He never wins spectacularly but back-to-back Betfred
Gold Cup
victories for Bobs Worth today will put a seal on the substance of a remarkable festival performer.
It appears to be Bobs Worth’s lot that he operates in shadow. For the last couple of years, it has been the flamboyant shadow cast by his stable companion Sprinter Sacre, the swaggering two-mile showboat who’s everything Bobs Worth isn’t.
And in recent weeks the run-in to steeplechasing’s blue-riband has focused on much that is controversial but little on a favourite who quietly and unobtrusively has already carved out his own Cheltenham niche.
Quevega’s unique six-in-a-row was rightly centre-stage here on Tuesday but Bobs Worth’s own festival record doesn’t diminish in comparison. In its own way it’s just as special: three-in-a-row, in three different races, all Grade One, over both hurdles and fences, and culminating last year in success in the race that matters more than any other.
The last horse to win three different festival races was Flyingbolt in the 1960s and there’s a weird synchronicity in how the second highest rated chaser ever too operated in the shadow of Arkle, a higher-profile stable-companion.
Flyingbolt probably would have won a Gold Cup if given a shot at it but while Bobs Worth may never rival that legendary figure in terms of reputation, he does have one Gold Cup in the bag and behind all the fluff that will cling to today’s festival highlight, the likelihood is that by 3.30 he’ll have two.
Speculation about Last Instalment and the state of the ground overlooks how a quicker surface will be right up Bobs Worth's street. Barry Geraghty, the jockey who sold the diminutive star to Nicky Henderson for just over €20,000 as a three-year-old, insists it was guts alone that got him over the line last year on testing ground. And the going was better for the 2012 RSA defeat of First Lieutenant and the 2011 Albert Bartlett victory.
Despite such a record though even a hardened pro like Ruby Walsh admits it wasn't until Bobs Worth quickened up from the last in the Lexus at Leopardstown over Christmas that he truly identified the class behind the workmanlike manner.
A bigger heart
Bobs Worth's trainer Nicky Henderson summed it up well yesterday when he said: "You always forget Bob is there because he's such a reliable, lovely person. I bemoan that I haven't got Sprinter Sacre or Simonsig but the actual star of the show, there he is, doing his thing. Sprinter is all flash. Bob hasn't got his natural talent but I bet he has a bigger heart. He doesn't know when to give up."
The reality of today’s race is that Bobs Worth is the benchmark, rock-solid, and if he runs up to his best, a difficult proposition to see beaten.
The King George winner Silviniaco Conti came down at the third last when still going well last year and is a legitimate challenger as is Last Instalment. A literal reading of his Hennessy form puts him right in the mix while First Lieutenant gets his ground conditions and is likely to run his usual honest race with the frame a legitimate aim. The three other Irish contenders – Lyreen Legend, Lord Windermere and the supplemented On His Own – need to step up considerably to figure.
There are plenty going into this Gold Cup entitled to convince themselves that they have bits of chances. Bobs Worth’s stable companion, the Hennessy winner, Triolo d’Alene, has been well supported to make the step up from handicaps, and it’s not a leap that is unachievable in this race.
There is also widespread recognition that Paul Nicholls's ability to get one spot on for the Gold Cup is unrivalled in the sport today. Silviniaco Conti is attempting to follow in the steps of Kauto Star, Denman and See More Business, and his jockey Noel Fehily said yesterday: "I rode him in a gallop with Big Buck's at Exeter and he felt great. Paul is brilliant at preparing them for the Gold Cup."
Brilliance is not a word usually used in terms of Bobs Worth, but it’s worth betting – again- that the little horse gets the job done again in typical down-to-earth style.
