Pablo du Charmil the pick for Haldon Gold Cup

The William Hill Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter has been won by some of the best chasing talent in recent years with the likes of Azertyuiop, Best Mate and Edredon Bleu all tasting success down in the West Country.

At the 48-hour stage, the William Hill Haldon Gold Cup looked like another high-class event, but the late defections of Queen Mother Champion Voy Por Ustedes and the up-and-coming Twist Magic due to the unseasonably firm going, means that the race looks to be in the grasp of Fair Along.

Last seen running third to Leg Spinner in the Cesarewitch just 17 days ago, Phillip Hobbs's five-year-old will be fit for this contest and perhaps more crucially, he is proven on the good going. The problem with backing the favourite though, is that he hasn't won for nearly a year – or five races, whichever way you would prefer to look at it. At around 6/4 therefore, his price is fair, but not a giveaway.

Hobbs has a 25 per cent strike-rate at the track over the last five seasons with his chasers and that record alone should be taken into consideration but in receipt of nearly a stone, it may be worth taking a small punt on Pablo du Charmil.

David Pipe's six-year-old was progressing nicely last season, winning three on the trot which included a 12-length slamming of the useful Black Hills on this card 12 months ago. The French import fluffed his lines completely at Cheltenham in March when hitting the first obstacle in the Grand Annual and proceeded to smash through a couple more fences for good measure before finishing 41 lengths behind eventual winner Andreas.

Freshened up by the break, Pablo du Charmil looks a big price for the William Hill Haldon Gold Cup to replicate his first-time out success of last year.

Paul Nicholls relies on Saintsaire after the defection of his Twist Magic, but the veteran found life difficult at the end of last season's campaign. The eight-year-old finished 30 lengths shy at Ayr in a two-and-a-half-mile contest at the back end of the jumps season in April, and previous to that effort he trailed in behind Andreas by 13 lengths in the Grand Annual. Whether it was fatigue, or something else, remains to be seen and despite the useful weight concession from top-weight Fair Along, there are others probably better placed to challenge the market leader for the William Hill Haldon Gold Cup.

One of those could be Royal Shakespeare who is the only horse in the field to have had an outing already this season. Graham Lee's mount blew out the cobwebs in a hurdle race at Kempton just over two weeks ago, and having got the summer's break out of his system, he could be more dangerous than Hasty Prince, despite that challenger having Tony McCoy to steer him home.

Verdict: 1pt Pablo du Charmil @ 5/1 (William Hill)