Haydock mission for Royal Pagaille and Grey Dawning

IT'S the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury next week, but don't let anyone at Coral hear you say that.

- By JAMES BURN

Royale Pagaille (centre) ridden by Charlie Deutsch on the way to winning last year's Betfair Chase at Haydock. Grey Downing, right, came second

(Ian Hodgson/PA)

Now, the guys and gals at Coral are a friendly bunch, but Hennessy hasn't sponsored Newbury's showpiece since 2016, having previously backed it for 59 years, so you can understand why they might be irked that people keep banging on about the race's old name.

“Oh, it’s the Hennessy and always will be," Anne Broom, whose Native River won that ‘final’ Hennessy in 2016, told me this week. She's not the only one who will let the H word slip out in the next few days, but have you heard of the Lancashire Chase?