All eyes will be fixed on Sandown at 4:10 as the UK trainers championship comes down to who will take the bet365 Chase.

Before the start of the day, very little separated Dan Skelton and Willie Mullins in the race for the UK trainers championship, and it looks set that this race will settle it once and for all.

But who will be crowned the 24/25 UK Champion Trainer?

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bet365 Gold Cup runner by runner guide

Twenty runners line up, and Willie Mullins is responsible for half the field, so it does look likely that he will be able to claim back-to-back bet365 Gold Cups, or is there one lurking from the UK that will upset the Mullins party?

5 High Class Hero

• Age: 8
• Weight: 10st 8lb
• Form: P-2212
• Rating: 148
• Jockey: Paul Townend
• Trainer: Willie Mullins
• Odds: 9/2

The first of the ten Willie Mullins runners, and the choice of Paul Townend, but I am not convinced that his set-up will play to the strengths of High Class Hero.

He has run well in all his three chase starts to date, winning one when getting the better of Loughglynn, but he doesn’t scream of a horse who will relish this challenge. I’m yet to be convinced of High Class Hero, and he is passed over here, especially at his skimpy odds.

Star rating:

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4 Dancing City

• Age: 8
• Weight: 10st 11lb
• Form: -116F
• Rating: 151
• Jockey: Jonjo O’Neill Jr
• Trainer: Willie Mullins
• Odds: 6/1

So much hope rested on the shoulders of Dancing City coming into this season on the back of his three Grade 1 novice hurdle wins last season (beat High Class Hero), and even with two wins to his name over fences, he has yet to hit the heights that were hoped.

He bombed out at the Cheltenham Festival again this season but looked more like his old self when powering through the Grade 1 Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree, only to fall at the 14th fence. So much talent is waiting to be released over fences with Dancing City, and this set-up and trip could set him alight around here.

He jumped out to his right at Aintree, so returning to a right-handed track should be a positive. Barring accidents, a fully on-song Dancing City could prove hard to beat on favourable mark.

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1 Grangeclare West

• Age: 9
• Weight: 12st 0lb
• Form: -P6253
• Rating: 168
• Jockey: Brian Hayes
• Trainer: Willie Mullins
• Odds: 7/1

Grangeclare West is the clear class angle in the race and has some top Grade 1 form to his name this season, notably when finishing just over four lengths off Galopin Des Champs when taking second place in the Irish Gold Cup at the Dublin Racing Festival.

But his third in the Aintree Grand National at the beginning of the month is a case of what could have been if Grangeclare West hadn’t nodded on landing at the back of the last. He put in a monumental effort at Aintree and has a massive chance here, but whether that race has left its mark is yet to be seen.

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2 Minella Cocooner

• Age: 9
• Weight: 11st 1lb
• Form: -58947
• Rating: 155
• Jockey: Danny Mullins
• Trainer: Willie Mullins
• Odds: 15/2

Minella Cocooner took this race in gritty determination last season off a 4 lb lower mark. He’s had a slow start to his season, but you always suspected that he would be trained to peak at this stage of the season, and it nearly paid off in the Aintree Grand National, only for Johnny Burkes’s saddle to slip early on.

How close would he have finished if it wasn’t for that? Minella Cocooner has already proven that he can back up a run that looked to take a lot out of him, as seen when he won this last season on the back of a third in the 2024 Irish Grand National. You would be foolish to rule him out; he is a massive danger to all off this mark.

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10 Resplendent Grey

• Age: 7
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: 112244
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Sean Bowen
• Trainer: Olly Murphy
• Odds: 8/1

Five runs over fences so far in Resplendent Grey’s career has resulted in one win and a string of solid efforts. He ran a strange race in the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, where he went from looking well beaten before three out to a strong running on fourth at the finish.

There are a few with a lot more class than Resplendent Grey, but not many will have his staying power which will narrow the class gap with some. But for all that, he does look short in the betting for what he has achieved so far.

On the plus side, he has the services of champion jockey elect Sean Bowen. If he can keep tabs on the leaders in the latter stages of the race, no one will finish stronger than this grey, but he does need to find more improvement.

