Count on Meribel in the Gold Cup

Count Meribel adds up to the right answer in a typically competitive edition of the BetVictor Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Cheltenham tomorrow.

Trainer Nigel TwistonDavies is a regular on the roll of honour for the highlyprized handicap, at a meeting he almost always targets successfully from his nearby Cotswolds base.

Count Meribel was a case in point 12 months ago, in fact, when he was a most determined winner of a good novice chase over course and distance. As then, the sixyear-old arrives again on the back of a fine run at Carlisle having chased home Gold Cup hopeful Lostintranslation in Cumbria two weeks ago.

That two-and-a-quarter-length defeat behind an eased and impressive winner doubtless flatters Count Meribel a little.

Nonetheless, it entitles him to be the form pick under his regular jockey Mark Grant, in muddy conditions he handles. He faces any number of major dangers, of course, but should be in his element back at one of his favourite tracks.

Lingfield stages three Listed events - including the British Stallion Studs EBF Gillies Fillies' Stakes, rescheduled from abandoned Doncaster last week - to keep the fire burning for Flat enthusiasts after the end of the turf season.

Normal service is most likely to be resumed, too, as John Gosden and Frankie Dettori seek to continue their brilliant year, with Lord North in the Betway Churchill Stakes. As with Wissahickon last winter, Gosden sends his Cambridgeshire winner in search of further riches on the Polytrack, and it is easy to see Lord North replicating his stablemate's success.

After finishing an admirable runner-up in Ascot's Balmoral Handicap, the three-year-old returned to Newmarket to plunder a Listed prize at the start of this month - earning a rating which means he should have all rivals covered in this fast-track qualifier on his allweather debut.

Gosden has a good chance to get the ball rolling early as another three-year-old, Alrajaa, bids for a fourth successive victory in the Bombardier Golden Beer Handicap.

Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's gelding earned himself a 7lb hike for his superiority at Kempton last month. But he won with authority there, and has a fine chance to complete his set of wins at each of the south's three all-weather venues.

In the Gillies Fillies'