Horse Racing: Denman 'never been better'

The 11-year-old Paul Nicholls inmate has become something of the forgotten horse in the build-up to the Cheltenham feature in March, having not been seen since his terrific third in the Hennessy in November.

But Barber insists his preparation is going smoothly as the 2008 Gold Cup winner slowly moves through the gears ahead of his date with destiny in March.

"We're doing everything we can to win the Gold Cup, and we've found that Denman needs to be fully prepared for his races," said his owner. "You can't go there 90 per cent with him - he must be 100 per cent. We didn't want to get him up for a race when his main target is a month later.

"He's been doing plenty of walking and been creeping about the roads, doing something all the time. I think he's showing the benefit of that routine. He's in great form, back in full work, and I believe he's never been better. What we want to see now is his coat coming through in March. If the ground is on the soft side, he has a great chance of winning again.

Musselburgh stage a seven-race jumps card this afternoon and, even in spite of a sharp rise in the weights, Border Reiver can be followed with some confidence in the betfair.com/paulnicholls Handicap Chase. Tim Easterby's seven-year-old looked in pretty good nick when scoring at Wetherby this month and is the one to beat.

Meanwhile, Killyglen will return to Britain to contest the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster on Saturday.

The nine-year-old was not far off the top level as a novice chaser for Howard Johnson a couple of seasons back, looking destined for the top when running away with a Grade Two at Aintree in April 2009. However, he has since failed to find the winner's enclosure and moved to County Antrim trainer Stuart Crawford at the start of the current campaign.

The gelding finished behind Kauto Star at Down Royal, as well as twice shaping with promise over hurdles. "We hope to run him on Saturday and hopefully they don't get any frost," said Crawford. "The track will suit as he's gone well there before when second in the Grimthorpe Chase and the decent ground he should get will suit him well. He's had a few decent runs for us and it will be interesting to see what way he goes at the weekend, but we're hoping going back over fences - good ground will be perfect for him."