Weighty issue for Alco team

Ferdy Murphy is less concerned by New Alco’s recent no-show than the weight he must carry in the Boylesports.com Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Saturday.

The useful six-year-old reappeared with a smooth success at Carlisle before pulling up in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup, won by Denman, at the start of the month.

“He’s a light, little-framed horse and he has 11st 4lb on Saturday so consequently that’s more of a worry than how he ran in the Hennessy,” Murphy explained.

“He has a lot of weight but Graham (Lee) has schooled him – he jumped about 20 fences on him – and he worked twice up the all-weather and went really well.

“The good ground will be a big difference and I think you’ll see a completely different horse on Saturday.”

Despite harbouring concerns about the weight New Alco will shoulder, Murphy is buoyed by his charge’s decent form at Cheltenham.

“He’s been very consistent there every run. He loves the hill and is a great little finisher, Carlisle probably showed that as well,” he told At The Races.

“It’s a very competitive race on Saturday but he’s a nice horse to be running.

“If he hadn’t run in the Hennessy I suppose he’d nearly be favourite, but we did run in the Hennessy and he was pulled up.”