Big Fella Thanks stole the show at Newbury last season and clinched the Hennessy Gold Cup, holding off the entire field of thoroughbreds. According to his trainer Ferdy Murphy, Big Fella Thanks is in a tremendous form before the
event that will kick off again tomorrow on Saturday the 27th of November. The trainer is satisfied with the way the practise sessions with the champion colt are getting along at Newbury.
The last victory in this event that was accredited to Murphy was back in 1992. This was when the racehorse Sibton Abbey carried a weight of 10st under jockey Adrian Maguire. Now that Big Fella Thanks has the same weight, there
is a possibility that the day will conclude in Murphy’s favour and he will be celebrating Big Fella Thanks’s second Hennessy Gold Cup. Big Fella Thanks will be ridden by jockey Graham Lee on Saturday.
Talking to the correspondents of At The Races, the delighted trainer said, “He is a smashing horse to have in the yard. He is in tremendous form and we are looking forward to it. With the low weight he will think he is loose.”
The most voted racehorse for the Hennessy Gold Cup during the betting sessions so far is the dual winner of the event Denman. The racehorse that is second on the betting list is the colt Wierd Al, who is training under the care
of Ian Williams. Williams is also quite pleased with the way his horse has been practising before the race. He said, “The horse has always delighted us and has pleased us recently. Paddy Brennam puts up no overweight and with Noel (Fehily) riding Neptune Collonges,
getting Paddy made an easy decision out of one that would have been tough for us otherwise.”
Next to Wierd Al on the betting list is the Irish racehorse Pandorama. It took the Ireland Racing Industry 30 years to find a colt that has high chances of claiming the Hennessy Gold Cup. He is training under Noel Meade, who was
reported as saying, “It’s a tall order for a horse who has run only three times over the fences, but two of those were Grade I wins. I suppose he is a little bit the forgotten horse.”
He further added, “He travels on Wednesday with Mouse Morris’s horse (China Rock) and seems in good shape.”
The two victories in the Hennessy Gold Cup on the credit list of Denman were cut by Madison Du Berlais’s win in 2008. When his trainer David Pipe was inquired about the development of Madison for this year’s edition of the event,
he said, “He is in great form and has good preparation. He looks a lot better in his coat this year and it is a long time since he was able to run with just 10st and 1 lb on his back – but I’d rather be racing off a higher weight with Denman out of the race.”
According to what David said in a pre-event interview, it is clear that he considers his horse under threat as long as Denman is a part of the field on Saturday. He also further added, “To have the Hennessy on my CV is fantastic.
To have it on twice would be tremendous.”
The field of 19 talented contenders at Newbury will display the best of their talent and will offer unlimited entertainment to the fans of the sport. Other prominent colts include Taranis, Neptune Collonges, Silver by Nature, Carruthers,
Hey Big Spender and China Rock.
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