THE Irish-trained Road To Riches is the 8/1 second favourite with sponsors Betfred for the 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup, entries for which have just been released.

Heading the 35 entries is Silviniaco Conti, impressive winner of the King George and Betfair Chase already this season. Also engaged are the last two winners of the Gold Cup, Lord Windermere and Bobs Worth.

Lord Windermere, trained by Jim Culloty, had Bobs Worth back in fifth when successful in the 2014 edition of the race. It was a thrilling finish with Lord Windermere just holding by a short-head the strong challenge of another Irish-trained horse, On His Own, from the Willie Mullins stable.

The Giant Bolster, trained near Cheltenham by David Bridgwater, stayed on strongly to be a close third, three quarters of a length in arrears, the third successive year that the Cheltenham specialist had finished in the frame in the Gold Cup. Silviniaco Conti, still in the lead half-way up the run-in, was another length back in fourth, with a further two and a quarter lengths to Bobs Worth, who started 6/4 market leader, in fifth.

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Silviniaco Conti, has also entered Al Ferof (33/1), Black Thunder (66/1), Sam Winner (33/1) and Unioniste (33/1). Nicholls is aiming to become the joint most successful trainer of all time in the Gold Cup this year. Victory would bring his tally to five in the race, the same number as Arkle's trainer Tom Dreaper achieved.

Road To Riches, trained by Noel Meade and owned by Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud, has gained two Grade 1 wins in Ireland this season, the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal and the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown.

He is one of 13 Irish-trained horses in the Gold Cup, with this number of Irish entries only exceeded once in the last 23 years.

On His Own is one of five entries trained by Willie Mullins - the others being Ballycasey (50/1), Boston Bob (20/1), Champagne Fever (33/1) and Djakadam (40/1).

Other interesting entries include the novices Coneygree (40/1) and Kings Palace (20/1). Both horses are thought more likely to go for the RSA Chase at Cheltenham a day earlier. Captain Christy was the last novice to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup back in 1974.

Many Clouds (16/1) gave a big boost to the Upper Lambourn stable of Oliver Sherwood when winning the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in November and is on target for the Gold Cup.

Jonjo O'Neill, who trains not far from Cheltenham Racecourse, has entered three, the Gay Smith-owned Holywell (12/1), who is already a dual winner at the Festival, Shutthefrontdoor (20/1) for J.P. McManus, who also has Carlingford Lough (trained by John Kiely - 33/1) entered, and Taquin Du Seuil (40/1), owned by Martin Broughton and friends, successful in the JLT Novices' Chase at the Festival in 2014.

BETFRED CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP

Grade 1, £550,000. Friday, March 13th. 3m 2f 110yds.

Horse Age Owner

AL FEROF (FR) 10 John Hales Paul Nicholls

BALLYCASEY (IRE) 8 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE

BLACK THUNDER (FR) 8 Donlon, MacDonald, Fulton & Webb Paul Nicholls

BOBS WORTH (IRE) 10 The Not Afraid Partnership Nicky Henderson

BOSTON BOB (IRE) 10 Andrea & Graham Wylie Willie Mullins IRE

CARLINGFORD LOUGH (IRE) 9 J P McManus John Kiely IRE

CHAMPAGNE FEVER (IRE) 8 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE

CONEYGREE 8 The Max Partnership Mark Bradstock

DJAKADAM (FR) 6 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE

DON COSSACK (GER) 8 Gigginstown House Stud Gordon Elliott IRE

DOUBLE ROSS (IRE) 9 Options O Syndicate Nigel Twiston-Davies

DYNASTE (FR) 9 John White David Pipe

FINGAL BAY (IRE) 9 Carol Skan Philip Hobbs

FIRST LIEUTENANT (IRE) 10 Gigginstown House Stud Mouse Morris IRE

HARRY TOPPER 8 A N Solomons Kim Bailey

HOLYWELL (IRE) 8 Gay Smith Jonjo O'Neill

HOME FARM (IRE) 8 Chris Jones Henry de Bromhead IRE

HOUBLON DES OBEAUX (FR) 8 Mrs Julian Blackwell Venetia Williams

KINGS PALACE (IRE) 7 Drew, George & Johnson Family David Pipe

LORD WINDERMERE (IRE) 9 Dr Ronan Lambe Jim Culloty IRE

MA FILLEULE (FR) 7 Simon Munir Nicky Henderson

MANY CLOUDS (IRE) 8 Trevor Hemmings Oliver Sherwood

MORNING ASSEMBLY (IRE) 8 Clipper Logistics Group Ltd Pat Fahy IRE

ON HIS OWN (IRE) 11 Andrea & Graham Wylie Willie Mullins IRE

RIVER CHOICE (FR) 12 Fergus Wilson Richard Chotard FR

ROAD TO RICHES (IRE) 8 Gigginstown House Stud Noel Meade IRE

SAM WINNER (FR) 8 Angela Yeoman Paul Nicholls

SHUTTHEFRONTDOOR (IRE) 8 J P McManus Jonjo O'Neill

SILVINIACO CONTI (FR) 9 Chris Giles & Potensis Bloodstock Ltd Paul Nicholls

SMAD PLACE (FR) 8 Mrs Peter Andrews Alan King

SPRING HEELED (IRE) 8 Dr Ronan Lambe Jim Culloty IRE

TAQUIN DU SEUIL (FR) 8 Martin Broughton & Friends 1 Jonjo O'Neill

THEATRE GUIDE (IRE) 8 Jean Bishop Colin Tizzard

THE GIANT BOLSTER 10 Simon Hunt & Gary Lambton David Bridgwater

UNIONISTE (FR) 7 John Hales Paul Nicholls

35 entries

13 Irish-trained

1 French-trained

Betfred bet: 3 Silviniaco Conti, 8 Road To Riches, 12 Holywell, Lord Windermere, 16 Bobs Worth, Many Clouds, 20 Boston Bob, Dynaste, Kings Palace, On His Own, Shutthefrontdoor, 33 Al Ferof, Carlingford Lough, Champagne Fever, Don Cossack, First Lieutenant, Houblon des Obeaux, Ma Filleule, Morning Assembly, Sam Winner, Smad Place, The Giant Bolster, Unioniste, 40 Coneygree, Djakadam, Taquin du Seuil, 50 Ballycasey, Fingal Bay, Harry Topper, Home Farm, Spring Heeled, 66 Black Thunder, Double Ross, Theatre Guide, 200 River Choice.

¼ 1-2-3. NRNB