L’Homme Presse all set to push Gold Cup claims at Ascot
Venetia Williams’ charge is odds-on for this weekend’s Grade One.
Owner Andy Edwards is looking to L’Homme Presse to book his Cheltenham Gold Cup in Saturday’s Betfair Ascot Chase at the Berkshire track. The nine-year-old made a faultless return to action following a lengthy lay off in last month’s Fleur De Lys Chase, beating Protektorat by just over two lengths on his first start since unseating Charlie Deutsch in the 2022 King George VI Chase. L’Homme Presse sustained a season-ending injury in that mishap, with trainer Venetia Williams and Edwards, plus his co-owners Peter and Patricia Pink, giving the gelding plenty of time to recover. He is now set to turn out 27 days later at Ascot, with Edwards not putting much stock in the theory of the ‘bounce factor’ for horses having their second run back after an absence.He said: “Everything has been fine with L’Homme Presse since Lingfield. “I thought it was an amazing comeback and we were thrilled with everything we saw from him. Hopefully, he can kick on again from there, starting this weekend in the Betfair Ascot Chase. “I don’t think the ‘bounce factor’ is a scientific thing. Every horse is different and that is not something that fazes us. We are only concerned about our horse and he will run a race that suits him.” L’Homme Presse is a general 8-1 chance for next month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, with reigning champion Galopin Des Champs odds-on to defend his title for Willie Mullins. While Edwards is aware of the task L’Homme Presse would face in the Cotswolds, he would not shy away from taking on that challenge.
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