Agree opatcho. I almost always go with the 2nd season angle for the gold cup but I'm looking for improvement through the season in preparation for March. Not many come out into open grade 1 company and start winning straightaway. Having had ~3 "warm up" years on a racecourse through bumpers, novice hurdling and novice chasing, proper grade 1s against seasoned horses can find them out. I thought Grey Dawning was good yesterday and will have learnt plenty. I didn't like the sound of Dan's comments after but hoping he'll go away, see how the horse comes out of it and get more experience in him ready for March. When was the last time a Gold Cup winner ran on heavy that season ...?
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