FESTIVAL FEVER STARTS RIGHT HERE

Andrew Newton looks at the trends for the race billed as a Cheltenham Gold Cup trial

- Andrew Newton

Happy January readers - not one of the best months for jumps racing fans but as long as the weather plays ball there are still some nice contests to look forward to, including the last Cheltenham fixture before the Festival, which starts on Tuesday March 12 this year.

Yes, we have New Year's Day action at Prestbury Park as always too, but the 'Trials Day' Cheltenham card, which will be staged on Saturday January 27, is the last before the track team prepare for the biggest meeting of the year.

On a personal note, I've never understood why this meeting isn't held over two days. Surely, they could create a few more races for potential Festival-bound runners, but that's still not the case in 2024 and maybe there is a reason for this that I don't know.

That said, with the meeting only a single day, we are at least packed with some nice contests, one of which is the Cotswold Chase, which is tagged as a Gold Cup trial.

Let's look at the race in a bit more detail.

The race has a 'Gold Cup Trial' billing to it, but that title is certainly more in name than actually producing winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup - this is backed up with only one horse - Looks Like Trouble (2000) going onto glory in the Gold Cup a few months later.

Last year's winner Ahoy Senor, fell late on in the Gold Cup, but it was unlikely to have won.

Before that Looks Like Trouble win, it was the Kim Bailey-trained Master Oats (1995) that used the Cotswold Chase to prepare for his Gold Cup success a few months later.