WILLY TWISTON-DAVIES has high hopes for Broadway Boy at The Coral Gold Cup. 

Broadway Boy - who won a pair of big prizes over fences at Cheltenham last season - has made a strong start to the current campaign, finishing third behind the reopposing Senior Chief at Prestbury Park in October.

"He definitely took a healthy blow at Cheltenham, but off a rating of 148, he's won a Grade Three handicap off 146 already," said Twiston-Davies, assistant to his father Nigel. "You'd like to hope he could be a graded horse in a handicap hopefully. 

"We'll be disappointed if he doesn't go very well. If it is soft ground, that will be up our street, as he's won on heavy and he's also won on good, but he is definitely better on a soft surface."

He will go up against Colonel Harry, hailing from the stable that won the race 12 months ago. 

Datsalrightgino landed the prestigious handicap last year, but joy turned to despair less than two months later as Jamie Snowden’s stable star was fatally injured when falling in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham.

In Colonel Harry, the stable have another serious contender for the race. 

"He’s in great order at home, I’ve been very happy with him since Carlisle and his training has all gone as planned," said Snowden, owner of Colonel Harry. "He schooled very well last week and did some nice work on Tuesday and we’re hopefully all set for Saturday. 

"Last year was a magical day and the Coral Gold Cup has been etched in my DNA since I was a young child really. It’s a wonderful race to be associated with and it was fantastic to win it last year."