Owner Robert Waley-Cohen has set his heart on winning a second Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup with Long Run today.

The seven-year-old gave Waley-Cohen, who lives at Edgehill, near Banbury, his greatest success when landing chasing’s blue riband under his son, Sam, 12 months ago.

And now he is hoping that the Nicky Henderson-trained seven-year-old can repeat the feat following his win in the Betfair Denman Chase .

“Newbury was a wonderful, confidence-giving race,” said Waley-Cohen snr, who is also chairman of Cheltenham racecourse.

“It was a high-class field and we were giving weight to the ones that looked likely to finish closest to us.

“He beat them all, broke the track record off 11st 10lb on good to soft ground, and jumped immaculately. The Gold Cup is the holy grail and it’s what we want to win.”

Despite being the def-ending champion, Long Run will be viewed as the party pooper if he defeats Kauto Star.

But with Henderson’s yard in red-hot form, confidence in the camp is high he can retain his crown.

“The score is 2-2 and this is the decider, so let’s hope it’s a great race,”said the Lambourn trainer.

“He is seriously well and everything has gone great. We’re happy where we are and Paul Nicholls is happy where he is, and I’d have been genuinely sad if Kauto Star came there and wasn’t at his best.

“Kauto Star thumped us two times, so we’ve got to get back and beat him.

“There are lots of great races in the week, but I hope this is the highlight.”

Nicholls, delighted that his dual Gold Cup hero has recovered from a schooling fall, said: “Kauto has astounded us this year and he now seems in really good form.

“He ran really well at Haydock, when Long Run came to him and he completely outstayed him, and his performance at Kempton in the King George was incredible.

“It’s a different track at Cheltenham, but if he runs to the form of Kempton and Haydock then he has a massive chance.

“His record speaks for itself and it would be awesome for everyone involved if he could win another Gold Cup.”