BRYONY AND FRODON WILL GO FOR GOLD

FRODON and jockey Bryony Frost will line up in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on March 15 after booking their place with a three-quarter length victory in the Betbright Cotswold Chase at the track.

The Paul Nicholls-trained gelding, who has progressed through the handicap ranks, displayed trademark exhilarating jumping. He is now as short as 12-1 for the feature race of the Festival after going some way to dismiss doubts over his stamina.

Before yesterday, Frodon had never won beyond two miles, five furlongs. Yesterday’s race was run over three miles and a furlong. He will face a further furlong in the Gold Cup.

Having made all the running to secure his fourth track success, Frodon’s stride was shortening after the final fence as runner-up Elegant Escape bore down on him.

But Nicholls, who ran Frodon in the shorter Ryanair Chase at last year’s Festival, was adamant that the slowing down was a combination of losing concentration and not being 100-per-cent fit.

The 10-times champion trainer said: ‘He just got a bit tired after the last fence but he does idle.’

Nicholls, whose King George VI Chase winner Clan Des Obeaux is 7-1 for the Gold Cup, added: ‘He loves the track and is improving rapidly. He is not the quickest and he would get outpaced in the Ryanair Chase. The Gold Cup is a more realistic trip for him and he will get his rivals off the bridle.

‘I thought he might have needed the run. If I can get a bit more improvement into him, he is the sort of horse who will run into the frame.’

Frost added: ‘I’ve never ridden a horse that has a heart like him, and over the last two fences it is visible for everyone to see. You can see how brave and awesome he is.’

The last Cotswold Chase winner to land the Gold Cup in the same season was Looks Like Trouble in 2000.