Bonusprint Gold Cup Preview

If Our Vic is as good as connections believe then he will be a tough nut to crack in Saturday's bonusprint.com Gold Cup at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Cheltenham (2.40), despite an absence of 269 days. But, at around the 11-4 mark, he represents no value in what is a fiercely competitive contest, and the 4-1 on offer about THISTHATANDTOTHER is far more appealing. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> The Paul Nicholls-trained chaser put up a career best performance over course and distance in the Paddy Power Gold Cup on his seasonal reappearance last month, chasing home Our Vic's stable companion Celestial Gold, who subsequently landed the Hennessy Gold Cup. Jockey Ruby Walsh felt that, had Thisthatandtother not been hampered by the fall of Farmer Jack two-out, his mount would have beaten Celestial Gold. If Ruby is right - and there is a good chance that he is - then the eight-year-old looks well treated off just a 5lb higher mark. Although he was below par on a couple of occasions during an eight-race novice campaign last term, there are valid excuses for those below-par showings as he was suffering from sore shins. That said, he did run some solid races; finishing two and-a-half lengths second to Well Chief (received 3lb) at Aintree in April looked disappointing at the time. However, the subsequent exploits of that winner now shows that form in a different light. Furthermore, the Paul Nicholls team feel that Thisthatandtother is still improving and, despite some conjecture to the contrary, are confident that this two mile, five-furlong trip will prove to be his optimum.Our Vic has always been held in the highest regard by trainer Martin Pipe. He landed his first two outings over fences in bloodless fashion before finishing a disappointing third in the SunAlliance Chase at the Festival, where he was never jumping with any real fluency and appeared not to see out the three-mile trip. While the distance should be ideal and he does have masses of potential, his inexperience in this sphere has to be a concern. In addition, there is an interesting statistic that makes for a compelling case against the six-year-old: no horse in the last decade has won this race having had less than seven starts over fences. Our Vic has had just three. Five of the last eight winners have had between seven and nine chasing starts, which enhances the profile of Thisthatandtother, who has exactly nine chasing starts under his belt. The same statistic casts a cloud of suspicion over the well-handicapped Monkerhostin, who has had just five starts over fences thus far - three of which were back in 2002. Philip Hobbs' charge was made a warm order for the Paddy Power, in which he finished third, five-lengths adrift of Thisthatandtother. Considering that Monkerhostin held a fitness advantage there having already made his seasonal reappearance at Stratford a month earlier, the selection is more than entitled to uphold the form despite being 5lb worse off. Redemption's switch from the Nigel Twiston-Davies yard to Martin Pipe is interesting and, at his best, the nine-year-old would make them all go. However, he has only managed to complete on one of his five runs over fences on this course, so remains a risky proposition. The best outsider in the line-up could prove to be the Nicky Henderson-trained Scots Grey, who could easily be in the shake-up if fit enough to do himself justice following an absence of 253 days.