Cooper keen to give Forpadydeplasterer chance

RACING:Tom Cooper believes Forpadydeplasterer could be the forgotten horse of Saturday's Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham. While the 10-year-old may not fit any of the statistics in that he has been around the block a bit and no horse with a double figure age has won since Clear Cut in 1975, Cooper feels there is still plenty of life in him yet.

He may be without a win since the 2009 Arkle but in that time he has finished second in another five Group Ones and run well in several other big races, usually when the ground has been against him. “He’s never run in a handicap before and that’s part of the reason why we’re going, we want to see how he gets on,” said Cooper.

“I think he’s on a very attractive mark (150), that’s why we’re keen to go. Obviously there’s a couple of very nice horses in there but they are only approaching their second season over fences whereas our lad is a seasoned campaigner.

“The ground should be lovely, the trip is what he wants these days and theyll go a good clip which should be perfect for him – you never really get it in the small fields in Ireland he’s been running in. He might be getting on but he’s very consistent and he was only seven lengths behind Sizing Europe on his first run of the season.”

Ferdy Murphy certainly knows how to ready a horse for a big day and if the rain stays away, Divers will have plenty of supporters having finished third 12 months ago. Murphy said: “Providing the ground stays right for Divers, I think he will run an extremely good race.”