Gold bid for McGoldrick

Mister McGoldrick is set to have his first start since leaving Sue Smith’s in the VC Casino.com Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Newbury on Saturday.

The 10-year-old has joined Carl Llewellyn’s stable in Upper Lambourn after his owner, Richard Longley, decided a change of scenery may benefit his charge.

He has been running consistently well in the top rank over hurdles and fences for the past three seasons but Llewellyn thinks he may find it hard off his current handicap mark.

“The owners just thought a change of scenery might do him good. He’s a 10-year-old now and he’d been in the same place a long time,” he said.

“He finished third in the Queen Mother last year, admittedly a lot of them fell so it might not have been as high-quality a race as it might have been.

“He’s been below-par so far this season, but it is very hard to find races for horses like him.

“It will be very difficult for him on Saturday as he is still very high in the weights. The handicapper has not dropped him very much yet.”