Commanche Court Ready For Gold Cup Showdown

Ted Walsh believes that his stable star Commanche Court is primed for a another crack at Best Mate in the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup on Thursday week.

Best Mate beat Walsh's ten-year-old by a length and three-quarters in last years running of the race, and even though Commanche Court won on yielding to soft at Navan last time, he prefers good or faster ground which he is likely to get at Cheltenham next week.

Walsh said: 'Ruby rode him and he went a full circuit, about a mile and three-quarters, with True Blue Victory who was ridden by Gary Hutchinson. It was a little bit more than a canter but it was basically a day out.

'He is pretty straight now, he has come on and he seems to be in good form with himself. We just need good ground and if he runs the same race as he did last year I will be quite happy, although a better result would be nice!'

Willie Mullins is determined not to be rushed into a decision on Florida Pearl's participation and said on Monday that the11-year-old may have been flattered by his impressive piece of work after racing at Leopardstown on Sunday.

He said: 'He jumped off in front and you wouldn't normally expect the two back horses (Macs Gildoran and Killultagh Thunder) to get near him. I might have expected Adamant Approach to join him but it would have been hard to see him going past Florida Pearl.

'Florida worked better than I had anticipated but he did have things his own way a bit. However, he came out of it well and I will talk to the owners during the week.

'I have said all along that we wouldn't make a decision until the last minute and I am going to leave things until the end of the week.'

Meanwhile, Barry Geraghty has stepped in for the ride on Best Mate`s brother Cornish Rebel in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper next Wednesday.

The vacancy arose when Ruby Walsh opted for the Willie Mullins-trained Royal Alphabet in the bumper and Paddy Power shorted the Irish runner to 6-1 jointsecond favourite with Cornish Rebel on Monday.

Impressive Newbury debut winner Cornish Rebel, easy to back on Betfair on Sunday, was pushed out to 6-1 with Coral, having disputed favouritism with the Martin Pipe-trained Liberman, who is now clear 4-1 favourite.

Cornish Rebel`s trainer Paul Nicholls said on Monday: 'It was a tricky situation for Ruby and to keep everybody happy there had to be a bit of give and take and both myself and Cornish Rebel`s owner, Graham Roach, are happy we now have Barry.'

Geraghty will also ride Valley Henry in the Gold Cup for the stable, having ridden him in his last three races.