Go Dante Aiming For Record Third Imperial Cup Success
Go Dante will bid for a slice of history at Sandown on Saturday by ending up being the first three-time winner of the Betfair Imperial Cup.
Olly Murphy's veteran has claimed narrow victories in the last 2 editions of the prestigious handicap, which is the conventional highlight the Saturday before the Cheltenham Festival gets under method.
Betfair are using a ₤ 100,000 bonus to the connections of the winner must the exact same horse go on to win any race at Cheltenham next week, but Go Dante does not hold any Festival engagements, with Murphy concentrating on Saturday's reward for a horse who is three from three at Sandown but has dissatisfied on his last number of trips at Windsor and Newbury.
"He's a few pounds greater than in 2015, but he enjoys the track and hopefully with a little bit of luck in running he'll run well once again," stated the Warren Chase handler.
"In his last couple of runs they have actually gone really, really quick early on flat tracks and it hasn't fit him, so ideally returning to a stiffer track will suit.
"It would be good to win for a 3rd time. We understand he enjoys the location and we're eagerly anticipating running him."
Go Dante in winning action at Sandown (John Walton/PA)
Murphy will have a second string to his bow in the form of Fingle Bridge, who went back to the smaller sized challenges to finish second at Warwick last month following 3 runs over fences.
Murphy added: "He's going to run too. He did excessive at Warwick the last day, so we're dropping back in trip on a stiff track.
"He's certainly excellent horse with a big engine and hopefully a run in a handicap the last day will have honed him up again. He needs to go there with a possibility."
Fingle Bridge is the joint premier horse along with the Dan Skelton-trained Knickerbockerglory in a 30-strong list of entries.
Other contenders include Ben Clarke's classy mare Ooh Betty, the JP McManus-owned from Nicky Henderson's lawn, Chris Gordon's General Briar and Mondo Man, trained by the father-and-son partnership of Gary and Josh Moore.
Olly Murphy could also run two in the ₤ 80,000 European Breeders' Fund Betfair "National Hunt" Novices' Handicap Hurdle Final, with the prolific Scorpio Rising set to be signed up with by stablemate Gee Force Flyer.
Scorpio Rising appears his most significant hope having actually won his last 3 races, with Masked Man (Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies), Gentleman Toboot (David Pipe) and Kaka's Cousin (Jonjo and AJ O'Neill) others in the mix for a fiercely-competitive heat.
Murphy said: "Scorpio Rising looks progressive and I think the track and trip and whatever will fit him well.
"He remains in truly good form, came out of Windsor well and hopefully he's improving.
"We 'd welcome a bit more rain for Gee Force Flyer however the stiff track will suit him well, he's feasibly disabled and this race has actually been the plan for a long time with him."
