Master Minded to step up in trip in Melling

MASTER Minded is set to step back up to two and a half miles in the John Smith‘s Melling Chase at Aintree on Friday week as connections contemplate trying him over three miles next season.

The King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day is a possible objective for the eight-year-old, who was well-beaten in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham, a race he has won twice in the past.

“He‘s going for the two-and-a-half-mile chase as long as he‘s fit and well,” trainer Paul Nicholls told At The Races.