The Paddy Power Gold Cup field is taking shape. 19 horses stood their ground at the confirmation stage on Monday for Saturday’s big handicap chase at Cheltenham at 2.20pm, down from the 41 original entries.
Favourite Meetmebythesea is still there, as are Dan Skelton’s trio, but there are some notable absentees…
Meetmebythesea & madara headline potential field
JP McManus’s Meetmebythesea remains the one they all have to beat. Ben Pauling‘s six-year-old won the Grade 2 Jack Richards Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase at the Festival in March, and the trainer is happy with him, saying: “He’s done plenty of work for the race because we can’t go there half-fit.”
Skelton won this race 12 months ago with Panic Attack, and he has three of the 19. Madara is the shortest of them in the betting after winning the Plate at the Festival and finishing third in the Topham at Aintree. He shaped well when third in a handicap hurdle at Carlisle on 1 November, but owner Bryan Drew said over the weekend that he was pessimistic about him running.
Meanwhile, new recruit Blueking d’Oroux could make his first start for the yard. He won the Rising Stars Novices’ Chase for Paul Nicholls last November and was second in the Grade 1 Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree on his final start for Ditcheat. Riskintheground is the outsider of the trio, but he won the Grade 2 Silver Trophy at Haydock in April and stayed on for third in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on 31 October.
Nicholls won this with Stage Star in 2023 and Il Ridoto in 2024, and may run Quebecois. The seven-year-old was beaten only a head into third in the Ultima at the Festival and went close on his return at Newton Abbot last month, finishing second after a slow jump at the last.
July Flower, Zurich and Release The Beast fly the flag for Ireland
Henry de Bromhead has kept both Zurich and July Flower in the race. Zurich was fifth in the Plate in March and then beaten a neck by Riskintheground in the Silver Trophy, while the mare July Flower was fourth, beaten under a length, in the Grade 1 Champion Novice Chase at Punchestown in April.
The third Irish runner is Paul Nolan’s Release The Beast, who was fourth in the Grand Annual at the Festival.
Jagwar and Regent’s Stroll miss out
The biggest absentees are Jagwar, who was ante-post favourite for this race 12 months ago, and Nicholls’ Regent’s Stroll, who were both among the market leaders but were not confirmed. Last year’s runner-up Vincenzo is also missing, while Harry Fry has favoured Friday’s Shloer Chase for Gidleigh Park.
Paddy Power Gold Cup 2026: the 19 confirmations
Final declarations are on Thursday.
| Horse | Trainer |
|---|---|
| Meetmebythesea | Ben Pauling |
| Madara | Dan Skelton |
| Blueking d’Oroux | Dan Skelton |
| Quebecois | Paul Nicholls |
| O’Moore Park | Martin Keighley |
| Zurich | Henry de Bromhead |
| July Flower | Henry de Bromhead |
| Torneo | Jamie Snowden |
| Matata | Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies |
| Johnnywho | Jonjo & AJ O’Neill |
| Norn Iron | Harry Derham |
| Release The Beast | Paul Nolan |
| Guard Your Dreams | Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies |
| Passing Diamond | Ben Haslam |
| Issam | Tom Symonds |
| Classic Maestro | Jennie Candlish |
| Moon d’Orange | Christian Williams |
| Riskintheground | Dan Skelton |
| Dunkerque | Jennie Candlish |
What the trends say
Dave Young’s trends favour a seven-to-nine-year-old rated between 137 and 147, and only one six-year-old has won in the last ten years, which is a knock against Meetmebythesea. Seven-year-olds have the best record over the last 25 years, and Madara, Blueking d’Oroux, Quebecois, Zurich and July Flower all fit that bill.
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