Is Monty's Star a Gold Cup contender?

Connections of Monty's Star know just what it takes to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but do they have a live contender to thwart the seemingly unstoppable Galopin Des Champs in the Blue Riband this year?

Henry de Bromhead has already saddled one Gold Cup winner for owner Barry Maloney, with Minella Indo scoring in 2021.

Now they are targeting the race once more with Monty's Star, runner-up in the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase in the Cotswolds 12 months ago.

Comparisons with Minella Indo

Given that they race in the same silks, comparisons between Monty's Star and Minella Indo are obvious.

The latter won the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham in 2019 as a rank outsider, was second in the 3m Grade 1 novice chase a year later behind Champ and then won the Gold Cup itself in 2021.

Monty's Star, meanwhile, was pulled up as Stay Away Fay bagged the Albert Bartlett in 2023 and then was beaten just under four lengths as Fact To File scored in the Brown Advisory last March.

Minella Indo had four runs en route to his Gold Cup win. He bagged minor contests at Wexford and Navan, fell in the Savills Chase at Christmas and was then fourth of five as Kemboy won the Irish Gold Cup.

The three-and-a-quarter-mile Gold Cup test brought out a career-best as he fended off stablemate A Plus Tard - the horse that would win by 15 lengths a year later - with hat-trick seeking Al Boum Photo back in third.

Now Monty's Star faces his own treble-chasing Gold Cup star in Galopin Des Champs.

He's just the second horse since Best Mate to even attempt three straight wins and, on form, he looks much better equipped than Al Boum Photo was in 2021.

Monty's Star needs to find extra

After Cheltenham last March it was on to Punchestown where Monty's Star played second fiddle to Spillane's Tower, another outstanding novice.

That form is solid, but he's without a win in two attempts this season. That is not to say he's without positives.

He was favourite on his comeback at New Year's Day in Tramore, a race often used by connections of Gold Cup contenders in recent times, but he just couldn't rein in the front-running Embassy Gardens.

He had clear daylight behind him, however, and Monty's Star did at least reverse those placings in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown when they were fifth and sixth.

Galopin Des Champs was imperious in that race, doing enough to potentially worry Fact To File out of a fourth clash between their pair this season, as the JP McManus-owned star is being touted for the Ryanair Chase instead.

Monty's Star was just under eight lengths adrift and has ground to make up at Cheltenham.

Verdict

De Bromhead will have been pinpointing this race in the calendar for 12 months and the County Waterford trainer has a proven track record when it comes to targeting Cheltenham.

That is a positive and connections will hope that the extra two furlongs in the Gold Cup may help a horse for whom stamina always appears to have been a key trait.

Owner Barry Maloney has never been one to shirk a challenge and the Gold Cup is seemingly the only show in town for him with Monty's Star.

Galopin Des Champs is a formidable obstacle, but that is true for any horse who lines up in the Gold Cup.

If he runs to his best, the others are probably playing for places, but it's far from inconceivable that Monty's Star could prove to be 'best of the rest'.

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