Confident Danny Cook puts his faith in Definitly Red's form for Cheltenham

He sees no reason why Brian Ellison’s stable star, owned by Tickhill’s Phil Martin, won’t justify the faith of connections in the feature Cotswold Chase.

Yet, while Definitly Red’s two most recent runs at Cheltenham have ended in disappointment, Cook says the nine-year-old is becoming the complete horse.

He’ll need to be. Today’s field is headed by the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Bristol De Mai, who won Wetherby’s Charlie Hall Chase – Definitly Red was back in third – and Grade One Betfair Chase, before stomach ulcers explained a below-par run in Kempton’s King George Chase.

Others include Tea For Two, who has provided jockey Lizzie Kelly with a brace of wins at the highest level, and 2016 Grand National runner-up The Last Samuri.

However, they all – in their own ways – have Cheltenham form to prove, hence the optimism of 34-year-old Cook when he spoke to The Yorkshire Post in an exclusive interview.

“If we are thinking of going for the Gold Cup, we need to see how he handles the track,” said Cook, who rides predominantly for Malton-based Ellison and Bingley trainer Sue Smith.

“When he last ran there, he fell in the four-mile race at the National Hunt Festival, Before that, he was pulled up in the Albert Bartlett Hurdle for whatever reason. I’m pretty confident the horse will be fine and dandy. It’s also a good pot to go for.”

Even though Definitly Red could have lined up in today’s feature Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster, and conceded weight to his rivals, Cook and Ellison know that the chaser heads to Cheltenham in the form of his life.

Though the trainer was disappointed by the horse’s run in the Charlie Hall Chase, the sticky ground was a very valid excuse and the jockey believes Definitly Red put up a career-best performance when winning Aintree’s Many Clouds Chase last month after getting the better of the well-regarded Cloudy Dream.

Ironically, today’s Cotswold Chase will celebrate the great Many Clouds, who won the 2016 renewal of this contest before the 2015 Grand National winner collapsed after passing the winning line just in front of Thistlecrack following an epic struggle.

“His win at Aintree was his best run,” said Cook whose rides and profile have increased markedly since he moved to Yorkshire and teamed up with agent Bruce Jeffrey.

“I can only say it how it is,” he added. “The more times I ride him, the better he feels, He’s improving all the time and always gets better as each season goes on. He’s a very laid back horse. The longer he’s in training each year, the less ring rusty he becomes. His last run was a career-best on ratings and he’s only going to get better.

“When I ride him, I feel very confident. It’s great to have confidence in a horse and I hope he gets the same feeling.”

This rapport between horse and rider explains why Cook is not fearful of Bristol De Mai if the favourite’s form holds up.

He says Twiston-Davies horses are always very sharp at the start of the campaign for races likes the Charlie Hall Chase, while Ellison, and others, bide their time.

The one disappointment was last season’s Grand National when Definitly Red’s saddle slipped following a coming together at Becher’s Brook and Cook had to pull up the big race favourite.

“Just unlucky,” says the now philosophical jockey who explained that an extra non-slip pad is now fitted under the horse’s saddle to reduce any remote possibility of history repeating itself.

That race was won by the Scottish-trained One For Arthur and signalled a resurgence for Northern jump racing that has seen the Nicky Richards-trained Simply Ned and Guitar Pete win big races and Waiting Patiently, trained by Malcolm Jefferson, enter Cheltenham calculations after an emphatic Listed win at Kempton.

“We are competitive,” said Cook when asked about National Hunt racing’s North-South divide.

“There are more horses down south, and a lot more trainers and owners.

“That’s how I see it. But the North is holding its own. Sue (Smith) has some very nice horses coming through and Brian’s got some nice ones, too.

“The trainers are certainly good enough.”