Denman Solid Favourite For Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury

Things look competitive in the Hennessy, and much is expected from Gold Cup runner-up Denman as he looks to have solidified his position as the outright favourite.

As the volume begins to pour in on Paul Nicholls’ Grade 1 legend, bookmakers have clipped his price down to 7/2 from 4/1. Weird Al and the respected Diamond Harry line up for a crack at the big D with competitive prices of 6/1 and 7/1 floated by bookmakers on the challenging pair.

Big Fella Thanks and Madison Du Berlais, two solid jumpers in their own rights, are also slated for an appearance at this stage though final declarations have not taken place. Neptune Collonges will also likely take a crack at this one. A potential appearance from China Rock is also a possibility.

This is a fantastic opportunity to cash in a high-paying forecast ticket as Denman really is the real deal and should get the victory here if he pulls off a clean trip and performs to expectations. You reckon he can even make the odd mistake and recover so a near-perfect trip will likely be job done.

The big question really looks to be how progressive do you think Weird Al genuinely is? Is the Ian Williams-trained jumper a potential giant killer? Likely not as his sole Graded score was a Grade 2 win over a forgettable field of four at Wetherby last February. He put in career-best figures of 152 when taking an intermediate chase at Carlisle in his seasonal debut but that just doesn’t look enough. He’s got a great record but he hasn’t tangled anywhere near Denman’s level and you do struggle to justify a 6/1 shot.

If you’re staying away from Denman, the antepost terror here is Mouse Morris’ China Rock. He put in a solid shift in the JNWine Champion Chase to Kauto Star and was tantalizingly close to second place there. Having Barry Geraghty up for this one adds even more confidence and he looks very good paired up below Denman for a whopping 4/1 x 20/1 forecast. You wouldn’t go so far as to say take it to the bank but it’s more than worth a bash- as is China Rock on the each-way if you’re feeling like he’s going to make a very big statement this year. He also trades at 6.0 TBP on the Betfair exchange.