Longer trip set to suit Grand Jesture Henry de Bromhead expects the longer distance to be in Grand Jesture's favour in the Gold Cup at Sandown on Saturday. The seven-year-old put up a commendable display on his first race in Britain when runner-up to The Druids Nephew in the Ultima Business Solutions Handicap Chase at last month's Cheltenham Festival. "He had a good run in Cheltenham. I'm hoping the step up in trip will suit him," said the Co Waterford handler. Paint The Clouds bids to end what has been a highly-successful season for trainer Warren Greatrex. The Upper Lambourn handler celebrated his first Cheltenham Festival triumph with Cole Harden in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle and Paint The Clouds goes for glory in the prestigious handicap chase. He has shown himself to be one of the best hunter chasers around and won four races in a row in the hands of top amateur Sam Waley-Cohen before finishing a creditable third to On The Fringe in the Cheltenham Foxhunter. The association continues as Paint The Clouds makes his handicap chase debut off bottom weight. "He's got in off a nice weight, 10st, and Sam claims another 3lb off that. He'll think he's loose," said Greatrex. "He gets the trip. I'm hoping they won't get too much rain, which I don't think they will. It will be good ground and that will be perfect for him. He goes there a fresh horse. "He's in great nick and is as good as I've ever had him. He thrives when the weather gets warmer and (in the) last week he's come on great. "He's got to do it in handicap company instead of hunter chase company, but he has run in champion hunter chases. "He wouldn't be fazed by it all. He travels very well, he jumps well, he stays well and ticks all the right boxes." Lucy Wadham has a leading fancy in Le Reve and will be relieved when race time comes around as she has kept the seven-year-old for this prize and resisted the temptation of going for other big races. The Newmarket trainer believes Le Reve's liking for the Esher track will be a major plus as his two successes this season have come there and has deliberately saved him since he finished second to Rocky Creek in the BetBright Chase at Kempton in February. "It's been agony waiting for this, watching all the other good staying chases and thinking we could be running in them," Wadham said. "We toyed with the idea of the Irish National but the weights rocketed up and we kept to our original plan. He loves Sandown, it really suits him, and he'll be fine on good ground as he has a beautiful action. "We're looking at him as a National horse for next year but as he's only seven, we weren't tempted by it this year. "We've got the man-of-the-moment on him in Leighton (Aspell) having won the last two Nationals, but he's been our man-of-the-moment for 20 years!" Nicky Henderson reports Bobs Worth to be at the top of his game as the Seven Barrows trainer attempts to supplement
