De Bromhead charting direct Cheltenham route for Gold Cup duo

A Plus Tard and Minella Indo on course for March.

Both Minella Indo and A Plus Tard will head straight to the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup for trainer Henry de Bromhead.

Each horse is a winner of the race in his own right, with Minella Indo landing the Grade One contest in 2021 ahead of his stablemate before they finished in the reverse order the following season.

A Plus Tard was pulled up on his seasonal debut in the Betfair Chase in November, while a planned run in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown was scuppered by a late mishap.

The gelding is fully recovered now, however, and will make his next start with a Gold Cup title defence in March.

Rachael Blackmore celebrates on A Plus Tard after winning the 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup
Rachael Blackmore celebrates on A Plus Tard after winning the 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup (David Davies/PA)

“He seems good. We gave him a full check over and everything seems fine, his joint is good again. It was just a bang,” De Bromhead said.

“We are sort of starting afresh and aiming for March.

“I think we go straight there, we’ve sort of made that decision now and that’s it.

“He needs to go left-handed and the Irish Gold Cup was our only option really. We’re well able to get him spot on for the day and we’ll just aim for that.”

Minella Indo (right) defeating A Plus Tard in the 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup
Minella Indo (right) defeating A Plus Tard in the 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup (Alan Crowhurst/PA)

Minella Indo made a winning start to his campaign at Tramore on New Year’s Day, winning a Grade Three event by a neck from Willie Mullins’ Stattler.

He too will take a direct route to Cheltenham now.

“He seems great, I’m delighted with him. He’s in really good form and we’ll go straight to the Gold Cup with him,” said De Bromhead.

“I was delighted to see him back and everyone saw the reception he got, and we got. It was incredible. It was an emotional day, a really good day.”

A Plus Tard is as low as 5-1 with William Hill to defend his title, while Minella Indo is 16-1 with the same firm.

Follow us on Twitter racing365dotcom and like our Facebook page.

Latest