When A Plus Tard and Rachael Blackmore charged 15 lengths clear of Minella Indo, the defending champion, in last year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, most of the 65,000 in attendance would surely have agreed it was one of the more memorable Festival moments of recent times.
But how soon we seem to forget. Twelve months and one race later, A Plus Tard is an 11-2 shot for Friday’s renewal of Cheltenham’s showpiece event. Galopin Des Champs, whose dramatic exit at the last when well clear of the field in last year’s Turners Novice Chase drew the biggest groan of the week from the stands, is a clear favourite to seize A Plus Tard’s crown.
