Royal hopes for Barber’s Shop

Cheltenham Gold Cup entry, Barber’s Shop, is generating a buzz ahead of the Cheltenham Festival’s blue riband event.

Foaled the year the Queen Mother died, Barber’s Shop represents the best opportunity the Royal Family have had to win their first Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Royal belief in the ability of the Nicky Henderson trainer Gold Cup entry is such that the Queen will be attending the Cheltenham Festival on Friday to watch him compete against the highest rated chasers in national hunt racing.

“He has been in two big battles at Cheltenham, in the Jewson last year and in the Paddy Power Gold Cup and when he ran at Sandown, the jump from two miles five to three miles made an enormous difference,” Henderson told the Press Association.

“He did not beat Gold Cup horses, but it was more the style and the rhythm he got into. He is progressive. We are taking on proper good horses but this is where we are going and I have started to get more relaxed about it.”

Barry Geraghty will ride Barber’s Shop in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and believes that his horse has the ability to win the race.

“The trip will suit him, the ground won’t really matter,” Geraghty told reporters. “I schooled him on Saturday morning, he jumped well and he’s in good form and he runs well fresh.”