The Coral Cup over 2m5f is always competitive and this year's renewal is no exception with bookmakers going 6/1 the field.

The Favourite
Only one favourite (Xenophon 2003) and one joint-favourite have obliged in the race's 16-history, which is a measure of the task facing Quantitativeeasing, who has been backed into favouritism (6/1 Ladbrokes) after being switched from the Neptune Novices' over the same trip. A winner of his only bumper start, the five-year-old bolted up on his hurdling debut at Newcastle in November and was equally impressive when defying a penalty in a Newbury novice the following month. Upped to this trip at Kempton last month, he was surprisingly turned over at odds-on but can be forgiven that defeat as the race was run at a crawl and the faster pace at Cheltenham will suit.

The Dangers
Willie Mullins' Deutschland has been the subject of plenty of recent support and is into 8/1 with Blue Square. Considered good enough to run in the Ebor and Doncaster Cup last flat season, he's no slouch over hurdles either and his third at Punchestown last month would have put him spot on for this.

Lake Legend (14/1 Sportingbet) and Sir Harry Ormesher (14/1 Paddy Power) are attempting to follow up notable handicap wins over this sort of trip, while the novice Wishfull Thinking (16/1 Ladbrokes) couldn't have been more impressive when defying a double penalty with ease to beat some good rivals at Exeter on his most recent start. Like the favourite, he has been rerouted from the Neptune Novices'.

Spirit River (14/1 Ladbrokes) was a good winner here over 2m1f in December and was possibly unlucky not to be involved in the finish of the Totesport Trophy at Newbury last month as he was travelling as well as anything when making a hash of the third form home. He's stepping up in trip here but his trainer Nicky Henderson, who runs four including the jolly Quantitativeeasing, is convinced it will suit.

On Raglan Road (16/1 William Hill), Dubnguib's erstwhile conqueror, and David Pipe's Mamlook (20/1 Stan James), a fine fourth in the Totesport Trophy, are others to consider in a wide-open race.

Longshot
Michael Flips (25/1 bet365) was a good winner at Kempton in January over this sort of trip and can be excused a poor run just one week later. First-time cheekpieces could eke out some more improvement.

Key Stat
Ten of the last 16 winners in the race's history were returned at SPs under 12/1.

Verdict
While there have been some shock winners, most have been prominent in the betting and, while I'm loathe to tip a favourite in a race of this nature, I do think QUANTATIVEEASING at around 13/2 on Betfair has plenty going for him. The handicapper must have found him difficult to assess after just three runs over hurdles and he looks teasingly well-treated off a mark of 139, which translates to a racing weight of 11st. His stablemate Spirit River looks the biggest danger.