Ex Gold Cup winning jockey and now racing pundit Andrew Thornton has tipped the Venetia Williams trained L'Homme Presse to strike gold this season, with Thornton quite sweet on the French exploit for the Gold Cup.
Talking on William Hill's brand new racing review show The Inside Track alongside Kate Tracey and James Mackie, the ex rider explained how good he thinks the the seven year old is and could be.
He was campaigned very lightly over hurdles two seasons ago now, obviously going over the larger obstacles was always at the forefront of connections thinking, and that was a brilliant decision made by them.
L’Homme Presse has won six of his seven chasing starts by a combined 54.5 lengths, getting better with every run, apart form the back end of last season and it may have been a case of being burnt out.
Making a smart seasonal debut at Exeter over 2m3f last term, he then went to Ascot and landed a Graduation Chase over 2m5f in emphatic style.
On New Year's Day he put up another career best to take the Grade Two Dipper Novices' Chase by 10 lengths giving weight away to the mare The Glancing Queen.
🗣️ "He could be a top flight horse and he's with the right person"@Andrewrthornton reckons he's found the 2023 Gold Cup winner. Listen in for who in this week's episode of #TheInsideTrack 👇 pic.twitter.com/ADacPy0wZm
— William Hill Racing (@WillHillRacing) December 14, 2022
Looking to land Grade One honours next time out he improved once more to take the Scilly Isles Chase by 21 lengths.
Heading into the Cheltenham Festival going up in trip to three miles he made every yard from the front to land the Grade One Brown Advisory Novices' Chase in tough conditions.
Looking to make it a hat-trick of Grade Ones at Aintree's Grand National meeting in the Mildmay Novices' Chase, he unfortunately did not look the same horse and ultimately looked tired from his festival win.
Given a good break since then he returned at Newcastle off top weight in the Grade Three Handicap Betfair Exchange Rehearsal Handicap and giving a serious amount of weight away to the field, still went on to win fairly easily.
There have been talks about whether this horse will go to the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day or the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham later on in the season next time out, before he heads to the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Wherever he goes Thornton is tipping him to reach the top.