With only a handful of British-trained runners entered for the 2025 Cheltenham Gold Cup it was paramount that one star came to the fore at Cheltenham’s Trials Day at the weekend. Well, L’Homme Presse did just that and while he certainly wasn’t flashy during his workmanlike victory over Stage Star in the Cotswold Chase, the Venetia Williams-trained star will head into the Gold Cup on Friday 14th March with an outsider’s chance. We take a look back at Saturday’s contest and see how it’s affected the betting for the blue riband event on the final day of the Cheltenham Festival.

Saturday, 25th January – Cotswold Chase @ Cheltenham
Six went to post for the Cotswold Chase on Saturday, but only two horses hold a Cheltenham Gold Cup entry at this stage. Such is the closeness to this weekend’s Irish Gold Cup and the sparsity of top quality British-trained staying chasers, the Cotswold Chase regularly turns into a disappointing contest and rarely throws up any notable Gold Cup candidate. You have to go back to 2000 for the last horse to win this race and then go on to claim Cheltenham Gold Cup glory when Looks Like Trouble did the Prestbury Park double.
Well, this year it was L’Homme Presse and Gentlemansgame that were looking to taste victory in the contest before returning in March, but the latter failed to land any sort of blow and is a 66/1 chance for March success.
However, L’Homme Presse, who was a decent fourth in the 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup, was the one that stood up to the task as he managed to wear down the front-running Stage Star, who ran a cracker for Harry Cobden and Paul Nicholls, but was ultimately outclassed in the closing stages of the race by the Venetia Williams-trained winner.
A fine winner of the 2022 Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the festival, L’Homme Presse is still only a ten-year-old, but he showed that he can deliver the goods in graded company and bounced back from a third place finish in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park. A real stayer, the veteran may lack the class that current ante-post Gold Cup favourite Galopin Des Champs has, but the Williams raider will certainly leave it all out on track and in the aftermath of Saturday’s event he was trimmed from 25/1 to 20/1 for the March race.
He will be the shining beacon for the home team, who are looking to claw Gold Cup glory back from their Irish adversaries, but the way he only got the better of Stage Star in the closing stages suggests he will need to put in a career best to play any sort of starring role in a few weeks time.

Cheltenham Gold Cup Ante-Post Movers
L’Homme Presse ↑ 20/1 from 25/1
Gentlemansgame ↓ 66/1 from 40/1

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