THE incredible generosity of J.P. and Noreen McManus was showcased once again this week when the Limerick native donated €1 million to every county board in the country to support local Gaelic games.

That such a gesture has drummed up a significant portion of negative reaction is somewhat incredible as well, but that seems to be par for the course now. It’s back to racing for McManus today where he has two live chances in the December Gold Cup (1.50) at Cheltenham , a marquee race of which it must be pointed out, is worth £75,000 to the winner.

In the grand scheme of things, that’s a relatively fair pot, but a bare pittance when you take into account McManus’ outlay this week, and a pebble in the stream when you consider his outlay into racing on a whole. But try explaining that to the begrudgers of the sport, some of whom seriously naively correlate his €32 million contribution with the Government-backed prize money he earns from racing.

So Scottish and Fakir D’oudairies will carry the green and gold today, and bid to give McManus a first win in the race since Quantitativeesing and Barry Geraghty scored for Nicky Henderson in 2011.

The former, trained by Emmet Mullins, has been high up in the market since the race was priced up. He returns to Cheltenham after running seventh to Seddon in the Plate last March, and competes off a 2lb lower mark now.

“He didn’t run a bad race in the Plate at the Festival last season and hopefully he’s a stronger horse now,” Mullins told The Irish Field. “It’s his first run in a tongue-tie. Hopefully that can bring about a bit of the improvement needed.

“Gowran (32-length fourth to Lucid Dreams) was probably just to get a run. The ground was probably too heavy for him that day. It’s a nice pot and the two-and-a-half-mile trip is probably around his trip at the moment.”

Fakir D’oudairies is an intriguing runner, competing here off a mark of 162, and returns to Cheltenham for the first time since finishing a 12-length second to Allaho in the 2021 Ryanair Chase.

“He’s in good form and it’s nice to get him started for the season,” Joseph O’Brien said. “He is giving away plenty of weight but he has a good record fresh and he has a good record in Cheltenham so hopefully he runs well. He is versatile ground-wise, he handles soft.”

The clear favourite for the race yesterday evening was Thunder Rock, bidding to give Olly Murphy a big-race win. The seven-year-old’s most recent form has been upgraded significantly following the running of the Coral Gold Cup, as he finished second to Datsalrightgino in a Grade 2 at Ayr last April and he beat Mahler Mission on his seasonal debut in the Colin Parker at Carlisle - those two runners finished first and second respectively at Newbury.