Grands Crus has been installed as the 3/1 favourite by Betfred for the first major handicap of the jumps season – the Paddy Power Gold Cup – at Cheltenham in November.
The former top-class staying hurdler will be making his eagerly anticipated return to the track after leaving punters with some severely burnt fingers when disappointing in the RSA Chase in March.
Next in the market at 7/1 is Hunt Ball who notched seven wins from nine outings last season, closely followed by For Non Stop at 9/1 who comes here after running away with the Betfred Old Roan Chase last Saturday.
“Grands Crus has already been the subject of some encouraging reports from David Pipe and if he has any pretensions of winning the King George or the Betfred Gold Cup he must go close off a mark of 157,” said Betfred spokesman Andrew Griffiths.
Diamond Harry has also been popular with each-way punters and he has been nibbled into 8/1 (from 9/1).
Paddy Power Gold Cup – Betfred bet: 3 Grands Crus, 7 Hunt Ball, 9 For Non Stop, 10 Champion Court, Walkon, 14 Aerial, Divers, Edgardo Sol, Menorah, Nadiya De La Vega, 16 Cristal Bonus, Havingotascoobydo, Time For Rupert, 20 Kingsmere, Pepite Rose, Quantitativeeasing, Solix, The Disengager, The Knoxs, Triolo D’Alene, Wishfull Thinking, 25 bar.
