Tidal Bay wins bet365 Gold Cup Tidal Bay (9-1) bounced back to form with a facile win in the bet365 Gold Cup Chase at Sandown. Now in the care of Paul Nicholls, the nine-year-old jumped superbly throughout under Daryl Jacob and moved through to press Roalco De Farges for the lead at the final fence. The top-weight flew the obstacle and stormed clear up the run-in for a big-race double for trainer and jockey following the earlier win of Sanctuaire in the Celebration Chase. Philip Hobbs' charge (7-1) ran a blinder in second, and was well clear of Martin Keighley's Any Currency (16-1) in third. Fourth home was Dessie Hughes' Vic Venturi (25-1), whilst fifth place went to another Nicholls runner, Aldertune. Favourite Le Beau Bai tried to make most of the running but was fairly well-held in the end having been headed on the final circuit. Jacob said: "The horse gave me a great ride, I just sat there and pointed him in the right direction. "He always travelled well and jumped great. Another fine team effort at Ditcheat. "I was always fairly confident and he was travelling in his comfort zone. "I tried to reserve a bit of energy as he had a lot of weight to try to get away from Dickie (Johnson) at the last. He did it well. He got a good jump at the last and got some momentum." Nicholls told Racing UK: "I knew he ran really well over hurdles at Aintree the other day, but he nearly got brought down on the far side. "He flew up the straight and finished fourth. He might have finished second but for that and that race was a prep for this. "When it kept on raining to slow the ground down, it was always going to suit him. We knew they would go that bit slower and it would give him time to get his confidence. "If it had been quick ground, it might have rushed him and he would not have jumped well enough. "Everything was right for him today for the first time for a long time."
