Defiant Nicholls sure Denman will be ready for Gold Cup bid

RARELY has victory felt so hollow. Paul Nicholls won the Aon Chase at Newbury with Tricky Trickster, but that could not conceal the potential long-term repercussions following Denman's dramatic exit.

The giant chaser was expected to have a straightforward task in warming up for his showdown with stablemate Kauto Star in the Gold Cup on 19 March.

But the prep ended in ignominy as Tony McCoy, riding Denman for the first time, was unseated three fences from home. The 1-6 favourite was not striding away from the pack as expected, with McCoy's look over his shoulder on the home turn revealing Niche Market still in his slipstream. He was still tanking when ploughing through the fourth-last before blundering and ditching his pilot at the next obstacle, having surrendered the lead to Niche Market.

Irish National winner Niche Market was reeled in on the run-in, with Ruby Walsh nabbing the spoils as Tricky Trickster (8-1) nailed him by a short head.

Nicholls said: "What happened to Denman is a blow to everyone, but by no means can you write him off. We'll get him back; we've been there before."

As is his wont, Nicholls was at least able to take some solace from Master Minded's return to form, but even his success in the totepool Game Spirit Chase was not without incident. Walsh blamed himself for showboating after the brilliant chaser nearly wrecked a flawless comeback.

Such was the advantage accrued by the reigning Queen Mother Champion chaser he was able to recover from a terrible mistake at the last to finish 13 lengths clear of Mahogany Blaze. "That was completely my fault, there was no need to be thinking about a big extravagant jump at the last," said Walsh.

Nicholls added: "Two years ago he won this and won at Cheltenham and if he goes there in that form he will be very, very hard to beat."

Denman aside, the Ditcheat handler actually ended up having a superb afternoon in Berkshire as Alfie Sherrin and Al Ferof also hit the mark. The former may go for the Pertemps Final, but the latter will miss Cheltenham.

McCoy also gained some modicum of redemption as Get Me Out Of Here landed the valuable totesport Trophy. The jockey said: "I have had enough highs and lows to realise that and you have got to look forward in this game."

Trainer Jonjo O'Neill added of the unbeaten scorer: "He's in both the Supreme and the Neptune at Cheltenham and we will take a decision nearer the time."

McCoy was also on the mark with Nicky Henderson's Bellvano, who landed the Bet Totepool On 0800 221 221 Novices' Hurdle, while Diamond Harry was a touch workmanlike in beating Bensalem in the toteplacepot Novices' Chase.

War Of Attrition was the star of the show at Navan yesterday as he continued his resurgence with a fantastic front-running performance in the Ladbrokes.com Boyne Hurdle.