On a day featuring Shishkin and Constitution Hill at Newcastle, up to 20 runners are going for a share of £250,000 further south in the Coral Gold Cup.

The field is tasked with taking on 21 fences over three miles, two furlongs around Newbury though we are left hoping the weather holds up as the cold snap hits.

There have been some tip-top winners of this important race going all the way back to Arkle. We’ve also seen One Man, Denman, Bobs Worth and Native River claim the cup. We may well be overdue a genuine Gold Cup contender coming out of this event which would be ideal.

Not surprisingly, 6 to 8-year-olds have done best in recent times, but a number of other factors have taken several horses out of the running for us, leaving us these six as the chief contenders.

Main Contenders

Complete Unknown

Complete Unknown arguably possesses the capabilities to reach the upper echelons of the game, yet he carries just 10-11 off a mark of 152.

The seven-year-old, trained by Paul Nicholls, has form figures of 12121 since going chasing eleven months ago. In that time, he has also moved from a rating of 135 to 152 which shows strong improvement, but doesn’t tell the whole story.

In fact, that 152 mark was achieved as far back as March and since then he has finished second in a Grade 1 at Aintree and won an egg and spoon race to get fit for this.

There is very little doubt that he will have improved plenty since reaching this handicap mark, which of course makes him well in. Just how much weight he has in hand is the question, but what we do know is that he has remained in form, handles softer ground and will stay the distance so he has very few negatives. Harry Cobden rides.

Eldorado Allen 

Joe Tizzard’s nine-year-old grey has finished first or second in nine of his 20 chase starts. That sort of stat alone can get a horse on the shortlist but in this case, there is more substance to his chances.

This horse has been a regular Grade 1 performer in the past, frequently running to ratings in the 160’s. He has shown arguably a steady decline since, but we’re talking a few pounds only here and is now rated 13lbs below his peak.

That mark gives him some wiggle room, he is fit and well after his third at Ascot last month and he can outrun what look to be disrespectful odds.

Ga Law

Another horse who is probably overpriced is Ga Law.

Jamie Snowden’s runner has a double entry and in fact is a shorter price to win the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle, but with Shishkin an intended runner there it may be that the team tries their luck in this.

Ga Law hasn’t been at his best since the Cheltenham Festival in March, but you feel he’ll come back to form and is a reasonable price for each-way backers getting extra places.

Mahler Mission

It was a genuine surprise to open up the form book and see that Mahler Mission has won only one chase race. It feels like he’s had much more success than that.

That win was just a novice race at Navan, but he was second in a Grade 2 in February and arrived at the festival with a reputation, going off as low as 13/2 for the National Hunt Cup.

He fell in that race, but was second at Listed level at Carlisle on his reappearance and should strip much fitter now. He retains potential.

Monbeg Genius

Though many bounce back immediately, it does put us off taking shorter prices in competitive races when a contender was pulled up on its last start. That is the case with Jonjo O’Neill’s Monbeg Genius.

There are positives of course. Just a seven-year-old with only 6 chases under his belt, his better days are still to come. He won three chases in a row en route to the Cheltenham Festival where he claimed third in the Ultima Handicap Chase.

Having nearly lost his rider in the Sodexho Gold Cup he eventually called it quits, but it’s far too early to rule him out.

Stolen Silver 

Stolen Silver is really the proven class act in this race after Ahoy Senor, reaching a mark of 157 so far and he’s in form having won easily on his seasonal reappearance.

Placed on 9 of 14 chase starts, he is consistent too but others may well be just a little better handicapped.

Summary

These six horses, and a few others besides, are very capable of landing the spoils on Saturday. Monbeg Genius needs to bounce back after pulling up last time but punters seem to think he will as he remains a single-figure price.

Ahead of him on our pecking list is Mahler Mission who is in form and is a similar price but ultimately, we just cannot ignore the chances of COMPLETE UNKOWN who is now anything but that.

Paul Nicholls’ representative has a couple of quotes for the Gold Cup at Cheltenham in March, albeit large ones, and we’re banking on his progress to continue.