Edge bound for Gold tilt

Ferdy Murphy, who sent out Truckers Tavern to finish second to Best Mate in the Cheltenham Gold Cup three years ago, is set to run Joes Edge in the totesport-sponsored prize in two weeks’ time.

The nine-year-old, who won the Scottish Grand National as a novice last April, also holds an entry in the William Hill Handicap Chase at the Festival.

“I’d say he’ll probably run in the Gold Cup. It’s a competitive race, but he handled the big field at Ayr so I wouldn’t worry about that in the Gold Cup and they are all good jumpers,” said the West Witton trainer.

“It should be an interesting race, maybe not as classy as most years, but it will be fairly open.”

Murphy is not concerned that Joes Edge has not raced since finishing fourth to Therealbandit at Wetherby on St Stephen's Day. His intended prep run in last month’s Aon Chase at Newbury was lost to the weather.

“The facilities are good enough here so he doesn’t need a racecourse gallop. He worked very well on Tuesday morning so I think he’ll hit the race spot on. It’s just that we need good ground with him,” he said.

“We gave him a few runs earlier in the season to give him more experience. He’s a second-season chaser and needed more runs under his belt. Now we just need some good ground to get him back on track.”

Joes Edge can be backed at 150-1 for the Gold Cup.