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Amateur rider David Maxwell is relishing the opportunity to ride in Saturday’s Paddy Power Gold Cup for the first time aboard his new acquisition Simply The Betts.
Formerly a high-class operator for owners Kate and Andrew Brooks, the Paul Nicholls-trained nine-year-old is set to carry Maxwell's colours for the first time in this weekend's Cheltenham feature.
Simply The Betts is already a dual winner at Prestbury Park, with his most recent victory coming in the Plate at the 2020 Festival.
He has finished sixth in the last two renewals of the Paddy Power Gold Cup and is out to make it third time lucky on his first appearance since finishing second in the Silver Trophy at the track in April.
Maxwell said: "Paul really wants to run him – he says he's absolutely bang in form, tells me he has never had him better and he likes good ground.
"If I could provide a rough translation of that, it would be 'this horse is in really good form, I really want to run but I wish you weren't going to ride him'!
"I really want him for the Foxhunter next year, but he loves Cheltenham and Paul says he's in great form so he might as well have a go.
"I've never ridden in anything even approaching as big a race as the Paddy Power Gold Cup, so it's very exciting."
Simply The Betts is a 16-1 shot with the sponsors after a total of 21 horses stood their ground at Monday's confirmation stage.
The 5-1 favourite for the £160,000 contest is the Mouse Morris-trained French Dynamite, a recent winner over hurdles at Thurles.
Leading hopes for the home team include Jamie Snowden's Ga Law, who made an encouraging return from a lengthy absence when third in Aintree's Old Roan Chase last month, and Stolen Silver.
The latter's trainer Sam Thomas has enjoyed big-race winners at Ascot and Aintree the last two weekends and like Ga Law, Stolen Silver is a 7-1 shot for what will be his first competitive outing since beating Simply The Betts at Cheltenham in the spring.
Il Ridoto is another contender for Nicholls, Dan Skelton could saddle Midnight River and Gary Moore has both Editeur Du Gite and Nassalam in the mix.
