Owner Megson hopeful Jipcot can maintain Pauling form in Imperial Cup

Megson and Pauling will run Tellherthename in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

Owner Andrew Megson is excited to see if ante-post favourite Jipcot can continue trainer Ben Pauling’s blistering run of form in Saturday’s Betfair Imperial Cup.

The Naunton Downs handler has enjoyed a stellar campaign with his thriving string and Yorkshireman Megson, as one of Pauling’s biggest benefactors, is one of the owners who has reaped the rewards.

Both Pauling and Megson possess strong chances at next week’s Cheltenham Festival – including Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle hope Tellherthename.

However, before attentions turn to Prestbury Park, the owner and trainer will team up in search of Sandown’s GBP 100,000 feature at the weekend with a French recruit finally beginning to find his feet on UK shores and Jipcot will attempt to rapidly back up an impressive success at Huntingdon last Sunday.

“The minute we got him to the winner’s enclosure at Huntingdon Ben said ‘right, if he’s OK tomorrow we will go for the Imperial Cup’,” said Megson.

“He absolutely bolted up and the way he accelerated on dead ground was astonishing.

“Ben told us he will go up 10lb for that so will be well in under a 7lb penalty, but also it doesn’t matter anyway and he will be well in simply because he is a talented horse.

“He’s bounced out of Huntingdon like he didn’t have a race and we are hopeful of a big run. He goes on any ground and now Ben has managed to calm him down and settle we would hope he runs very well, we’re very excited.

“I don’t want to jinx him and I haven’t backed him because I don’t want to put pressure on him, but we are hopeful of a big run.”

Twice a winner at Pau – including at Listed level – before switching to Pauling, Jipcot has always been held in the highest regard by connections and began life for the Cotswolds-based training team in the Triumph Hurdle at last season’s Cheltenham Festival.

That ultimately proved too stiff an assignment for the precocious import, who after struggling over fences at the beginning of the current season, finally broke his UK duck when reverting to timber last weekend.

Megson is full of praise for Pauling’s perseverance with the talented five-year-old, who now finds himself as short as 7-2 with Sky Bet and 4-1 with sponsors Betfair ahead of his next assignment – where he will bid to send both trainer and owner on to Cheltenham on a high.

“We think he is really smart he has just taken a while to settle in the UK, we bought him out of France,” continued Megson.

“He had an entry in the Triumph when we brought him over and he appeared to settle well, so when we had a chat with Ben we decided we would run him.

Trainer Ben Pauling has been in fine form this season
Trainer Ben Pauling has been in fine form this season (John Walton/PA)

“He had won a Listed race at Pau, but as it turned out, 70,000 people on Gold Cup day at Cheltenham was a bit much for him and what happened next was we tried him over fences but he just didn’t settle.

“Ben said why don’t we go back over hurdles, just to settle him down and go back to what he’s used to – lets not force him. He’s a nice horse and lets give him a few months off.

“He did that and rather than train him with the other horses on the gallops at home he was doing things on his own on the round gallop with the intention of just calming everything down.

“We put a tongue-tie and a hood on him and it all just clicked and the horse we thought we had bought was the one that turned up at Huntingdon. There was only five horses in the race, but it was quite hot and he was carrying 12st 2lb – that was 11lb more than the second.”

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