Mullins heads Irish challenge in Paddy Power There are eight Irish-trained runners among the 52 entries for the £160,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham on November 14. Four of those hail from the all-conquering Willie Mullins yard, including the Grade One winner Gitane Du Berlais, the 2014 RSA Chase fourth Ballycasey and recent impressive Limerick handicap scorer Devils Bride. Other Irish representatives are Charles Byrnes' Shanpallas, the Gordon Elliott-trained pair of Clarcam and Bless The Wings plus Texas Jack from Noel Meade's stable. Ante-post favourite Kings Palace heads a team of four entries from the David Pipe stable. Kings Palace is 7-1 market leader with the sponsors after the entries were unveiled for the valuable handicap chase, which Pipe won with Great Endeavour in 2011. The Nicholashayne trainer has also entered Monetaire, Dell' Arca and La Vaticane, and will wait to see who will represent him this autumn. Kings Palace, who won three of his four starts over fences last season, including two races at Cheltenham, is likely to be the key to plans and he has other options in the first part of the campaign. "Kings Palace also has an entry in the Hennessy and will probably have one in the Betfair at Haydock as well," said Pipe. "We'll decide closer to the time. They are all just entries at the moment." Boondooma was a good winner at Cheltenham's first meeting of the new season for Dr Richard Newland. The Worcestershire trainer said: "Boondooma came out of his win at the weekend well and the plan is to come back to Cheltenham for the Paddy Power Gold Cup. "I was very pleased to see him settle better in his race on Saturday. I think two and a half miles should work for him, providing he doesn't do too much in the first half of the race. "I think softer ground suits him best. He is up to 154 in the ratings now, which is a bit scary, but I think this year's Paddy Power Gold Cup looks likely to attract some good horses at the top of the handicap." Jonjo O'Neill's Johns Spirit, the winner in 2013 and second last year, is in the list, as is Present View, who was third in 2014 for Jamie Snowden. Paul Nicholls, successful with Caid Du Berlais last year, has made seven entries this time, including Sound Investment, winner of the Old Roan Chase at Aintree on Sunday. The Ditcheat trainer also has likely top-weight Mr Mole, Ptit Zig, Art Mauresque, Vibralto Valtat, Easter Day and Salubrious. Among other interesting entries are Oscar Rock, Irish Cavalier, Darna and Double Ross. Weights for the Paddy Power Gold Cup, for which a maximum field of 20 can go to post, will be revealed on November 4.
