve upped him in trip, it’s been no problem. He has that bit of class, you could run him over two miles, two and a half miles. He has that bit of speed when you want it.”

Townend – like Mullins winning this third Gold Cup – said: “It was messy for me – I couldn’t get a clean passage early, and he started jumping in the air a little bit, but when I got a bit of room, in fairness to him he came back into a rhythm with me and was very, very brave.

Galopin Des Champs comes back victorious
Galopin Des Champs comes back victorious (Mike Egerton/PA)

“I think he got me out of a fair hole, to be honest – I was a lot further back than I wanted to be, but it was just the ride I had to give him.

“There was so little fresh ground that everyone wanted to be in it, and the start was very messy.

“He was good and brave. There were horses going left of me and right of me (when the two horses fell at the top of the hill) and he always just found a leg, and you need that luck in racing.

“He missed one of the fences coming down the hill, and I thought that was going to put me on the back foot a bit again, but no, straight back on the bridle for me. I don’t think the horse understands how good he is, to be honest.”

He went on: “The Gold Cup brings winning to a different level. Cheltenham is very important, but the Gold Cup just has that little bit more spice to it.”

Nicholls – I would dearly love to win another Gold Cup

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In the slightly dotty world of jump racing, Paul Nicholls has ticked just about every box, yet the fixation on possibly the most uninspiring trophy to look at outside of cricket’s Ashes remains.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup weighs 644 grams of nine carat gold and is plated in 18 carat gold. No matter the actual size – its stature is immense.

For Nicholls – master of 13 championships – training the fastest horse over the 22 fences, up hill and down dale, over three and a quarter miles of the Boodles-sponsored Gold Cup is the Holy Grail.

“I would love to win the Gold Cup,” he said. “I’ve been lucky to win it four times, but I’d love to win it again.

“It’s hard to describe what it feels like to go to that winner’s enclosure when you win a Gold Cup. It is like a drug and you want it again.”

See More Business (1999), Denman (2008) and Kauto Star (2007 and 2009) brought the trophy to Ditcheat, Somerset, and he will rely this time on the aptly-named Bravemansgame.

Winner of six of his seven starts over fences, he has been seen just twice on a racecourse this season, landing both the Charlie Hall at Wetherby and the King George VI Chase at Kempton.

He has raced beyond a three-mile trip just once before and it produced his sole defeat, when last of four to Ahoy Senor at Aintree in April.

“I think we have a nice team for Cheltenham,” said Nicholls. “But to have a real, live chance in the Gold Cup is the most important thing to me.

“That’s what we do it for, that’s the most exciting thing. That is what I am really looking forward to.”

The eight-year-old Bravemansgame gives Nicholls arguably his best chance in 14 years of winning the blue riband for a fifth time. It looks an open contest, with current favourite Galopin Des Champs also not having raced beyond three miles and last year’s champion A Plus Tard having an interrupted preparation.

“I think we have a lovely chance,” Nicholls said of the John Dance and Bryan Drew-owned gelding.

“It is a competitive race. We have got to step up again, but I think we are in there with a chance.

Co-owner Bryan Drew with Bravemansgame
Co-owner Bryan Drew with Bravemansgame (John Walton/PA)

“He is good fresh, so we didn’t need to run him in between his last run on Boxing Day and now.

“He won the Charlie Hall, he won the King George. You’ve got to stay to win those races, so I don’t think the trip is going to be a problem.

“Galopin Des Champs is a bit like Bravemansgame – they both galloped strong through the line in the races they ran over Christmas, so it would be interesting.”

Cheltenham, of course, is all about the Irish invasion. Increasingly so, in fact – two years ago Irish runners won 23 of the 28 races across the week.

The Irish make this a special place – and have had a vice-like grip on the prize-money in recent years, with Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott and Henry de Bromhead leading the charge.

Mick Fitzgerald and See More Business gave Nicholls the first of four Gold Cup victories
Mick Fitzgerald and See More Business gave Nicholls the first of four Gold Cup victories (John Giles/PA)

Mullins won a record 10 races last year and is the most successful trainer at the meeting, victorious 88 times.

Competing against the Irish battalions, never mind beating them, brings pressure, as Nicholls concedes.

“Cheltenham is a hard week – it is hard to prepare and people think Cheltenham is the be-all and end-all of everything,” he said.

“You don’t feel the pressure, but it is there, isn’t it? You’ve got to deal with it and I think we deal with it quite well.

“We have some great horses in this country and some great racing. We just have to stop worrying about what the Irish are doing and just focus on what we do, and we will be a lot better off.”

