Denman team confident of big Aintree run

PAUL Nicholls believes Denman will be “very hard to beat” as he bids to get off the mark for the season in the totesport Bowl at Aintree today.

The nine-year-old looked to have the steeplechasing world very much at his feet when running out a brilliant winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup last year but things have not gone entirely to plan for ’The Tank’ so far this term.

A fibrillating heart problem caused his seasonal reappearance to be delayed and even when he did return at Kempton in February, he looked a shadow of his former self as he was left trailing in the wake of Madison Du Berlais.