Noel Meade is keeping his fingers crossed Road To Riches arrives at Leopardstown on Saturday in the same form he was in last weekend in his quest for Irish Gold Cup glory.
With the likes of Don Poli, Don Cossack and Vautour not in the field, Road To Riches (8/11f) looks to have an excellent opportunity to register a third victory at the highest level.
He has not been seen in competitive action since making a successful reappearance in the Clonmel Oil Chase in November, but left connections thrilled when working alongside stable companion and fellow Irish Gold Cup hope Wounded Warrior at Punchestown last Sunday.
"Watching it [the racecourse gallop], I was very happy with the way it went, but when I went down to meet Bryan [Cooper], the smile on his face really told me everything," Meade told RTÉ Sport.
"He was thrilled with him and said he felt in terrific form. He's come out of the piece of work well, he's in great shape and hopefully we'll get him to Saturday in that shape. He seems to be bouncing.
"It's a Grade One. It's the Irish Gold Cup, it's not a trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, though many people might say it is. It's a top-class race. We're not taking it any way lightly and we're going out there to win it."
Meade is confident that Road to Riches is back to top form after missing the defence of his Lexus Chase crown in December.
"His last piece of work before Christmas, for the race, he didn't work as well as we thought he should," he said.
"We blood-tested him and he had a little bit of an infection so we had to put him on antibiotics for four or five days. But that was it and it cleared up very fast."
After finishing a close third behind Coneygree and Djakadam in last year's Cheltenham Gold Cup, Meade is hopeful of going one better this term.
"There wasn't much we could do, the winner was in front of him and from the last to the line he just faded a fraction, and Djakadam caught him on the run up to the line for second," he said.
"But if you look back at the race he was the one who put it up to the winner, he just ran out of steam.
"For that reason, I always had it in my head this year that whether he ran in the Lexus or not I'd give him another run before the Gold Cup. It's great to have them fresh but you do need to have them 100% for a Gold Cup.
"If I have him as well as that [in Clonmel] for the Gold Cup I'll be happy because he was jumping out of his skin.
"He was in terrific form for that race and hopefully we'll have him back at that again. I really thought he as good as he could be that day."
Meade is well aware, however, that Willie Mullins' hand is well stacked with it comes to option for the Cheltenham showpiece.
"It looks very competitive," he said. "It was hard to know with Djakadam falling the other day [at Cheltenham] what he would have done but I'm sure he would have been hard to beat in that race and he looks the one to beat at the moment.
"Vautour is another that has to be considered big time as well."