There are several stables, particularly over the Irish Sea, where there is a concentration of firepower. It is not uncommon to see Mullins and Elliott having multiple runners in each race.

Nicholls and Nicky Henderson dominate in Britain, yet the champion fears the sport suffers for the assembled talent in a select few yards.

“Can you imagine, if in every race me or Nicky had six runners or 10 in a handicap? People would go mad. It is not good for racing. It wouldn’t work in this country.

“Myself, Nicky and Dan Skelton have good teams, but we don’t completely take over everything and have six in every race.

Kauto Star, under Ruby Walsh, on his way to a second Gold Cup victory in 2009
Kauto Star, under Ruby Walsh, on his way to a second Gold Cup victory in 2009 (David Jones/PA)

“I wouldn’t want that and I couldn’t train that number of horses, 150 for us is plenty to do it properly.

“The Irish are having a good run at Cheltenham. It doesn’t change overnight. It will take two or three years to turn things around. Nicky has a few nice chances. Dan has, too.

“It is probably cyclical. All those years ago when I had all those super ones that won everything, it was probably the other way then.

“I’m sure it will turn, but I’m not bothered. We just get on with our own thing and do the best with what we’ve got.”

It seems odds-on that Nicholls will add to his 46 Festival winners, with the likes of Hermes Allen (Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle), Irish Hill (Coral Cup), Hitman (Ryanair Chase), Il Ridoto (Magners Plate Handicap Chase) and Secret Investor (St James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase) all having leading chances.

Nicholls (right) holds the Gold Cup with part-owner Paul Barber and 2008 winner Denman
Nicholls (right) holds the Gold Cup with part-owner Paul Barber and 2008 winner Denman (Barry Batchelor/PA)

Yet Nicholls admits he would swap another championship for a Gold Cup and his ambition to train the most National Hunt winners in Britain remains undiminished.

He added: “I want to train 4,000 winners and would love to keep on winning the championship, but I’d dearly love to win another Gold Cup.

“You just need to keep doing your best, keep training loads of winners.

“We are only about 400 off training 4,000 GB jump winners and nobody has done that, so that would be a nice thing to do.

“All those things drive you, but to win another Gold Cup would cap it all.”

Cobden full of hope with ‘best’ Cheltenham team for some time

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Harry Cobden believes he is going into the Cheltenham Festival with the strongest book of rides he has had for several seasons.

The 24-year-old is the stable jockey to 13-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls, for whom he enjoyed his greatest Festival success to date when landing the 2019 RSA Chase aboard Topofthegame – a race now known as the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.

Cobden’s other Festival triumph came aboard Colin Tizzard’s Kilbricken Storm in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle in 2018, with Festival rides since Topofthegame’s victory proving winless.

This season, however, the team at Ditcheat have high hopes for a string of contenders that include Bravemansgame, Tahmuras and Hermes Allen.

Cobden – who was stood down following a fall at Ffos Las on Sunday, but later described as “absolutely fine” by his agent Sam Stronge in a Twitter update – said: “Certainly in the time I’ve been at Ditcheat we would be going to Cheltenham with our best team with the likes of Bravemansgame, Hermes Allen and Tahmuras.

Harry Cobden after winning the King George VI Chase aboard Bravemansgame
Harry Cobden after winning the King George VI Chase aboard Bravemansgame (John Walton/PA)

“It is quite exciting and fingers crossed we have a bit of luck there this year.

“I think for the last few years there have not been too many stand-out teams we have sent to Cheltenham.

“We’ve had good horses like Politologue and Silviniaco Conti, but they were not Denman, Big Buck’s or Kauto Star, and whether we will ever see horses like that again, who knows?”

Despite a winner proving elusive, Cobden still feels the Nicholls runners have posted good performances but ultimately have not been able to get the better of horses trained in the big Irish powerhouse stables.

He said: “The last couple of seasons Paul has had 143 and 176 winners and we go to Cheltenham for four days and we end up having horses run well that put in career bests to finish third or fourth behind some Willie Mullins or Gordon Elliott-trained hotpot.

Trainer Paul Nicholls and Harry Cobden
Trainer Paul Nicholls and Harry Cobden (David Davies/PA)

“It can be frustrating, but I wouldn’t say it has ever got me down as you get off one and put your colours on and go back out for the next race. Racing is a great leveller as for 30 minutes you can be down then in your next ride you could have a winner.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of winners at the Cheltenham Festival with Kilbricken Storm and Topofthegame and they were amazing days. It would be lovely to walk away with just one winner from this year’s meeting.”

Bravesmansgame is Cobden’s hope for the Gold Cup, with the eight-year-old currently the leading British chance and second-favourite behind Willie Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs.

