Evan Williams is looking forward to seeing Buywise (10st 12lb) return for another crack at the £160,000 Paddy Power Gold (2.25pm), the highlight of The Open, which takes place at Cheltenham on Saturday, November 14.
The eight-year-old, successful in a Grade Two limited handicap at the Home of Jump Racing in April, 2014, stayed on strongly to finish a close fifth in the prestigious two and a half-mile handicap chase last year.
Buywise was subsequently fourth behind Darna (25/1 with Paddy Power, Kim Bailey, 10st 9lb) in the Grade Three Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Stable Plate at The Festival in March and made a pleasing seasonal return with a good third in the Grade Two Monet’s Garden Old Roan Chase at Aintree on October 25.
Vale of Glamorgan-based Williams revealed: “We were over the moon with Buywise’s third in the Old Roan Chase and the plan is to run at Cheltenham next week.
“He ran over hurdles before last year’s race but I felt that having a spin over fences is probably more beneficial going into a race like the Paddy Power Gold Cup.
“We have done a lot of work with his jumping. He has been struggling at times because he has two metal plates in one of his back joints, which restricts the movement in his back legs and the amount of propulsion that he can get. “He might wear a visor or cheek-pieces next week – it’s something that we may do as we feel that it could help him.
“Decent ground and the way the race is run is very important. He has to have a suicidal gallop and ideally I would like to see him tailed off at the halfway stage and then staying on through horses. He has got to be ridden like that and that is when he runs his best races.
“He went up 1lb for Aintree and he’s more than capable of running very creditably in another Paddy Power Gold Cup but whether he can win the race will depend on how he jumps, how the race is run and the luck he gets in running.
“If the cards fell right, he will be there with a bunch of them jumping the last couple of fences and that is all you can ask for in a big handicap chase.”
Buywise is a 16/1 chance for the Paddy Power Gold Cup with Paddy Power, with the sponsor’s market currently headed at 7/1 by the David Pipe-trained Kings Palace, who scored twice in novice chases at Cheltenham last season. King’s Palace won the Ryman Stationery Cheltenham Business Club Novices’ Chase over an extended three miles and a furlong on December 14 and the Cheltenham Club Novices’ Chase at just beyond three miles on November 15, while he is also a course winner twice over hurdles.
Boondooma (8/1, 11st 4lb, Dr Richard Newland) boasts winning form at Cheltenham too, having taken the £50,000 winner.co.uk Handicap Chase at The Showcase on October 24, while Monetaire (10/1, 10st 5lb, David Pipe) was runner-up to Darna at The Festival in March and came third in two-mile handicap chase at The Open in 2014.
The weights are headed by 33/1 chance Mr Mole (11st 12lb), who could bid to provide Paul Nicholls with a third Paddy Power Gold Cup victory following Al Ferof (2012) and Caid Du Berlais (2014). The Somerset-based champion Jump trainer also is responsible for Ptit Zig (25/1, 11st 9lb), Sound Investment (16/1, 11st 9lb), Vibrato Valtat (25/1, 11st 7lb), Salubrious (25/1, 10st 12lb), Art Mauresque (20/1, 10st 11lb) and Easter Day (10st 6lb).
Paddy Power said: “The early exchanges have been extremely informative with the best-backed horse being Dr Richard Newland’s impressive recent Cheltenham winner Boondooma, who has halved in price to 8/1 second favourite from 16/1 and has attracted around 30 per cent of bets so far.”
Paddy Power Gold Cup, Paddy Power bet: 7/1 Kings Palace; 8/1 Boondooma; 10/1 Monetaire; 12/1 Irish Cavalier; 14/1 Johns Spirit, Oscar Rock, Annacotty; 16/1 Generous Ransom, Buywise, Cocktails At Dawn, Sound Investment, Devils Bride; 20/1 Present View, Thomas Crapper, Splash of Ginge, Little Jon, La Vaticane, Art Mauresque, Dell Arca, Double Ross; 25/1 Darna, Astracad, Ballycasey, Croco Bay, Ericht, Gitane du Berlais, Next Sensation, Ptit Zig, Salubrious, Shanpallas, The Giant Bolster, Third Intention, Turn Over Sivola, Vibrato Valtat; 33/1 Clarcam, Alelchi Inois, Bennys Mist, Cloud Creeper, Horizontal Speed, Mr Mole, No Buts, Pumped Up Kicks, Sew On Target, Texas Jack, The Clock Leary, Upepito; 40/1 Tara Road, Minella Present; 50/1 African Gold, Bless The Wings
Each-way 1/4 odds, 1-2-3-4
