Joe Tizzard: “I would not swap Native River for any other horse in the race.”

He is going to be ridden aggressively and honestly I would not swap him for any other horse in the race. Obviously it is tough to win this race twice but there are no scars from last year.

Might Bite was at his best last year and we were able to get the better of him at the end. It is a strong Gold Cup this year which so many new faces. We are really happy with Native River though and expect a big performance again.

It is great to get Thistlecrack into a Gold Cup. He ran a cracking race in the King George and we have him as well as he has been for a long time.

Two years ago we would be going into this with a huge chance, regardless of the field as when he won his World Hurdle he was superb.

Injuries have taken their toll though but we have got him back here. We will be following horses through and hopefully staying on in the last couple of furlongs.

The younger horse of the three is Elegant Escape who deserves to take his chance. He has improved throughout the season. He was second in the Ladbroke Trophy and then won the Coral Welsh Grand National.

He arguably ran a career best in the Cotswold Chase. If anything, he just lacks half a gear.

He has to be ridden very aggressively and Tom will need to be on the ball. His best work will be done up the hill and on slow ground, there is no reason why he can’t be there at the finish.

Joe