Waley-Cohen: more to come from Long Run
Nicky Henderson’s six-year-old dethroned four-time King George winner Kauto Star with a scintillating display at the Sunbury track, and the blue riband is his next port of call.
“He’s done extremely well since the race and has even perked up and really sharpened himself,” said Waley-Cohen.
“It’s just a case of keeping him calm and getting him to the races.
“I try to get down to Nicky’s once a week and before the race I will try to get down there to school a couple of times and ride work a couple of times.
“At the end of the day it’s just about maintaining the relationship and trying to be there for the key pieces.
“People said he jumped brilliantly in the King George and he did, but he made some errors as well and there is a possibility that he’ll get better than that.
“He ran a fantastic race but he should come on for it and let’s hope he can come out and show that form again.”
While excited about the prospect of landing the most prestigious prize in National Hunt racing, Waley-Cohen is respectful of previous Gold Cup kings Kauto Star, Denman and Imperial Commander.
“There are three previous winners in this year’s Gold Cup and they’ll all be there running big races. A race like that takes so much winning and you need so much luck on the day,” the jockey told Racing UK.
“You open the paper and look at the opposition and you just think it’s a great honour to be among them.”
Timmy Murphy meanwhile has high hopes for Ghizao in the Irish Independent Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham next month.
The seven-year-old, trained by Paul Nicholls, has won two of his three starts over fences and Captain Chris, who has finished second to him on both occasions, was runner-up to Medermit in a hot contest at Sandown on Saturday.
“I was delighted with the way Captain Chris ran again in Sandown so that gives our form a boost,” Murphy told At The Races.
“The only thing is I hope the ground doesn’t come up too quick, but I don’t think it gets too quick anymore.”
