Road To Riches up for the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown

Road To Riches is also the highest rated in the line-up off a rating of 165, and that gives him 5lb and upwards in hand on all his rivals and is going to make him extremely difficult to beat.

The Gigginstown House Stud owned gelding is currently 12/1 with Coral for the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday, March 18th, but also holds an entry in the Ryanair Chase on March 17th for which is 4/1.

Given that Gigginstown have two of the market principals for the Gold Cup in the shape of Don Cossack and Don Poli, it may well be that Road To Riches ends up going down the Ryanair route if he comes through this test with flying colours.

Gilgamboa can go better than recent runs

Should Road To Riches fail to live up to expectations, then Gilgamboa may well be the one to take advantage.

The Enda Bolger trained gelding developed into a very smart novices chaser last season when winning three of his six starts, and showed a gutsy attitude in the last of those when beating The Tullow Tank in a Grade 1 contest at Fairyhouse,

It was a performance which suggested Gilgamboa needed keeping firmly onside, and that view was confirmed on return to action when third to Djakadam in a Grade 1 contest over 2m 4f at Punchestown.

Comeback run full of promise

Gilgamboa raced just off the pace, and after a mistake at the seventh kept on nicely to be gaining all the way to the line and beaten 13 1/4 lengths.

The eight year-old also ran well last time out under a big weight when fourth of 28 in a valuable handicap over course and distance, so looks the type who is open to further progress.

Whether can Gilgamboa stay 3m is the only question mark, but it was heavy going in that previous Leopardstown run and the ground this time is simply soft.

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Check out more horse racing betting tips and previews at our dedicated section.

Coral’s top tip: Road To Riches is the class act in the line-up, so rates a solid bet to land the spoils. Gilgamboa is open to further progress and could prove the biggest danger.