Racing: Trainers steer clear of re-routed Gold Cup rehearsal

Just three of the horses originally scheduled to run in the Cotswold Chase have been entered in the re- arranged race at Wincanton on Thursday.

Ollie Magern, One Knight and the Paul Nicholls-trained Royal Auclair head a list of nine hopefuls for the three-mile-one-furlong event, which was postponed due to freezing conditions at Cheltenham on Saturday.

Notable withdrawals from the Grade Two clash were Martin Pipe's Celestial Gold and Peter Bowen's Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Take The Stand. Bowen could instead call upon Ballycassidy, while Nicholls has added Le Duc and Hors La Loi III.

The Ferdy Murphy-trained Joes Edge and Lord Of Illusion have also defected from the contest, which sees Run For Paddy, Foly Pleasant and See You Sometime completing the list of possible runners.

Bowen commented: "Wincanton's totally opposite to Cheltenham - it's an easy, sharp track going the wrong way. It's absolutely crazy."