Fact To File Gold Cup call to be left late

Connections of Fact To File will leave it late before deciding whether he will be supplemented for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The JP McManus-owned gelding was a nine-length winner of the Ryanair Chase at the Festival last year, but thrust himself into the picture for the blue riband with an impressive success in the Irish Gold Cup, where he left his esteemed stablemate and dual Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs trailing in his wake.

The Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old would need to be added at a cost of £25,000 to the Gold Cup, for which he is generally a 4-1 chance, while he is odds-on in the Ryanair market.

A Fact To File decision could also dictate Festival plans for Nicky Henderson’s Jonbon, with the 12-time Grade One winner holding entries in the Ryanair Chase and Queen Mother Champion Chase.

McManus’ racing manager, Frank Berry, said: “It (supplementing) will be a last-minute decision, right up to the six-day stage.

“Everything is under consideration, with Jonbon and all.”