STRANGE thing, but Thistlecrack probably stepped up on anything that he had done before over fences in finishing second behind Many Clouds on Saturday, despite the fact that bookmakers extended his odds for the Gold Cup on the back of his defeat.

Easy in hindsight of course, but you can argue that Colin Tizzard’s horse should not have been odds-on for the Gold Cup before Saturday’s race: a novice who had raced just four times over fences, never against more than four rivals, back at the track at which he had put up the least impressive performance of his chasing career.

His jumping was less than perfect again on Saturday on his return to Cheltenham. He didn’t make any significant mistakes as such, with the possible exception of his peck on the landing side of the third last fence on the first circuit, which wasn’t really his fault. He just wasn’t fluent.

Compare his jumping with that of those horses who raced around him, with Many Clouds, with Smad Place, with Silviniaco Conti. He simply didn’t flow.

GOLD CUP

The notion that he didn’t stay has been dismissed by many – he is a Stayers’ Hurdle winner after all, and the clue to that race apparently is in the (newly reinstated) title. But it is still possible that Thistlecrack didn’t stay on Saturday. Or at least that he didn’t stay as well as Many Clouds.

He did hit the front on the run-in, so if he saw the trip out fully on the ground, he really should have got home from there. He will probably have better ground in the Gold Cup, but he will also have an extra furlong to travel, and he will have a less forgiving pace. Remember, One Man won a Hennessy and two King Georges, but he failed twice in the Gold Cup through lack of stamina.

Also, Thistlecrack will have to cope with a greater number of rivals, he will probably have to jump well enough among horses, among seasoned pros, to hold his position.

He still only had six rivals on Saturday. He will have more in six weeks’ time and, now that his aura of invincibility is gone, he will probably have more than he might have had.

TRUE ODDS

You can argue that Thistlecrack is getting closer to his true odds for the Gold Cup now, that the 7/4 is a more accurate reflection of his chance than the 4/5 that was on offer before Saturday. But you can also argue that even the 7/4 that is available about him is shorter than it should be.