IT'S hard to believe that it's only eight weeks to the Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup and jockey Paddy Brennan believes his Chase Triple Crown candidate Cue Card has a "massive chance" of landing connections the £1m bonus.

Wins for Colin Tizzard's 10-year-old in the Grade 2 bet365 Charlie Hall Chase, Grade 1 Betfair Chase and Grade 1 William Hill King George VI Chase this campaign have seen him shoot towards the head of the Gold Cup market.

The Ryanair hero in 2013 would certainly bring many a tear to the winners' enclosure if landing the big prize.

The death of Cue Card's joint-owner Bob Bishop just four days after his star's gritty King George win made a sad postscript to the Kempton highlight, though Brennan is confident he can steer the six-time Grade 1 winner to a poignant victory for the Bishop family in March.

Brennan said: "I think he has a massive chance as Cheltenham brings out the best in him.

"I've been lucky enough to win the Gold Cup before and would pay money to win another one and it would be lovely to do it for Bob."

Brennan's previous success in the Festival showpiece came in 2010 when he was successful aboard the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Imperial Commander.

A second victory in the race would clearly mean an awful lot to the experienced rider, who, like Cue Card, has been revitalised this season, though Brennan feels there are not too many similarities between Imperial Commander and this year's contender.

Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, Brennan said: "They are chalk and cheese – Imperial Commander is a stocky horse, whereas Cue Card is not that big and is more built for speed, but as he proved in the King George, with age he has learned to chill out and is finishing his races a lot better."

The other market principals for this season's contest are all trained in Ireland, with Willie Mullins' Djakadam heading the ante-post betting, though Brennan pinpointed two other raiders as clear dangers to Cue Card's Crown bid.

"It boils down to the Irish horses and it will be interesting to see where Vautour goes. I wouldn't rule him out, but Don Cossack is the one I fear as he was unlucky in the King George."

Closer to home, Wetherby will be glad to get back racing tomorrow after suffering badly with all the rain around over the last month.

They lost their popular two-day Christmas meeting, but hopefully tomorrow's card looks like going ahead, albeit the ground will be very testing, with the first race due underway at 12.25pm.

Further ahead, Doncaster will be hoping the weather stays on side for the Sky Bet Chase, registered as the Great Yorkshire Chase, at the end of the month.

Lucy Wadham has entered Le Reve after he signalled a return to form last weekend when second to Kruzhlinin at Kempton.

"Le Reve seems absolutely fine after his run at the weekend," she said.

"We are hoping he will be able to build on that because he had a wind operation in November and that was his first run back. I think it takes them a race or two to get their confidence back, so we were really happy with him.

"We are definitely considering the Sky Bet Chase. If we had to miss it for whatever reason, there is the race he won last year at Sandown the following week, but we will be looking at Doncaster very closely."

Charlie Longsdon has entered Badger Ales Trophy winner Drop Out Joe and stablemate Coologue.

"Drop Out Joe has had a nice break since the Badger Ales Trophy and is in good form," said Longsdon.

"I've put him in the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster, but if it's very soft he won't run. He is quite high in the handicap now off 150, but we know he likes the track as he ran very well in the Grimthorpe Chase last year. It just depends on the ground.

"Coologue is the more definite of the two as he will like any ground. He's a nice, improving novice and has an ideal profile for the race. He has only run three times over fences and ran well in a Grade Two at Doncaster a month ago."