DEFINITLY Red was very good in winning the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham last Saturday, under a fine ride from Danny Cook. The rider didn’t panic when American moved to the front, he just concentrated on keeping his horse in his rhythm.

Brian Ellison’s horse jumped well, he hit the front at the third last fence and he stayed on well over the final two fences to post an impressive victory.

You can understand why connections are keen to have a go at the Gold Cup. That was probably the Definite Article gelding’s best performance ever, which was a step up on the performance that he put up to beat Cloudy Dream and Flying Angel at Aintree, which was probably a career-best before Saturday.

The stats are against him. Gold Cup winners tend to be younger than Cotswold Chase winners for starters. The last five Gold Cup winners were aged, respectively, eight, eight, eight, nine and seven, whereas 10 of the last 11 Cotswold Chase winners were aged nine or 10. Also, no Cotswold Chase winner has won the Gold Cup since Looks Like Trouble won it in 2000.

While Definitly Red has form on good ground and on good to soft ground, his last two races, the races in which he probably put up the two best performances of his life, were run on heavy ground.

And, while he has won twice at Cheltenham now, his record at the Festival reads 7PF.

That said, Cotswold Chase winners Exotic Dancer and The Giant Bolster were both placed in the Gold Cup in recent years, and you could see Definitly Red running a big race, especially if the ground happened to come up soft.

He is progressive, even at the age of nine, and a new official rating of 167 puts him in the ballpark, just 3lb behind Sizing John, just 2lb behind Might Bite.

Why not have a go?