Last seen securing an impressive 14-length King George VI Chase success, the bay will tackle a three-mile-two-furlong trip for the first time in March – but his rider is not concerned about his ability to stay.

“I don’t think the extra quarter of a mile will be a problem,” he said.

Bravemansgame winning the King George VI Chase
Bravemansgame winning the King George VI Chase (John Walton/PA)

“He is a good traveller and I think I’ve learnt to ride him a lot better now. He was very good at Kempton considering how wide he went.

“To my mind the only question would be the track because he has won on a lot of big galloping tracks and he has never really been tested on an undulating course. He is a well-balanced good jumper so I don’t think that will be an issue.

“The Irish horse (Galopin Des Champs) is the one they are going mad about, but I think he has been overlooked.

“When he has come up short before he has always had an excuse, whereas on Boxing Day he had no excuses.

“I thought it was his race to lose and I thought he showed how tough he was from the back of the fourth last to the line. I was at him a long way out. He put his head down and galloped all the way to the line. He jumped great and was very brave.

Bravemansgame with trainer Paul Nicholls
Bravemansgame with trainer Paul Nicholls (Adam Davy/PA)

“I think the fact he has only had two runs and before going straight there will make a big difference this season as he has been specifically trained for this race.”

Cobden will also ride Hermes Allen, the general 9-4 favourite for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle having won all three of his hurdles starts – latterly landing the Grade One Challow Hurdle by a conclusive margin.

“Hermes Allen is probably our best chance of a winner there this year. The only thing he did well at home before going to Stratford first time out was jump as he never really galloped that fast, but when he gets to the track he is a different animal,” said Cobden.

“I thought he was very impressive at Newbury in the Challow Hurdle. He jumped well and went a very good gallop on soft ground.

“He turned in and absolutely scooted away, he barely came off the bridle. It was probably one of the easiest Grade One winners I will ever ride.

Hermes Allen winning the Challow Novices’ Hurdle
Hermes Allen winning the Challow Novices’ Hurdle (Nigel French/PA)

“You are not going to get an easy lead in a Ballymore. They might go quick in front and I will have to sit in third or fourth and he might run free and run no race at all, whereas he might go to sleep and bolt up.

“He has got to raise his game again, but we haven’t got to the bottom of him so we don’t know how good he is. It will be a good race, but he jumps well, is quite relaxed and laid back. He is everything you want in a good horse.”

Tahmuras was the winner of the Tolworth at Sandown on his last outing and is preparing for another tilt at a Grade One title in the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

“Tahmuras was very good in the Tolworth Hurdle and showed he had a great attitude. He missed the last couple of hurdles which he is unlike him as he is usually a very good jumper,” Cobden said.

“The only thing I would be a little bit conscious about is whether he is quick enough to travel all the way round.

Tahmuras and Cobden at Haydock
Tahmuras and Cobden at Haydock (Nigel French/PA)

“In a Supreme on soft ground I would fancy him. If it was a good ground Supreme I think he would be a bit on the back foot.

“The experts say he has got a couple of pounds to find on the top ones, but Facile Vega bombed out on his last start so it has opened the race up a little bit.”

Bravemansgame carries Nicholls’ confidence in Gold Cup quest

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Paul Nicholls is optimistic Bravemansgame has what it takes to provide him with a fifth victory in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

It is 24 years since the Ditcheat maestro first landed the blue riband with See More Business (1999) and he went on to win three successive renewals between 2007 and 2009, with Kauto Star’s two triumphs sandwiching the victory of his formidable stablemate Denman.

Nicholls has since seen a couple of dual King George winners come up short at Prestbury Park in the form of Silviniaco Conti and Clan Des Obeaux, but is hopeful it will be a different story in little over a fortnight’s time for his latest winner of Kempton’s Boxing Day highlight.

Speaking at a press morning at his yard on Monday, the champion trainer said: “He’s done nothing wrong at all this year and I don’t think he was right last spring.

“We re-cauterized his palate during the summer, he’s had some time and I didn’t want to make the mistake of running him again between Kempton and Cheltenham.

“He’s brilliant fresh and brilliant very fit. He’s twice the horse now as a model compared to what he was last year.

“We learnt a few things about him last year, you never stop learning how to train one and I think we’ve got it right now.”

There have been suggestions that Bravemansgame is in the same camp as Clan Des Obeaux and Silviniaco Conti in that Cheltenham may not be his ideal track – but Nicholls does not subscribe to that theory.

