L'HOMME Presse backed up his credentials as best British hope for March's Cheltenham Gold Cup with a battling 3/4L Cotswold Chase win over Irish raider Stage Star at the same racecourse on Saturday.

Victory in the Grade 2 £70,000 Festival Trials Day climax for the Wye Valley mount added to impressive recent wins for trainer Venetia Williams and her King’s Caple yard near Ross-on-Wye.

And while most pundits are predicting yet more Irish success in the Spring showcase, with 2023/24 champion Galopin de Champs a red hot favourite, 10-year-old L’Homme Presse looks like he could be in with a shout if he runs, with his odds now cut to 16/1.

Fourth last year in the Gold Cup after being injured two from home when challenging for the lead, the stable star finally made his return to racing with a battling third in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

And a month on, he impressed again under jockey Charlie Deutsch over 3m 1f, as the duo looked to have more in hand than the winning margin suggested.

Starting as a 4/5 favourite, L'Homme Presse and 13/2 shot Stage Star under Harry Cobden kicked clear two from home, and couldn't be separated at the last before Deutsch's mount calmly edged in front in the final few strides, with Gentlemansgame at 7/2 a distant third.

Williams said: "He keeps us on the edge of our seats, doesn't he? Charlie said he was so laid-back the whole way round in the race and turning for home said 'come on now, we've got a race to win'.

"I always thought we'd have Stage Star covered, but credit to him, he's a great horse and made him pull it all out.

"He's trotted back to the winner's enclosure here and how many horses do you see run three miles at Cheltenham then trot back.

"It's all been relatively straightforward this year and he came back from Kempton in great form, so we've just been able to make a standard progression to here.

"I'm pleased to get this race in the bag. We'll see about March and it's one step at a time, but I'm pleased with that.

"I think the ground could prove quite relevant in March because he wasn't getting tired last year and the others only got on top on the way to the line, I don't think staying the trip will be a problem for him."

Speaking about the fact that only five British horses, including L'Homme Presse and her Haydock Betfair Chase winner Royale Pagaille, are entered in the Gold Cup, she added: "Everyone has built up the Irish as unbeatable and then the entry came from Britain and it was depleted.

"I think a lot of that is because people get frightened, but at the end of the day it's who wins the race on the day and you don't even know if all the main protagonists will get there in one piece.

"I'm quite surprised we're one of the leading British contenders, but we'll see in March.

"He means the world, beyond that I can't say any more. Charlie says it's like getting into his favourite car, but when I get in my favourite car I get a speeding ticket. Let's be very grateful for what we've seen today."