Kevin Blake's Big Race Verdict: Lets Go Champ can land knockout blow in Paddy Power Gold Cup

• Kevin Blake previews the Paddy Power Gold Cup

• Irish raider Lets Go Champ the pick of the bunch

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Paul Nicholls Superboost

Betfair Ambassador Paul Nicholls saddles the favourite, Ginny's Destiny, in today's feature race, the Paddy Power Gold Cup at 14:20 and the Betfair Sportsbook have boosted the horse's price to finish in the top four from 8/151.53 to 1/12.00.

Having finished in the first two in all of his last five starts Ginny's Destiny looks to have an excellent chance of going close today, so to take advantage of this super-boosted price just click on the odds in the below betslip to go directly to the pre-loaded betslip.

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There are a few different meetings that attempt to make claim as being the signal of the start of the "proper" jumps season, but the November meeting at Cheltenham perhaps has more legitimate claims than most. The standard of horse that takes in this meeting may have dropped in the last 20 years or so and this season's meeting will undoubtedly be impacted by the unseasonably dry weather, but it will still produce three days of high-octane National Hunt action at what is one of the great natural amphitheatres in the sporting world.

The main event on Saturday's card is the Paddy Power Gold Cup Handicap Chase (14:20) and despite worries about the ground, it was great to see 15 runners declared. With Protektorat heading the weights off a lofty rating of 167, nothing rated lower than 141 is in the handicap proper, so it very much has the shape of the top-end handicap it is billed as being.

Paddy Power Gold Cup Pace Map

In terms of the likely pace in the race, Ginny's Destiny was a habitual front runner last season. Mind, this is a more competitive race than he generally contested as a novice and it is also his seasonal return, so his connections might not wish to take a lead-at-all-costs approach with him if one or more of his rivals competes for the early lead. That pressure could well come from Editeur Du Gite, a regular pace pusher at shorter trips that most certainly has the ability to lead this field. Mind, his connections may not wish to ride him in his typical style over this longer trip, as he has yet to fully prove himself over it at this level. Protektorat usually races prominently and can push the pace. Weveallbeencaught has been prominent in his last two starts.

All told, much will depend on how aggressive the connections of Ginny's Destiny and Editeur Du Gite want to be with them. Both are regular front runners with more than enough pace to lead this race, but both have potential reasons attached to them why their connections might not want to be aggressive with them. If they drive on, the race will be run at a solid pace, but if they choose to be less aggressive, the pace will be notably less strong and will make it difficult for those held up off the pace to get into it around a course and distance that is often pace favouring.

Let's Go Champ can land knockout blow

With this in mind, I'm inclined to hedge my bets and side with one that will be ridden prominently and will be adaptable regardless of how the pace pans out in front of him. That runner is the Henry De Bromhead-trained Lets Go Champ.

The son of Jeremy is a nine-year-old, but don't let that mislead you as he is very unexposed for a horse of his age. He has only had nine starts on the track in his life with five of them coming over fences. He bumped into some very smart opponents in his first two starts over fences last season, but rather than persevere in maiden chases, his connections decided to go straight into handicap chases. A fine run in a small-field handicap chase at Limerick was followed by an authoritative victory in a valuable handicap chase at the Punchestown Festival in May. Not a bad way to break his maiden over fences! On that occasion he raced prominently and travelled strongly despite his relative inexperience and put the race to bed in good style on the run-in.

A 9lb rise for that victory was well earned and his connections understandably decided to aim him at the Galway Plate three months later. That is one of the most fiercely-competitive handicap chases of the season and is run around a track that is notoriously tricky. Lets Go Champ was sent off at 10/1 on the day and ran a solid race to finish sixth, beaten just under nine lengths. It is a possibility that the longer trip (he has never won beyond 2m 4f) might not have been ideal for him, but either way he ran a fine race.

Still unexposed, one can take it for granted that Henry De Bromhead has had this race in mind for him since Galway. De Bromhead has his team in absolutely electric form at present and that can only be taken as a positive. As mentioned earlier, his running style of following up the leaders will allow his rider to adjust to whatever the main potential front runners choose to do and have him in a position to strike regardless of the pace. He looks to be a fair price and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him shorter.

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