Classy Nicanor looks the proverbial certainty

NOEL MEADE’S Iktitaf will miss the Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown this afternoon, having been cast in his box, but the in-form handler can enjoy far better luck at Navan, where his Nicanor is the proverbial certainty in the Europe Novice Hurdle.

The five-year-old is as good a young horse as there is in the country, but his career thus far has been blighted by silly errors.

He has made them in all three races over flights and it probably cost him victory last time in the Grade One Barry and Sandra Kelly Memorial Hurdle on this track. He was travelling like a winner when getting it wrong at the second last and in the end failed to reel in Travino, going down by a neck.