All systems go for Denman
Scores of punters had Paul Nicholls’ rising star as a banker for the old Royal & SunAlliance Novices’ Hurdle nearly 12 months ago, sending him off the 11-10 favourite only to see him beaten by Nicanor.
With attentions turned to chasing this season, Denman remains unbeaten from four starts and is currently trading at the same price as he was last year with William Hill for the SunAlliance Chase.
“He looks in fantastic order,” enthused Nicholls at a Press Day at his stable yesterday.
“Last year I didn’t think he looked that great when he got to Cheltenham, but he’s far better now and it’s all systems go.
“He has done nothing wrong so far and ever since we’ve had him he’s been progressing.
“He’s fairly short for the SunAlliance, unless My Way De Solzen turns up and it could be a very interesting contest.”
Denman put in his most impressive chasing performance yet at Newbury earlier in the month, but Nicholls believes there is still more to build on.
“He had never looked better than at Newbury the other day but he is a big, green horse still – when he jumped the water jump he thought about pulling up around the turn,” he said.
“He takes an awful lot of work to get fit and he is well schooled.
“He’s never been a bad jumper. He made one mistake on his debut and learned from it, which is what you want in a novice.”
Should Denman justify his billing at Cheltenham, obvious comparisons will be drawn with his illustrious stablemate and Gold Cup favourite Kauto Star.
But Nicholls said: “I’ve never worked them together. Denman does all his work on his own as you can’t stop him.
“He might be a Gold Cup horse one day. He’d certainly stay, whether he’d have the ability of a horse like Kauto, I don’t know.”
Meanwhile Nicholls believes Kauto Star is in “the form of his life” as the days count down to the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The gelding emerged fighting fit from his narrow victory in the Aon Chase at Newbury earlier in the month and will just be kept ticking over before his date with destiny in three weeks’ time.
“He’s not stood still since Newbury – we’ve been hammering the work into him,” said Nicholls.
“Ruby Walsh came down to school him yesterday and couldn’t believe how fresh and buzzy he was.
“He came out of Newbury well and we had him jumping barrels and all sorts and he jumped beautifully.
“For the races he’s had, he’s kept his condition remarkably well but it’s not like he’s had a hard race yet – every time he’s come back, you could run him again within a week.
“He’ll school next week too and the week after, it’s pretty much the routine.”
Much has been made of Kauto Star’s final-fence jumping blunders in the Stan James King George VI Chase and the Aon, but champion trainer Nicholls was again keen to point out it was not something that could be ironed out.
“If he was a horse that was a bad jumper you would be worried but he just makes a couple of mistakes – he’s never looked like falling over,” said Nicholls.
“Every time you school him, he’s exceptional. A lot of horses have made mistakes at the last at Kempton, possibly with the crowds and everything so close, they just take their eyes of it.”
Stamina doubts are the other issue surrounding Kauto Star, who started off his British career as a two-mile chaser and will be going further than he has ever been before in the Gold Cup.
“My head lad Clifford Baker and I always thought he was a stayer and definitely going over a trip suits,” rebuffed Nicholls.
“I’m not saying we definitely know he’ll stay, but over three miles in the Betfair Chase at Haydock everyone said he wouldn’t stay and he could have gone around again.”
