BEEF OR SALMON ON COURSE FOR GOLD CUP Leading Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup contender Beef Or Salmon pleased his handler Michael Hourigan on Tuesday morning when doing his penultimate piece of work before the Festival showdown on Thursday week.'He is fit and well and doesn`t need any hardship at this stage,' Hourigan said. 'He will do his last serious bit of work on Wednesday morning over a mile and five furlongs and that will be it.'The rising star of the Irish chasing scene worked eight times over Hourigan`s three-furlong woodchip gallop along with, among others, the veteran Dorans Pride, whom Hourigan confirmed will take his chance in the Christie`s Foxhunter for what will be his seventh trip to the Festival. Clonmel`s Minella (National Hunt Chase) and Hicloi (Royal & SunAlliance Novices` Hurdle) also featured but it was the young pretender, with Hourigan`s son Michael jnr on board, and the old stager, ridden by the trainer`s daughter Kay, who figured at the head of the group. 'Dorans Pride was an unlucky loser of the Gold Cup when he was favourite in 1998, making a bad mistake two-out which cost him his momentum. This fellow has more class and jumps quicker. 'Dorans was a tremendous horse for us but just tended to leave out the odd fence in a race and that cost him dearly at the highest level. 'It would be a wonderful fairytale for Timmy Murphy if he could win the Gold Cup after what he`s been through but I`ll only get excited if the horse wins - you have plenty of disappointments in this game. 'Good ground will suit them all.'
