Sam Twiston-Davies out to Whack big race rivals at Cheltenham - including his old man Nigel!

Sam Twiston Davies does his best to get the better of his opponents – including his old man in trainer Nigel – in the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham.

But despite siding with The Real Whacker in his father’s hope in the big race Torn And Frayed – a horse won by Sam when the gelding was last seen – the jockey knows his father will cheer him on if he is in the line of fire during the race-in.

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“With my dad, it’s always funny,” Sam told me.

“Even though we’ll be incredibly competitive with each other, and I’ll do anything to win myself and he’ll be the same, it’s a situation where he’ll be happy for me if I win and I’ll be happy for him if he wins.”

“It’s very special when we come together and do it together – as we did with Little Josh in this race in 2010 – but if either of us wins it on Saturday we’ll get a result.”

This year’s Paddy Power, the live show from Cheltenham on ITV, may not be the biggest field in the history of racing, but it is full of potential quality and number two of this year’s Cheltenham Festival Novice champions in Stage Star and The Real Whacker.

Throw in Notlongtillmay, who chased Stage Star in the Grade 1 Turners Novices Chase, and The Unexpected Party, who stuffed the impressive recent winner of Wincanton Knappers Hill at Chepstow and fourth Il Ridoto last year, and you’ll have plenty of mysteries to solve .

Not to mention Fugitive, runner-up to Seddon in the Magners Plate Handicap at this track, and Angels Breath, who once looked like a potential star to Nicky Henderson and is now in the hands of Sam Thomas.

The Real Whacker is the only horse to beat Gold Cup hopeful Jerry Colombi when he denied that animal by a head in the Grade 1 Advisory Novices’ Chase at Brown in March.

Twiston Davies added: “Real Whacker was fantastic at the Festival and at Dipper early in the season and I have been looking forward to riding him since Brown Advisory.

“He’s great at Cheltenham, but it’s a tough race and he gives a lot of weight at the start of the season. However, he’s a classy horse and I’m looking forward to him.”

Stage Star is represented by champion trainer Paul Nicholls, who ironically last claimed this award with Twiston Davies on top via Caid du Berlais in 2014. Al Veroff is the only other winner of the event.

There is no doubt Nicholls believes Stage Star is a good prospect, and he was a decent novice hurdler on the day when Grade 1 Challow was relegated to Newbury from the very talented West Balboa who broke through at Aintree last weekend.

A seven-year-old could be good enough, as is Unexpected Party, a strong combination from jockey trainers Harry and Dan Skelton. However, I just wonder if it was his experience that won the day at Chepstow where Nappers Hill was making his chasing debut.

I suspect Nicholls will think I’m crazy, but the one who interests me anyway is Il Rodotto under youngster Freddie Gyngell who unseats a very useful 5lbs.

Cobden was at the helm of Il Rodoto when it was fourth in this behind Ga Law last year, and with that claim in mind, he is now one pound lower in the rankings.

No fewer than five of Il Rodoto’s last seven starts have come at Cheltenham, and his numbers read 8-4-4-1-6 at off-track markings between 139 and 146, a number he was saddled with when he finished a good sixth in Race. The Magners painting of the fugitive is a few places ahead of it.

He’s actually down to 139 today, he had to scream and oddly enough he’s a year younger than Stage Star even though he has more experience over fences.

Another great runner on TV today is one-off Gold Cup hopeful Chantry House, who could easily be entered in the Paddy Power Games Handicap Hurdle over three miles.

Curiously, Chantry House has not cleared the hurdles since a third for his stable companion Shishkin in the Senior Novices’ Hurdle.

I think this is interesting because the JP McManus gelding didn’t look quite natural over fences. He has a mark of 147 this afternoon, and if he is close to his best the first time around, he could be a player.

The stage is set for a busy day in Cheltenham. Let’s hope Il Ridoto is the star!

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