Paul Nicholls' Weekend Runners: The Timeform Review

Cheltenham 2011 was one of the best ever according to Paul Nicholls and it's very difficult to argue otherwise, but there has to be a come-down and for the trainer and his team this weekend will be one to swiftly put behind them.

At Uttoxeter on Saturday, both Timeform ratings and the betting market suggested that the Ruby Walsh-ridden Red Harbour was expected to finish closer than sixth in the handicap hurdle won impressively by Golden Chieftain, but it wasn't to be. In his Betfair column on Saturday morning, the trainer expressed the suspicion that the trip on soft ground might be too much of a drain on Red Harbour's stamina and, although sunshine caused the ground description to change from from soft to good to soft after the first race, it seemed Nicholls' worries were well-founded as once again the horse flattered to deceive, travelling as if going to pose a threat to the winner, before staying on just one-paced. His handicap win at Sandown last year came over two and a half miles so it seems logical to assume that he'll be dropped back to that trip in the near future but he remains best watched for the time being.

In the Midlands National, it was Tricky Trickster, another of the yard's horses to have had a breathing operation since the season began, who aimed to show more than he had done on his previous two outings this season.

A market move did suggest he was back to form, and on ground he handles and over a trip he relishes, he too was expected to turn in an improved display. However, his race was ended at the second fence when he took a very heavy fall which left him prostrate on the turf for several minutes, causing the field to be navigated around the fence at which he was stricken on the second circuit. He reportedly suffered hairline fractures to two neck vertebrae, obviously ruling him out of another tilt at the Grand National, a race he was ninth in last year.

After only showing a poor level of for in his previous two hurdle starts, it wasn't a great surprise that Water Garden again showed little when only eighth in the novice hurdle at Newton Abbot on Sunday. However, being held up in a race in which it was difficult to make up ground wasn't ideal and he could now be given a lenient handicap mark in relation to his bumper form, so he remains one to keep an eye on nonetheless.

Finally, on the same card, Aldertune was probably the yard's best chance of a winner over the weekend but he failed to find the necessary improvement to overcome the progressive Fin Vin de Leu in the four-runner novice chase. Blinkered for the first-time in an attempt to try and eradicate the idling he had displayed on his penultimate start, they did cause him to run a bit too free, but he wouldn't have beaten the winner, anyway. That said, although the jury remains out on his temperament, he's undoubtedly consistent in these races and isn't one to be giving up on just yet.

Timeform / 21 Mar 2011