Bobs Worth can overcome a lack of recent racecourse appearances to land the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup for trainer Nicky Henderson, who is seeking to win the race for the second time in three years.

Henderson first claimed the Cheltenham showpiece in 2011 with Long Run, who finished third last year and is set to join Bobs Worth in the three miles and two and a half furlong contest – which offers total prize money of £550,000 – on Friday.

Bobs Worth landed the valuable Hennessey Gold Cup on December 1 on his sole start of a frustrating campaign, where his preparation has been hampered by unsuitable ground conditions.

“It is a step up and I would have liked to have run him more on the way,” Henderson said of the Cheltenham course specialist, who is unbeaten in four starts there. “The whole winter has been the same – the ground has been desperate.

“His one opportunity to run came when the ground was bottomless and I am glad we did not go for that.

“He is a bit more fragile than some of them and he wouldn’t want a hard race in heavy ground beforehand.”

The feature race today (Thursday) is the Ladbrokes World Hurdle, which can go to the Nick Williams-trained Reve De Sivola, another runner who has a proven record at this track and won the Cleeve Hurdle here at his last start.

Simon Jackson is a freelance racing journalist based in north west London. He can be reached at jacksonsports1@yahoo.co.uk for press and PR enquiries, or racing/betting related news stories and features.