WHEN they talk about the world's greatest race, they mean the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The rest are all imposters. The Grand National and the Derby may be more famous races but when it comes to speed allied with determination, courage and jumping ability, there is no bigger test than the Gold Cup. Carrying 12st over such a demanding course as Cheltenham for three and quarter miles with its undulations, stiff fences plus that punishing climb to the winning post provides the ultimate challenge. Next week sees the Cheltenham Festival with the Smurfit Champion Hurdle the highlight on Tuesday's card and the climax on Thursday featuring the Tote Gold Cup.
David Briers will be attending all three days of the meeting - read his reports of the action in the Daily Echo throughout next week. But first he attempts to pinpoint some of those elusive winners.
IT'S the finished article against the rising star when See More Business goes head to head with Gloria Victis in the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Barely two months ago I would never have dreamt of tipping any staying chaser currently in training to dethrone See More Business from his pinnacle as number one. But that was before I saw the Feltham Novices' Chase at Kempton Park over Christmas.
No-one had even heard of Gloria Victis last autumn and few had taken notice of him in his early outings until he won that top novices' event. It was almost frightening the way he attacked his fences with such panache and at such speed that he destroyed a decent field in the hands of Tony McCoy.
An hour after that performance, See More Business gave an exhibition round to win his second King George VI Chase on the same card.
Two impressive and gifted chasers but what swings me in favour of the younger horse is the display of Gloria Victis in the Racing Post Chase when he returned to Kempton last month - and the statistics that point to See More Business being turned over.
Let's start on the plus side. Martin Pipe may have set records galore in the National Hunt world and been leading trainer on numerous occasions but there is one gaping hole in his list of awards. He has never won a Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Rushing Wild - second in 1993 - and Miinnehoma - third two years later - are the closest the West Country maestro has come to Gold Cup glory but now he could have unearthed the gem to scoop the ultimate NH prize in Gloria Victis.
The French-bred six-year-old earned rave reviews and rightly so for carrying top weight to victory in the Racing Post Chase by ten lengths from some high-class rivals. With McCoy suspended, Richard Johnson was in the saddle and he classes the horse as the most exciting chaser he has ridden.
A slight tendancy to jump left at Kempton will be in his favour at anti-clockwise Cheltenham.
Two pointers against the ante-post second favourite are that he is untried over the course and the Gold Cup trip of 3m 2f.
Pancake flat Kempton is vastly different to Cheltenham's undulations and challenging fences - with Heartbreak Hill at the end of it. But Gloria Victis has not been stopping in his last two races over 3m and is so economical in his jumping that I am sure he will get the trip and cope with the course at the same time.
His tender years are not against him as although not many six-year-olds ran in the Gold Cup, horses of that age have won it, Mill House (1963) being the last to do so.
We know See More Business handles Cheltenham and the distance. He outgunned Go Ballistic on the run-in last year to give trainer Paul Nicholls a memorable Festival - and connections reckon the horse should be coming back looking for a three-timer had he not been carried out by Cyborgo in 1998.
See More Business is at his peak now and goes to Cheltenham a better horse than 12 months ago. What's more the official handicapper rates him 12lb superior to Gloria Victis but the hoodoos on the champion are three-fold.
The blinkered Nicholls gelding has been a warm favourite to retain his Festival status all winter and the Gold Cup is not a favourite's race. Back-to-back victories are a rarity - last achieved by L'Escargot in 1970 and 71 - and horses who win the mid-season championship, the King George VI Chase, rarely win the Gold Cup in the same season.
Harness those three reasons together and you can see why the omens say See More Business won't win even though he has done nothing wrong this season with three wins out of three.
Is anything else in the same class as the two market-leaders Looks Like Trouble's unexplained flop in the King George made the task of See More Buisness so much easier.
Noel Chance's hope has since put that dismal display behind him with a fluent victory at Cheltenham in January but as he won the Royal and SunAlliance Chase at the 1999 Festival, that is the kiss of death as far as the Gold Cup is concerned.
That same analogy applies to Florida Pearl who was the great hope of Ireland last year having won the SunAlliance in 1998. He finished 18 lengths behind See More Business and though Paddy Mullins has been delighted with his preparation, third may be the best the Pearl can hope for again.
The Last Fling might win if the race were at his favourite track Haydock but my leading outsider to make the frame is Ever Blessed, smart Hennessy Gold Cup winner in November and a forgotten horse as far as the Gold Cup is concerned.
With mum Jenny behind him, Mark Pitman will have this novice ready to do himself justice on the big day.
Latest Coral odds: 2 See More Business, 7-2 Gloria Victis, 13-2 Looks Like Trouble and Florida Pearl, 14 Ever Blessed and The Last Fling, 20 Go Ballistic, 33 Rince Ri, Spendid, Dorans Pride, 40 Strong Promise.
Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
