Paul Nicholls: Amour du Nuit can claim another win at Musselburgh

Musselburgh

Plenty of positives

12:30 - Individualiste

We gave him a nice break after he joined us from France where he was placed in all three starts on the flat in France. He shapes like a stayer, jumps nicely, is pleasing us at home and very fit. He should give his syndicate of owners a lot of fun.

Drop back in trip could bring improvement

13:05 - Carry On The Magic

I'm hoping that fences will see an improvement in form from Carry On The Magic who was a close second in his point to point in Eire to Killer Clown. He ran a sound race for a long way at Taunton last time but didn't quite get home so we are dropping him back in trip to two-and-a-half miles. He has schooled well and could be interesting in this novice handicap Chase.

Course specialist targetting victory

14:10 - Christopher Wood

He is a bit of a course specialist, having won here twice, is fine on soft ground and should be spot on now as he usually takes a couple of runs to reach peak fitness. This race has been his target for a while and it helps that he has been dropped a few pounds since he ran at Haydock 42 days ago.

Expecting another strong performance

14:50 - Amour du Nuit

He's extremely versatile and ran really well in a competitive race last time at Newbury. That followed a cracking effort when he was third over hurdles in the Silver Trophy at Chepstow in October. While he doesn't get much relief from the handicapper, he will like the track and should again give a good account provided the ground isn't too testing.

Exeter

Can improve again on testing ground

12:40 - Broken Halo

He won his point-to-point in Ireland and had wind surgery in the summer after a ready success over hurdles for us at Wincanton in the spring. Broken Halo made an encouraging debut over fences when he finished third at Chepstow over three miles early in December. I'm hoping he can improve on that coming back in trip on testing ground that he handles well.

Settled in and ready to go

16:05 - Knowsley Road

He is a nice, big, strong four year year old who finished second for Colin Bowe in his only point-to-point in Ireland at Tralee in June after racing prominently throughout. He has settled into our routine and is ready to start.

Best chance

Paul's best chance - Amour de Nuit, 14:50 at Musselburgh: He heads to Scotland with a decent chance of adding another victory.