Bravemansgame and Paul Nicholls at his yard
Bravemansgame and Paul Nicholls at his yard (Adam Davy/PA)

He added: “With Clan we always had little doubts about the track, and Conti – but Bravemansgame has run there once and finished third in the Ballymore as a six-year-old. He got beaten by a horse (Bob Olinger) who on the day was an aeroplane and now can’t raise a gallop.

“He’s won on all sorts of tracks and he’s the finished article now. I can assure you when he was six years old he wasn’t half the horse he is now.”

Another question Bravemansgame will need to answer in the Cotswolds is whether his stamina will last out over the the extended three-and-a-quarter-mile distance.

Nicholls, though, is confident in his staying power, saying: “The one thing he did in the King George was he stayed on really strongly. He didn’t get the best passage that day and horses who win King Georges win Gold Cups.

“In the Gold Cup you turn into the straight and the best horse on the day wins and the horse that stays the best wins.

“I don’t know how he’ll get on up that hill, no one knows, but it was the same with Kauto Star. We didn’t know if he was going to get three and a quarter miles because he’d been winning at Kempton, but he did.

“It’s a good race and it will be hard to win, as any Gold Cup is, but I think he’s got a lovely chance – I think he’s one of our best chances of the week.

“He’s the best staying chaser in England, I think he’s proved that, and now he’s got to go and run probably the biggest race of his life.”

Bravemansgame ‘twice the horse’ he was at Cheltenham last year

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Paul Nicholls is increasingly bullish about the chances of Bravemansgame in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Owned by John Dance and Bryan Drew, the eight-year-old took the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day with a degree of ease, beating Royale Pagaille by 14 lengths.

It was his second success of the season, having sauntered to another easy victory in the Charlie Hall at Wetherby in October.

Though he has yet to tackle the extended three-and-a-quarter-mile test the Gold Cup presents, the champion trainer is happy to keep him under wraps until March 17.

“He is fine. We think he has a lovely chance,” Nicholls said.

“He is unbeaten this year, a different horse to last year. He is big and strong and well – a lovely chance he’s got.”

A best-priced 9-1 for the Gold Cup, which Nicholls has won on four occasions – including saddling the first three home in 2008 – Bravemansgame has yet to prove he has the stamina for this trip.

On his sole visit to Cheltenham, he finished third to Bob Olinger in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle over two miles and five furlongs in 2021.

Nicholls is left non-plussed by the naysayers. He said: “No one knows if he will stay three miles two (furlongs), as he has never been three-two.

“All I know he has won a King George and horses have got to stay to win a King George, and plenty of mine who have won a King George have won a Gold Cup.

“He won a point-to-point when he was four. You just take no notice of criticism and know your own thoughts.

“He wasn’t right last year. He ran at Cheltenham and he was third in that, but that was when he was a five-year-old. He was a young horse then and is twice the horse he was. He has strengthened up and is totally different.”

Bravemansgame travelled supremely well under Harry Cobden at Kempton and was not stopping at the end of the race.

Nicholls believes he will put it up to last year’s Gold Cup winner, the Henry de Bromhead-trained A Plus Tard and Willie Mullins’ Galopin Des Champs, who is the current favourite, having landed the John Durkan Memorial at Punchestown before Christmas.

Paul Nicholls feels Bravemansgame has a big chance in an open Gold Cup
Paul Nicholls feels Bravemansgame has a big chance in an open Gold Cup (Nigel French/PA)

Nicholls added: “He got the trip beautifully at Kempton. What I like about him, if the ground is half-decent, he has got enough pace to travel and he jumped well. He can just save and turn in, then I think he has got a lovely chance.

“I’m very happy with his prep and I think we are doing the right thing by not running him. He is very fresh and very fit.

“He will go on anything, but hopefully on Gold Cup day, unless we get torrent of rain, on that track you usually get good to soft, which will be perfect.

“It is an open race. The short-priced favourite is short enough, because of where he is trained. He has done well, but is short enough probably. But he’s the one we all have to aim at.

“It’s a Gold Cup and there are lots of good horses in the race, but it is an open contest. The waters were muddied a bit on Saturday (Cotswold Chase) and it is an interesting old race you know, but we are looking forward to it.”

Cobden can hardly wait for Gold-en shot with Bravemansgame

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Harry Cobden says anyone who underestimates Cheltenham Gold Cup contender Bravemansgame does so at their peril, with the in-form rider confident the King George hero can shake up the Irish contingent at Prestbury Park in March.

Despite his impressive Boxing Day success at Kempton, the Paul Nicholls-trained eight-year-old is a 9-1 shot with Paddy Power for the blue riband, with Galopin Des Champs all the rage to provide Willie Mullins with a third Gold Cup as the 6-4 favourite.

