I agree TC - todays result could have bizzarly convinced the Pipe team to take their chance in the Gold Cup.
I've never known a year like it, the Gold Cup jolly is a horse who has been beaten twice and jumped poorly, the second fav is a 12 year old, Grand Crus had two season hurdling and went over timber 8 times so his inexperience of fences is somewhat nullified by him racing experience, he's also seen Cheltenham 4 times (1 chase start) and clearly acts at the track - I'd never usually recommend a novice attempt a championship race but a Gold Cup tilt just makes sense to me...