The £160,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup is our focus on Saturday. Those stuck in the past may be calling this the Mackeson or the Thomas Pink, so don’t get confused this weekend.

Runners in this race are tasked with taking on 16 fences of the Old Course across an extended two and a half miles. The ground is good to soft going into the weekend and should be pretty fair for all.

This year’s 14 runners are looking to emulate recent winners Baron Alco, Happy Diva, Coole Cody, Midnight Shadow and Ga Law. They have won this contest from all over the weights, meaning there’s nothing much to glean there.

Given the fair ground and the top field, the best handicapped horse with real quality should prevail, these being our six against the field:

Main Contenders

Easy As That

Venetia Williams and Charlie Deutsch team up with Easy As That, an eight-year-old gelding taking part in only his fifth chase race.

He was well beaten when last seen in March, but that was and end of season affair for him and he was sent off the 6/4 favourite for his race at Sandown. Before that he’d won two chases and was climbing the ranks nicely, giving the impression even then that his mark of 141 is beneath him. Definitely worth a second look.

Il Ridoto

Top man Paul Nicholls trains Il Ridoto and it feels like he’s been around forever. He has run in 13 chases, but he’s only 6 and simply must have a lot more to come as the months go on.

He started off last season in this very race. That day, as an 8/1 chance, he was beaten but only by five lengths and he has certainly strengthened up since then.

At his peak last season, he ran to a mark of 146 and it seemed he had more improvement to come. Being that he is only 4lbs higher in the weights than he was last year makes him very attractive and he is a Grade 3 course and distance winner too.

Notlongtillmay 

Notlongtillmay started chasing this time last year and since then has done exactly what you’d expect of a horse. He improved 28lbs across four races, winning three of them, even finishing second in the Turner Novices’ at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

He started this season with a fourth, but that was over a quick two miles and he can get back to business now under Adam Wedge.

Stage Star

According to jockey bookings, Stage Star is ahead of Il Ridoto in the pecking order at Paul Nicholls’ yard but he does have some 11st 7lbs to carry around which won’t be easy.

He has earned his mark of 155 though, winning the Grade 1 Turner Novices’ back in March. He was a beaten favourite at Aintree in April, but he was most likely just done for the year.

There’s no doubt this is a quality horse in with a big shout, but he may be better off in a weight-for-age race.

The Real Whacker

Another Grade 1 Cheltenham Festival winner here, this time Brown Advisory hero The Real Whacker.

If Patrick Neville’s runner has the speed to go back to this trip, then he of course is a big player but this is the topweight going up against some more experienced rivals so it really would be some effort were he to win.

Unexpected Party 

Dan and Harry Skelton know how to win these big Saturday TV races and they have another proper contender in Unexpected Party.

Coming from a little further down the weights and carrying 10-12, Unexpected Part isn’t overly burdened and he does have proven quality having taken part in a number of graded races so far.

His win record isn’t great, but he was nice to watch when beating Knappers Hill in a novice race last month and he continues to improve.

Summary

The Skelton horse Unexpected Party is fit from a recent run at Chepstow which should have put him spot on and that’s something we should keep in mind. It was a simple enough victory too, meaning he could dig out a good bit more in this race.

We cannot ignore the quality of IL RIDOTO however, even with Harry Cobden riding Stage Star. We’ve not even considered the jockey’s 5lb claim, so if Freddie Gingell puts in a big performance up top then this horse has even more weight in hand.