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19 Hoe Joly Smoke

• Age: 7
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: 2-2151
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Harry Skelton
• Trainer: Dan Skelton
• Odds: 14/1

The only runner in the lineup that has a chance of getting Dan Skelton over the line in the trainer’s championship, but Hoe Joly Smoke needs to pull out a massive career best. But this lightly raced seven-year-old is two from two at Sandown.

His was over five lengths behind Resplendent Grey when they clashed at Uttoxeter at the beginning of the season. He was sent off a strong 13/8 favourite that day, so he does have work to turn things around with Resplendent Grey, but you can pin your hopes on Hoe Joly Smoke’s form at Sandown.

There is every reason that he can find a lot more here, but in a field stacked with classy individuals, he may find it hard to land a serious blow.

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17 Transmission

• Age: 8
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: -21265
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Conor O’Farrell
• Trainer: Neill Mulholland
• Odds: 14/1

A thorough stayer with form lines with the now Irish Grand National hero Haiti Couleurs (over two lengths off him in December) ,but Transmission was sent off as favourite for the National Hunt Chase in which Haiti Couleurs won.

The slight worry with Transmission is that all of his five chase starts have been at Cheltenham, and Sandown brings a totally different test to what he faced at Cheltenham.

Now, that is only a slight worry as he does have solid form over hurdles racing right-handed and ran a solid race on his only visit to Sandown in a Grade 3 Handicap Hurdle. The class may be lacking, but the staying power is there. He has a solid each-way chance.

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3 Threeunderthrufive

• Age: 10
• Weight: 11st 0lb
• Form: 10-32P
• Rating: 154
• Jockey: Harry Cobden
• Trainer: Paul Nicholls
• Odds: 16/1

Threeunderthrufive has been in good form this season, bar his blip in the Aintree Grand National, which you can forgive, but he was well beaten in last season’s running of the bet365 Gold Cup off a 2 lb higher. It’s hard to see him good enough at the age of ten and off this mark to be a major threat here. He’s easily passed over today.

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8 Lombron

• Age: 6
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: 0P-421
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Rachael Blackmore
• Trainer: Willie Mullins
• Odds: 20/1

Lombron got off the mark at the third time of asking over fences when sent off odds on at Clonmel last month. His debut run, when just over nine lengths off the now Brown Advisory winner Lecky Watson, is a strong piece of form, but even so, this is a tough assignment for his handicap chase debut. He’s a horse with a future, but this race may come a year too soon for Lombron.

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11 O’Moore Park

• Age: 8
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: 0FF432
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Sean O’Keeffe
• Trainer: Willie Mullins
• Odds: 20/1

Recent form gives O’Moore Park a lot to find with most of his rivals, and it’s hard to see him being good enough to trouble the principles. He’s easily passed over today.

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14 Collectors Item

• Age: 8
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: -1521P
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Kevin Brogan
• Trainer: Jonjo & A J O’Neill
• Odds: 25/1

The fact that Jonjo O’Neill Jr has been allowed to ride Dancing City instead of his stables runner would not fill you with confidence if you were a backer of Collectors Item. But that said, his win in the Somerset National and his second to Mr Vango over course and distance would give Collectors Item an outside chance of sneaking into a place. He’s a lively outsider with a realistic place chance.

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16 Kings Threshold

• Age: 8
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: -65111
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Ben Jones
• Trainer: Emma Lavelle
• Odds: 25/1

Kings Threshold has been somewhat of a late developer as he has taken off over fences recently, winning his last three starts. He had been well beaten by Hoe Joly Smoke when they met at this track in December, but the Emma Lavelle-trained gelding is at the peak of his powers now, which gives you hope that he can get closer to that rival here.

Given Kings Threshold’s hold-up tactics, he will be given every chance to see out this new trip, and given his rich vein of form, he has a realistic chance of finishing in the top half of the field.

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18 Klarc Kent

• Age: 9
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: 0P9082
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Kieran Callaghan (5)
• Trainer: Willie Mullins
• Odds: 25/1

Having spent the majority of the last twelve months in the doldrums, Klarc Kent bounced right back to form when finishing a good 2nd to Captain Cody in the Scottish Grand National (ten lengths back to 3rd).

That 2nd place finish must have taken a lot out of Klarc Kent, and you would be worried about how he will come out of the Scottish Grand National, given that he flopped on his next start after finishing 4th in the 2024 running of the Scottish Grand National.

But, if he can show the same form here, then there is no reason why he can not put up another big effort. But given his patchy record, that is a big if.

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9 Olympic Man

• Age: 8
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: -P4617
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Jonathan Burke
• Trainer: Willie Mullins
• Odds: 25/1

Jumping has been Olympic Man’s achilles heel since going chasing. But his keenness to get on with things when sent off favourite for the Scottish Grand National cost him at Ayr. There will always be a risk attached when backing Olympic Man, but if he puts it all together, I do not doubt that he is much better than his current mark. He’s risky, but he is at a price where the risk may be worth taking.

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6 Victtorino

• Age: 7
• Weight: 10st 8lb
• Form: P-311P
• Rating: 148
• Jockey: Charlie Deutsch
• Trainer: Venetia Williams
• Odds: 25/1

After another fine season for Victtorino that has been highlighted by back-to-back wins at Ascot, but he now looks to be in the grips of the handicapper. He is on a career-high mark, and it would be a shock for him to walk away with the main prize in a race of this standard.

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15 Chosen Witness

• Age: 8
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: -073UP
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Kevin Sexton
• Trainer: Willie Mullins
• Odds: 33/1

Chosen Witness is one of these horses that will flatter to deceive. He won a handicap hurdle at 16/1 at the Scottish Grand National meeting last season but hasn’t kicked on since going chasing.

He was quietly fancied for the Scottish Grand National itself this season but put in another disappointing display and was pulled up before two out. It will take Chosen Witness to leave all previous form behind to play a realistic role in today’s finish.

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13 Spanish Harlem

• Age: 7
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: -P074C
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Sam Twiston-Davies
• Trainer: Willie Mullins
• Odds: 33/1

Nine chase starts that have spanned over sixteen months have yet to see Spanish Harlem finish better than 3rd in his races. He is a horse who must show a lot more at home than he does on the track because he doesn’t often go unbacked in big handicaps, and the support came to the fore once again in the Scottish Grand National.

He was carried out at the fifteenth fence, so that was no fault of his own, and you may see some supporters come back for more. But patience must be wearing thin with them, and he will find easier opportunities than this to get off the mark over fences.

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12 Goshen

• Age: 9
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: 1-P353
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Nial Houlihan
• Trainer: Gary & Josh Moore
• Odds: 50/1

If there were a cult hero in horse racing, then Goshen would be that guy. We have come far since his heartbreaking unseating of Jamie Moore in the 2020 Triumph Hurdle, but he has been a credit to his connections over the years. But what this will ask of Goshen I’m sure he will not like. He is known to be claustrophobic, and given that there will be very little daylight here and that he is trying a trip that isn’t sure to suit him, it’s very hard to make a case for Goshen here.

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20 Knockanore

• Age: 8
• Weight: 10st 2lb
• Form: 213316
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Freddie Mitchell (3)
• Trainer: Ryan Potter
• Odds: 50/1

Having bolted up in the Eider Chase at Newcastle, Knockanore was sent off as a well-backed favourite for the Midlands National but never looked comfortable at any stage of the race.

His mark of 142 requires him to pull out a bit more to trouble for the places, but his demolition job in the Eider Chase is still fresh in the memory. If he can find that form here, he could be running on for a place in the closing stages.

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7 Monbeg Genius

• Age: 9
• Weight: 10st 5lb
• Form: P-241P
• Rating: 142
• Jockey: Richie McLernon
• Trainer: Jonjo & A J O’Neill
• Odds: 50/1

Monbeg Genius is the ‘what could have been’ horse, and I’m thinking, how long it will be before he gets pulled up. He has won this season, but this mark is beyond him in a race of this nature.

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bet365 Gold Cup verdict

With Willie Mullins having the top four in the betting, it’s a matter of which of his ten runners will take the bet365 Gold Cup. I will be siding with the three-time Grade 1 winning novice hurdler, DANCING CITY.

We have yet to see the best of Dancing City over fences this season, and we may have been about to witness a blistering display at Aintree only for his fall. Dancing City is on a mark that he can show he is much better than, and if he can finally put it all together when it matters over fences, this race sets up for a horse of his quality and staying power.

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