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Paul Nicholls previews his five Saturday's runners
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The less rain the better for Il Ridoto at Cheltenham
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Best chance Jubilee Alpha can bounce back and win
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Plus runners at Doncaster and Lingfield
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Paul Nicholls on plans to run No Drama This End in Challow
I was delighted with No Drama This End's win at Sandown last week. He was giving weight to some good horses, who were all winners, and he won very nicely. We learned a lot more about him again and we were thrilled with him. He has had an easy week, just done one canter every day, looks good and didn't lose any weight.
We are still planning to go to the Challow Hurdle with him [at Newbury on 29 December] and we are happy with him. The back up if we don't want to go to the Challow with him for any reason is trials day at Cheltenham, at the end of January, where there is a very nice two-and-a-half novice hurdle. I believe he will only have one penalty, the race is worth quite a lot of money, so we have got a back up plan, but at the moment, if everything is right he will go to the Challow.
Paul Nicholls' Saturday runners at Cheltenham preview
13:50 - Il Ridoto
He is heading back to his beloved Cheltenham one pound lower. It looked as though the ground was going to be soft and I have been worried about that all week but it has gone good to soft today and hopefully we will not get too much more rain. The more it dries out the better for Il Ridoto, he's a good ground horse who has bits and pieces of form on the soft but doesn't really like it.
What do you do? Leave him in his box and run him or wait and run and, if he gets beat, he comes down a few pounds. That's the story of his life really, but he is very well, worked great yesterday and looks fantastic, so I just hope the ground keeps drying up.
14:25 - Sans Bruit
Nearly every time he's won it has been off a mark in the early 130s and then 139 when Jay Tidball took five off. He is nearly 140 now and it is too high, but forget that, the most important thing about Sans Bruit is that he does not seem to operate this time of year and seems to come good in the spring. He is one of those horses who you run through the winter to see if he can pick some crumbs and then hopefully he will be on a niceish mark for the spring when the ground suits him. The plan is for him to head back to Aintree and Plumpton.
15:35 - Jubilee Alpha
She is in good shape and is probably my best chance of the day, albeit she went up four pounds the other day for just getting beat at Wincanton by Sweet Caryline who she takes on again here. The winner went up too, but if you're high enough in the weights anyway, and you get beat and go up four pounds, I think it is very harsh.
She probably would have won [at Wincanton] if she hadn't made a mistake two out. The slower ground here will be more suited to her, she is a good, progressive mare, loves going left-handed and has a lot in her favour. Off 12st in those handicaps, though, there are always a few fillies lurking around with a lot less weight, so this will not be an easy task.
Paul Nicholls' Saturday runners at Doncaster and Lingfield
12:25 Doncaster - Go West
He was a winner on his chase debut in a match race and the second has come out and run since. That could be nice form but is he well-handicapped? I don't know, he's got top weight, is in good shape and the more it dries out the better for him. He jumps solidly so should have a good chance but this is a £35K race so you would expect it to be competitive.
14:32 Lingfield - Paso Doble
He runs off top weight after running in a decent handicap at Sandown but Freddie Keighley takes off seven and I think he is handicapped high enough. The boys think he will get the trip, I'm not convinced but we'll see and, whatever he does, he is going to go chasing again after this.