Donn McClean

THE Rewards4Racing Novices’ Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March could hold the key to this afternoon’s Paddy Power Gold Cup.

Present View won the race at the Festival, and there was a lot to like about the performance that he put in in so doing.

He travelled well through the race, he travelled like the most likely winner from a fair way out, even if he only got home by a half-length in the end from Attaglance.

Present View is only six, he has raced just five times over fences. He ran a fine race on his debut this term in a two-mile novices’ hurdle at Cheltenham’s October meeting. He probably would have beaten Vicente had he not made a bad mistake at the final flight, and Vicente went on to run a good second to the exciting Blaklion in a novices’ hurdle at Chepstow two weeks later.

Jamie Snowden’s horse came home with a cut leg that day, but his trainer reports that he has recovered well from that, and it is not surprising that he is favourite for today’s race.

On the negative side, however, he does have to progress again if he is to win today off a mark of 144, 7lb higher than the mark off which he won the Rewards4Racing race. Also, by Presenting, he may not want the ground to be too soft.

By contrast, Buywise should not mind soft ground. On the contrary, it should help him. He was only fifth behind Present View in that novices’ handicap chase at the Festival and, a little unfairly on the face of it, he meets the winner on 5lb worse terms. But that does not tell the full story.

For starters, his jumping at the Festival was really untidy. He made three significant errors on the way around, and he made his worst mistake at the second last fence when he was back in contention. That ended any chance that he harboured of winning the race, but he still ran on really well over the final fence and up the hill to take fifth, just seven lengths behind the winner.

He went back to Cheltenham in April and he put in a much better - if still not quite perfect - round of jumping to win a decent novices’ handicap chase, beating Astracad by nine lengths with Real Milan back in third. It was for that performance that he earned his hike of 12lb from the handicapper.

Like Present View, Evan Williams’ horse made his debut this term in a two-mile novices’ hurdle, and he won it. Over a trip and at a track - Ludlow - that should have been too sharp for him, he beat Area Fifty One, a horse who is rated 105 on the flat and who had already had the benefit of a run this season.

Also, Williams said beforehand that his horse was not fully fit, that he would come on a lot for the run, and he lamented afterwards that he did not have a harder race, that he still may not be fully fit after it.

Evan Williams is not a trainer who talks up his horses, but you sensed during the week that he was very happy with Buywise, despite his expressed reservations about his fitness.

Buywise goes well at Cheltenham, he stays this trip well and he handles soft ground. His jumping is obviously a concern, but he was much better in April than he was in March, and the softening ground should dilute the importance of sharp, accurate jumping. He looks over-priced at 7/1.

Exitas also looked over-priced at 8/1 in the Greatwood Hurdle tomorrow. Phil Middleton’s horse was completing a hat-trick when he won at Sandown last Saturday.

He travelled really well into the race from the rear that day, took it up after the second last and, despite running down the final flight to his left, kept on really well up the run-in to win well.

He handled the soft ground really well that day - his trainer had always maintained that he wanted soft ground - so the further rain that is forecast for tomorrow is a positive.

The handicapper raised him 14lb for Saturday’s win but, because tomorrow’s race was an early-closing race, he gets to race under just a 5lb penalty.

Rider Charlie Deutsch has had his claim reduced from 7lb to 5lb since Saturday but, even so, it still means that Exitas is effectively 7lb well in.

The Exit To Nowhere gelding is only six and he has raced just six times over hurdles, so he still has bags of scope for progression. He has a lovely racing weight - he will actually be carrying just 10st 5lb - and the fact that this race comes just eight days after his last race is of no concern - he won a good handicap hurdle at Market Rasen in September just six days after he had won a handicap at Uttoxeter. He could run a big race.

Sire De Grugy’s absence from the Shloer Chase tomorrow opens the race up as a betting medium, and Uxizandre may be the one to take advantage.

J.P. McManus’ horse is a high-class chaser, as he proved when he ran a cracker in the Grade 1 JLT Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March. He led from early and it looked like he might hold on when he landed over the last in front.

In the end, he went down by just three-quarters of a length to Taquin Du Seuil. Then he went and beat Oscar Whisky and Arkle winner Western Warhorse in the Grade 1 Manifesto Chase at Aintree.

The Alan King-trained gelding was a little disappointing on his debut this term at Aintree behind Wishfull Thinking, but that run should have brought him forward for tomorrow.

The drop down to two miles is not ideal on the face of it, but they were finishing really tired at Cheltenham yesterday, and stamina is going to be at a premium today and tomorrow, even over two miles. We know that he goes well at the track and, in A.P. McCoy’s absence, Barry Geraghty is a great booking.