Cue Card featured among 43 entries reveaeld today for the £275,000 Ryanair Chaseon day three of the Cheltenham Festival on Thursday, March 13.
The eight-year-old sauntered to the widest-margin success seen in the history of the race when beating First Lieutenant by nine lengths in last year’s renewal, but trainer Colin Tizzard is now harbouring Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup ambitions following a decisive four and a half-length success in the Betfair Chase and a close second in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.
Also engaged are Menorah and Al Ferof, winners of the Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 2010 and 2011 respectively, as well as 2012 Ryanair Chase hero Riverside Theatre.
A record 20 Irish-trained entries include the Tony Martin-trained Benefficient, who belied his odds of 20/1 to win last season’s JLT Novices’ Chase over two and a half miles by three and a half lengths from Dynaste. The eight-year-old disappointed in the three mile, one furlong Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby in November, but bounced back to his best when getting the better of Hidden Cyclone and Arvika Ligeonniere in the Dial-A-Bet Chase over two miles and a furlong at Leopardstown just after Christmas.
Martin reported: “We have entered Benefficient in both the Ryanair Chase and BetVictor Champion Chase. We will just see how he is and what the ground is looking like nearer the time before making a decision.
“Everything seems OK after Leopardstown and it was a good performance. It looked a strong race beforehand, but he always seems to run well around Leopardstown and I thought he was in really good form going there.
“He had probably done a bit too much before he ran at Wetherby and, in hindsight, it was a mistake to send him there.
“We will see how Benefficient is later in the month before deciding whether or not he will run before The Festival.”
Timeform Ratings for the Ryanair Chase (weight-adjusted)
191 CUE CARD
182 DYNASTE
181 FIRST LIEUTENANT
180 MENORAH
178 AL FEROF
176 ARVIKA LIGEONNIERE
176? MEDERMIT
173 CHAMPION COURT
173 RIVERSIDE THEATRE
