Imperial Cup as competitive as ever

Buzz horse Mr Mole could set up a lucrative Cheltenham bonus bid with victory in the £70,000 Paddy Power Imperial Cup at Sandown on Saturday.

Although a valuable contest in its own right, an enduring appeal of this race is the additional £75,000 on offer from the sponsors should the winner follow up in any race at the Festival next week.

The Paul Nicholls-trained Mr Mole, a ready winner on heavy ground at Taunton last month and conqueror of subsequent Grade One winner Melodic Rendezvous in October, does hold an entry in the Vincent O'Brien County Hurdle next Friday.

He had an entry elsewhere on the Sandown card but connections plumped for a tilt at the big handicap.

Nicholls said: "He is in good order - the more it rains between now and Saturday the better as he loves soft ground and we are really looking forward to running him."

His rider Tony McCoy said: "I questioned his resolution a bit at Wincanton (when second), but he was better at Taunton.

"It'll be a big field and a competitive handicap, so he'll need to be on his A-game."

Emma Lavelle retains faith in Claret Cloak, who has had just two starts this season, finishing a most promising third to Raya Star on the first of those runs at Ascot in November.

He was quietly fancied in some quarters for the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury last month but was ultimately well beaten behind My Tent Or Yours.

He is another who could go to Cheltenham should things go his way at the weekend.

Andover trainer Lavelle said: "He's certainly got a race like this in him, I'm sure of that.

"We've left him in the County Hurdle because were he to win this weekend and he didn't have an option at Cheltenham to chase the bonus, we'd never forgive ourselves.

"If he wins, we'd probably have a go."

David Pipe sent out Gaspara to land the Imperial-Fred Winter double in 2007, while Ashkazar swept to a convincing Sandown success 12 months later before finishing second to Crack Away Jack in the Fred Winter.

Not only has David bagged the bonus, his father Martin teamed up with McCoy in 1998 to seal Imperial Cup-County Hurdle glory with Blowing Wind.

That win was not the first for Pond House, either, as Pipe snr - who, fittingly, owned Gaspara - also secured Imperial Cup-Coral Cup honours with Olympian in 1993, Peter Scudamore doing the steering on that occasion.

This year's Pipe representatives are Kazlian, last seen finishing down the field in The Ladbroke at Ascot and the mount of Tom Scudamore, and top-weight Tanerko Emery, on whom Kieron Edgar takes off 7lb.

Owner Dai Walters said of the latter, who has three Cheltenham entries: "He's carrying top weight (11st 12lb) but he's improved and I think he should run quite well.

"To be fair I wanted to run in the Welsh Champion and David Pipe wanted to keep him for Cheltenham, but he should have improved for that run.

"If he were to run well, I would definitely be thinking about Cheltenham and if he wins on Saturday, there is a bonus and you'd have to go for it, but I'll listen to the trainer as I'm a civil engineer and not a racehorse trainer.

"As for the ground, I think that he would run better in soft ground."