Newbury Tips: Monbeg Genius hard to ignore in Saturday’s Gold Cup

Fingers crossed Newbury passes a 7.30am inspection and Saturday’s seven-race card, which features the lucrative Gold Cup Handicap Chase, goes ahead.

If so, I’ve got high hopes for a couple of 15/2 chances.

13:40 – North Lodge @ 15/2

Backing horses returning from nearly two years on the sidelines isn’t my usual style, but this 0-150 handicap hurdle over 2m4½f is full of questionable runners and North Lodge looks overpriced at present.

Alan King’s six-year-old will have to prove he’s retained his ability, and a chance is taken on his fitness, but his form stands out like a sore thumb in this company.

After a successful debut in December 2021, the selection was tried in a Grade 2 at Cheltenham and won it in good fashion, before narrowly missing out in the same grade at Kelso a couple of months later. He then went to Aintree for the Grand National Festival in April last year and placed in the G1 Mersey Novices’ Hurdle, behind the late Three Stripe Life and Might I.

Off 142, he’s essentially carrying top-weight with Sebastopol ridden by a claimer, but that’s fair enough on what he achieved as a novice hurdler and he could just be the best horse in the race.

14:50 – Monbeg Genius @ 7/1

Just over an hour later is the big one – the Gold Cup Handicap Chase, which sees 20 runners compete over 3m2f. Of those, it’s the Jonjo O’Neill-trained Monbeg Genius who I’m backing to bag the £142,375 prize.

I’m not the first, nor will I be the last, to make this very case, as the Ultima form from earlier this year is very hard to ignore.

The seven-year-old finished third, over eight lengths clear of the rest, that day behind subsequent Grand National winner Corach Rambler and Fastorslow, who won the Punchestown Gold Cup a month later and backed it up by taking the John Durkan there last weekend.

Monbeg Genius has only been seen once since the Ultima, in the Sodexo Live! Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Ascot exactly four weeks ago. He was pulled-up, but I wouldn’t read much into that as he was travelling well until a race-ending mistake five out.

It’s been reported he’s none the worse for it, though, and from a fitness perspective he should benefit from the run, so he rates a very likely type for Saturday’s feature.