Nicanor ‘in the mix’ for Arkle
The brilliant son of Garde Royale finished fourth under Paul Carberry on his chase bow at Gowran Park on Saturday — his first appearance in over 1,000 days due to an injury-enforced absence.
Nicanor travelled well before tiring after the second-last and Meade will use the time between now and the Arkle on March 10 to determine whether or not the horse might go to the Cotswolds.
He said: “I was happy enough with him. The ground was very, very bad at Gowran. He got very tired after jumping the second-last and Paul left him alone after that.
“He came out of the race well. Really, Cheltenham is coming too quick but the owner is very keen to go if he can so he’s still in the mix anyway. We’ll see what happens.
“I couldn’t see him having another run before the race. We’ll basically see how he works between now and then and see how we’re going.
“I’ve left him in the two novice chases but I think it’ll be the Arkle. I’ll probably bring him to Leopardstown after the next meeting and see how he works then. We’ll make up our mind after that.”
The handler admits that going to Cheltenham as a maiden over fences would hardly be ideal for Nicanor.
“That race was a beginners’ chase in Gowran and he ran well but I’d have liked to have another run in him.
“You’d like to see him going to Cheltenham having won over fences but you wouldn’t know — he takes a lot of work and we’ll see how he progresses now.”
