4th December 2013 - Shloer Chase winner Kid Cassidy (11st 12lb) heads the weights for the £100,000 Grade Three Stewart Family Thank You Gold Cup, run over two miles and five furlongs at Cheltenham on the second day of The International, Saturday, December 14.
The seven-year-old is one of four entries for leading owner J P McManus, who is also responsible for recent Newbury scorer Cantlow (11st), Paddy Power Gold Cup secondColour Squadron (10st 12lb) and Grade One runner-up Tap Night (10st 11lb).
Cantlow, trained by Paul Webber, put up a career best over fences when beatingEaster Meteor (11st) by a length and a quarter in a valuable two and a half mile handicap chase at Newbury on November 29.
The eight-year-old, who finished third in the 2012 Pertemps Final over hurdles at The Festival, had previously come home ninth of 12 in a Listed handicap chase at Wetherby on November 1.
Webber reported: "Cantlow could run in the Stewart Family Thank You Gold Cup, but I don't know any more than that at this stage. Mr McManus will no doubt have others in the race and we still need to sit down and make a definite plan.
"I was very pleased with Cantlow's performance at Newbury. He did it well and has come out of the race very fresh and well.
"I was confused by his run at Wetherby before that but Barry (Geraghty) said don't worry, he needed it a bit. It's a long season and he was obviously proved to be correct."
Multiple Cheltenham scorer Champion Court (11st 9lb) is being considered for the prestigious contest following his lacklustre effort in the Paddy Power Gold Cup on November 16. Martin Keighley's charge was sent off the well-backed 6/1 favourite, but could only finish seventh behind Johns Spirit (11st), beaten nearly 20 lengths.
Keighley revealed : "Champion Court is a possible for the Stewart Family Thank You Gold Cup, but I would say he is more likely to go to Huntingdon for the Peterborough Chase (December 12).
"All the tests we did after the Paddy Power Gold Cup have come back fine, but he was definitely uncomfortable after the race so it could have been down to a touch of colic.
"He is back in good form now though and we are still thinking about the King George, but we will learn a lot more next time and hopefully he can bounce back."
Other notable contenders for the Stewart Family Thank You Gold Cup include last year's winner Unioniste (11st 4lb), Hennessy hero Triolo d'Alene (11st 8lb) and the David Pipe-trained pair of Salut Flo (10st 10lb) and Ballynagour (10st 6lb).
The Stewart Family are involved in two entries - owning last weekend's Newbury winner Tatenen (10st 6lb)outright and sharing Ghizao (11st 7lb) with the Johnson Family.
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