Equestrian story by Fred Smith, Fri, 11 Nov 2005 08:44:00 GMT


Our Vic remains the punters' favorite for the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham as bets on the horse gathered momentum in the lead up to the Saturday event. Current odds by Paddy Power, VC Bet and Ladbrokes have pegged Our Vic at 3/1, while Coral has given it a 4/1 rating, although all these are subject to change.

Coral have Monkerhostin at 11/4 as the favorite for the race. "Punters are happy to put their faith in Martin Pipe and reckon Our Vic can give him his eighth win in this race," said Coral spokesman David Stevens. "If the money continues to come for this horse, he looks certain to start favourite on Saturday." Our Vic's record has been impeccable with the horse being beaten in three races despite the favorite tag.

However, Our Vic has no silverware to show in the last 22 months and this is some cause for concern. But Martin Pipe, the champion trainer says that he has confidence in the abilities of his horse and for many punters his words are enough, "Without a shadow of a doubt this is the first major gamble of the National Hunt season and he is already a six-figure loser in our ante-post book," says VC Bet's Neal Wilkins.

Pipe himself was more forthright when he said; "We've got more machines in the veterinary box and also in the laboratory. They mean that we can do our own individual tests on all the horses, which tell us a lot more. I really do love trying to understand the inside of the horse, both physically and mentally. Blood testing is really fascinating. You just never stop learning when you're doing it." Pipe certainly knows his horses and what's more people believe him.

"I love to see the young horses schooling, see them go in and attack their fences. It's like every day is the first day of school," he enthused. Come Saturday and the school starts again for this enigmatic 60-year-old trainer.

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