The eight-year-old ran no sort of race at Kempton. With hindsight, that may have been preferable to giving his best and perhaps being beaten. At least connections know he is far better than what he produced on Boxing Day and can aim him at a valuable pot.

Given that it is over the same course as the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and just a furlong shorter, you can forgive those who annually trip out the 'Gold Cup trial' line in association with the Cotswold Chase.

However, it hasn't really worked out that way, nor has it been a good race for favourite backers.

Just one of the last 10 winners, Santini in 2020, has headed up the market. However, perhaps the up side to that is, like Chantry House, he was trained at the time by Nicky Henderson.

Last year's winner Native River had already landed the Gold Cup in 2018, and he lowered the colours of favourite Bristol De Mai in the process.
Frodon, the winner in 2019, also had the 'jolly' Elegant Escape behind him in second place, while the ill-fated Many Clouds won it for the second time, in 2017, when getting the better of the odds-on Thistlecrack.
Also on that list of recent winners are Definitly Red (2018), Smad Place (2016), The Giant Bolster (2014), Cape Tribulation (2013) and Midnight Chase, 10 years ago,

Major reasons why this hasn't stood up as a Gold Cup trial are because the best horses tend not to turn up for it, having usually run in the King George and then often being freshened up for March. The ground is also so often testing for this fixture, in contrast to the norm on Gold Cup day.

And so to Saturday. Will any of the field be good enough to win this and have a big say, perhaps even land the Blue Riband?
When you consider that Chantry House is officially top rated on a mark of 160, it would appear unlikely. However, of the entries, he looks the most likely winner and he certainly looks like one intended runner who might have significant improvement within.
Simply The Betts is next in the market, but although he is 1lb better off with Chantry House than if this were a handicap, in all honesty he is just that. A good handicapper. However, at 10 years of age, you have to doubt whether he is Grade 2 winning material.
Ahoy Senor is more interesting in terms of potential. Lucinda Russell had talked about waiting for Wetherby's Towton Chase, a Grade 2 for novices, but she may plump for throwing him in deeper here. In saying that, he is already a Grade 1 winner over hurdles, as well as having won at this level in a novices' chase at Newbury's Ladbroke meeting in November.

If anything is going to truly launch himself into the serious Gold Cup short-lists, then perhaps it could be Ahoy Senor. He is certainly the apple of his trainer's eye and it's not long since a novice Coneygree won the big one.

You certainly can't rule out another Scottish Raider in Aye Right. In fact, it would be great to see him prove good enough, purely as reward for his consistency and his connections' placement of him. However, we know plenty about him now and it is hard to believe that he won't find something just a length or two too good.

Santini is a light of former days, though he'd clearly be a popular winner for the nostalgia lovers among the crowd. It's hard to believe that he, or any of the other entries will prove up to the task, for while favourites may not have a great record in the race, the biggest priced winner in the past decade was 8/1.