Monty can Star at Cheltenham

Before you read on, yes I know I’m going against the mighty Galopin Des Champs. Lots of you will get angry at me for even suggesting this, however you should never be afraid of one horse as anything can happen.

Monty’s Star, trained by Henry de Bromhead, has been targeted at the Gold Cup all year, and his performances should be taken with a pinch of salt as I don’t believe he was fully wound up. He will be for the big day that’s for sure.

He has shown considerable promise as a staying chaser – the best is yet to come – and is a solid play in what is a poor Gold Cup year if we take Galopin Des Champs out of it. Monty’s Star looks an accurate, safe jumper and looks tailor made for the testing trip of the Gold Cup.

Anything could happen to Galopin. I’d rather he stays sound and runs obviously, but he could cop a stone bruise or another minor injury and miss the race altogether, or even fall as he did at Cheltenham when a certain winner against Bob Olinger a few years back.

I rarely do each way, but at the terms offered now and the field likely to really thin out further, I’ll make an exception here

Selection: Monty’s Star, Cheltenham Gold Cup. EW 3 places, 5 points each way. 14/1 is readily available across the board.

(for the Cheltenham Stable I’ll count win only towards P&L, but my advice is to back each way yourself).