It’s fair to say that champion trainer Paul Nicholls knows how to win the Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury. The Ditcheat handler has won the race for the last three years and has two chances of making it four-in-a-row on Saturday. Although he faces some stiff competition, you simply cannot rule him out.
Harry Cobden is on the stable’s first string and Bryony Frost rides his other runner, so we’ve provided an assessment of their chances for the big race. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
This horse was very useful in bumpers and finished third behind A Dream To Share in Cheltenham’s Champion Bumper. For that reason, plenty is expected of him as a novice hurdler. He made an excellent start over timber, when winning a Grade 2 novice hurdle at Chepstow on his penultimate start.
It was disappointing to see him lose his unbeaten record at Cheltenham last time out, as the race wasn’t the strongest Grade 2 to be run at the track. That being said, he retains plenty of potential and certainly isn’t one to give up on.
Nicholls’ five-year-old finished runner-up to a smart prospect in his sole Irish point. It’s been a completely different story under rules so far and he’s yet to taste defeat in three starts. He won a bumper at Uttoxeter in March and the race has worked out really well.
Further improvement will be required if he’s to take the win here, despite winning both starts over hurdles this season. The form of his latest win at Ascot looks fairly solid and the step up in class does look warranted. There should be more to come from him.
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