Welsh friends and rivals going head-to-head for the Gold Cup

On Track With James Burn

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Ben Jones and The Jukebox Man will be vying for Gold Cup glory at Cheltenham with Sean Bowen and Haiti Couleurs, right

ELSH jockeys Ben Jones and Sean Bowen will go head to head in Friday's Cheltenham Gold Cup and both fancy their chances of bagging the big one.

Sam Thomas, who partnered Denman in 2008, was the last Welsh rider to land the prestigious prize and the betting suggests history could repeat itself.

Irish raider Gaelic Warrior is the 7-2 favourite, while the Nicky Henderson-trained Jango Baie is 4-1 - the same price as The Jukebox Man, who will have Jones on board.

The pair teamed up for a brilliant success in the King George VI Chase at Kempton over Christmas and the inform Carmarthen native has plenty of belief in the Ben Pauling-trained runner.

“He seems A1,” he said, “We've got a few days to go, but we're getting close to it and the excitement is building.

“A couple of horses aren’t running, which makes things easier for us, but I wouldn’t have swapped my lad for anything in the race.