Grand National hero Noble Yeats is another prominent in the market at 13-2 for Emmet Mullins, with Henry de Bromhead’s reigning champion A Plus Tard and Galopin Des Champs’ stablemate Stattler also shorter in the betting than Bravemansgame, both at 8-1.

Cobden, though, is a jockey riding the wave of a big-race success this season and he is in no doubt Bravemansgame has what it takes to make his presence felt in the Cotswolds.

He told TalkSPORT2: “I haven’t sat on him (since the King George), but he looks fantastic and the plan is obviously to go straight to the Gold Cup, so I’m very much looking forward to March.

“I thought when he ran at Wetherby (winning the Charlie Hall Chase) he was only 60 or 70 per cent fit – I didn’t think he was fit at all and he blew a little bit afterwards.

“I knew there was so much improvement there. By no means did I go into the King George and think all we had to do was jump round and we’d have it sewn up, but I was very, very confident going because he’d never felt so good schooling during the week and went there fresh.

“For some reason there were quite a lot of people that were doubting Bravemansgame going into the King George, I don’t know why.

“Every time he’s gone to a big occasion he’s never really delivered as a novice and I suppose one could say he’s been fairly well placed and been minded and when he’s come to the big day he’s let us down.

“But I think Paul has got him absolutely spot-on this year. He’s probably learnt how to train him a lot better, I’ve learnt to ride him a lot better and you’re really seeing the best of Bravemansgame now.”

Bravemansgame with connections at Kempton
Bravemansgame with connections at Kempton (John Walton/PA)

Perhaps the obvious reason for Bravemansgame’s inflated odds is the fact Nicholls suggested earlier in his career he viewed him more as a King George type than a Gold Cup horse, while he was firmly put in his place by Bob Olinger on his only previous appearance at Cheltenham in the 2021 Ballymore.

But Cobden is not unduly concerned about the change of venue or a step up in trip.

“I’ve never won a Gold Cup, but I’ve ridden in a few and he’s got to be one of the best horses I’ve ever ridden,” he added.

“With regards to the track, I don’t think it’s an issue. He’s a very well-balanced horse, he’s a good jumper and the only time he’s run there before I don’t think he was right.

“Going left-handed isn’t an issue – he’s won round Newbury and Newton Abbot and Haydock and a few other tracks. Is the trip an issue? Well he went three and a half miles on Boxing Day – whether you like it or not he went five wide the whole way round there.

“It’s quite funny how many people pick faults in him, but to be fair to him he’s been nothing but brilliant this year. From a jockey’s point of view, I’m very confident going into the race and I feel quite fortunate to be riding him.”

Another factor adding to Cobden’s confidence is his faith in his boss to get one ready for the day that really matters.

He said: “Paul Nicholls comes back from Antigua on Saturday and every time he comes back from holiday he’s got the bit between his teeth, so there’ll be no stone unturned.

“Since Boxing Day he has been training him for the Gold Cup. Maybe I’m slightly biased because I ride for Paul all the time, but I promise you now, I’ve never known a bloke to ready a horse for a certain day like he does.

“When he says he’s going to train one for a day, it’s unbelievable – he gets them 110 per cent for the day. They don’t even need to go for a racecourse gallop or anything.

“I don’t know how he does it, but I’ve never seen anything like it really.”

Bravemansgame and Hermes Allen straight to Cheltenham, confirms Nicholls

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Paul Nicholls has confirmed both Bravemansgame and Hermes Allen will head straight to the Cheltenham Festival after their successes over the festive period.

Bravemansgame provided the champion trainer with a 13th success in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, prevailing by 14 lengths under Harry Cobden having started at 11-4.

The Gold Cup is the next port of call and there will be no more stopping points, as Nicholls intends to arrive at Prestbury Park in March with the horse fully fresh.

“Bravemansgame came out of the race really well, he used to take his races quite hard but I’d say he’s hardly lost a kilo this time and he looks great already,” he told Betfair.

“I don’t need to prove anything with him, he’s best when he’s fresh and very fit.

Hermes Allen looked a real star in the making at Newbury
Hermes Allen looked a real star in the making at Newbury (Nigel French/PA)

“We’re not going to make the same mistake as last year and run him between now and Cheltenham, we’ll get him in the form of his life and go straight to the Gold Cup.”

The same plan of action applies to Hermes Allen, who was a taking winner of the Grade One Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury on New Year’s Eve and will now be prepared for the Ballymore.

“Hermes Allen, what is the point of running him?” Nicholls said.

“If we look after him he could go on to Cheltenham and then either Aintree or Punchestown.

“He’s in great shape, he’s come out of the race well and he’ll go straight to the Ballymore.”