Nil unlikely for Wetherby

Smart Irish chaser Nil Desperandum is set to bypass Wetherby on Saturday and run nearer home instead at Down Royal a week later.

The quality of the entry for the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at the West Yorkshire track has persuaded trainer Frances Crowley to save the seven-year-old for the James Nicholson Wine Merchant Champion Chase.

Ms Crowley won the Charlie Hall Chase three years ago with Sackville but she said: “I think he’ll probably be going to Down Royal.

“Basically I put him in at Wetherby because I like the track and to see if it was going to be an easier option, but it looks like being every bit as competitive as Down Royal, so we’ll keep him at home.

“He’s in great form,” she added.

Nil Desperandum has recovered from the stone bruise that forced him to skip a race at Gowran Park earlier this month.

He missed most of last season through injury and was last of four to the Victor Dartnall-trained Lord Sam, a likely runner in the Charlie Hall Chase, at Punchestown in April on his latest start.

Nil Desperandum had looked a useful staying chaser in the making when winning his first two races over fences last November and he is a top-priced 33-1 chance for the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup.