Pipe bemused by Thriller flop

David Pipe admits it is “back to the drawing board” with Mr Thriller after his lacklustre run in the Dipper Chase at Cheltenham on Saturday.

The six-year-old, rated over 160 at his peak as a hurdler, was sent off 7-2 favourite for the red-hot renewal of the Grade Two event.

Having run such a good race first time out over fences when falling at the second-last when still holding every chance, hopes in the camp were high he would be involved at the finish.

However, he was never jumping with the same fluency and trailed home ninth under Tom Scudamore.

“Mr Thriller seems fine,” said Pipe.

“He ran so well on his debut but if you look at his previous form then you can see that he usually runs well fresh, first time out, and then seems to deteriorate afterwards.

“It’s back to the drawing board.”