Sang Bleu bypasses Triumph bid

Paul Nicholls has ruled Sang Bleu out of the Triumph Hurdle after his defeat on his British debut at Chepstow yesterday.

The import arrived in England with a tall reputation from France and looked to be going strongly in the Finale Hurdle before tiring between the final two flights behind the impressive winner Me Voici.

Nicholls is more excited about the prospect of seeing him over fences next season and already holds a strong hand in the juvenile division with the likes of Royal Mix, Advisor and another new recruit, Pistolet Noir.

“I kicked myself last night for running him. I walked the course I don’t know how many times yesterday and he ran how I thought he probably would, he just got a bit tired in the ground,” said Nicholls.

“Simon (Munir) is a really enthusiastic new owner who wanted him to run. If we’d have waited until Newbury, he would have had to run in heavy ground with a 10lb penalty.

“He’s had his run now. He’ll have a little break because he’d been on the go a long time before he came to us, but we’ll look for a couple of soft targets in the spring and I’m looking forward to sending him over fences in a year’s time.

“Sang Bleu probably won’t even have an entry in the Triumph, he’s a different type of horse to the others.

“Royal Mix did it well, the form has worked out well and he’ll improve. Advisor’s form wasn’t done a lot of good yesterday but he’s improved.

“I don’t really know enough about Pistolet Noir. We’ve only had him a couple of weeks but he’d want to show you more on the track than what he does at home so far, but obviously when he runs he is a decent horse,” he told Racing UK.