Timeform: Long Run not at top yet

TIMEFORM’S Simon Walker believes Long Run needs to improve if he is to win the totesport Gold Cup at Cheltenham in March.

Nicky Henderson’s six-year-old gelding was an emphatic winner of the William Hill King George VI Chase at the weekend, beating Riverside Theatre in second and hot-favourite Kauto Star in third.

Many pundits have suggested that the race signalled a changing of the guard; however Walker says that this is not totally borne out by the Timeform figures.