Gigginstown happy to play the waiting game with Gold Cup plans

Racing manager Eddie O’Leary insists no decisions will be made until Festival week on which horses represent Gigginstown House Stud in the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup.

It is 10 years since Ryanair supremo Michael O’Leary’s racing empire claimed Gold Cup glory with War Of Attrition, but the team have every chance of repeating the feat next month after assembling a formidable hand of staying chasers that includes Gordon Elliott’s ante-post favourite Don Cossack and the Willie Mullins-trained Don Poli.

The Gigginstown-owned Road To Riches, trained by Noel Meade, was third in the blue riband last March but was a beaten favourite in Saturday’s Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown, leading to suggestions he could be rerouted to the shorter Ryanair Chase – a race the sponsors have not yet won.